CFO As A Strategic Architect
This full-day event is specially curated to position the CFO as a leader, and not just an accountant. Harness your skills as a bridge-builder, mentor, and coach, as well as sharpen your abilities to build financial frameworks, optimize budgets, and succeed with value-based reimbursement.
Summit Chair &
Senior Associate,
OPEN MINDS
Join your financial executive peers and discover the key components for strategic scenario planning, including forecasting and ROI analysis, discover your role in organizational growth through mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, and understand the value of managed care relationship development.
Building High-Value Managed Care Partnerships: Key Approaches To Sustainable Relationship Development
Strong managed care partnerships have become essential to financial sustainability and strategic growth of behavioral health organizations. In this session, we’ll hear two executive perspectives on how to lead the development of resilient, mutually beneficial relationships with health plans that drive reimbursement strength, quality performance, and long-term sustainability.
The session will unpack the executive team’s role in shaping payer strategy – from preparing compelling organizational value propositions and negotiating contract terms to using data to demonstrate outcomes, reduce friction, and strengthen trust with managed care partners.
Attendees will explore:
- How to analyze payer mix, model contract impacts, and align financial operations with performance expectations
- Practical frameworks, negotiation insights, and communication strategies to enhance payer collaboration and secure favorable terms
- How to position organizations as high-value, reliable partners in a competitive and rapidly evolving managed care environment
Matt Kresic, MPA
Marti Taylor
Mergers & Alliances: The Evolving Role of The CFO In Organizational Growth – M&A, Collaborations & Partnerships
As consolidation accelerates across the behavioral health landscape, CFOs are playing an increasingly strategic role in shaping the future of their organizations. This session examines how financial leaders can guide mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and cross-sector partnerships that strengthen market position, expand service capacity, and advance mission-driven growth.
Participants will explore the full lifecycle of partnership development– from assessing organizational readiness and conducting rigorous financial and operational due diligence to structuring deals that balance risk, value, and long-term sustainability.
This session will provide:
- Emerging trends in collaborative models, including payer-provider partnerships, joint ventures and alliances that enhance care integration and access
- Practical tools to evaluate strategic fit, model financial impacts, lead negotiations, and communicate partnership value to internal and external stakeholders
- The insight needed to navigate complex decisions and drive successful, future-focused organizational strategy
Robert C. Dunne, CPA
Robert C. Dunne, CPA, has held the role of Devereux’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, treasurer since 2008. Dunne is responsible for the organization’s financial performance, as well as setting and implementing financial strategy and procedures across all centers. He also oversees all facility-related matters.
Dunne joined Devereux in 1992 and, since that time, has served in roles of increasing responsibility. Before joining the organization, he spent nine years at international accounting firm Ernst & Young, most recently in the role of senior manager.
Dunne holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from La Salle University, and he earned his Certified Public Accountant certificate in 1985. He serves as an officer for substantially all Devereux affiliates, and participates on several nonprofit boards outside of Devereux.
The Revenue At Risk When Coverage Changes: A CFO Readiness Check On H.R. 1
Most finance teams can name their payer mix down to a percentage point. Far fewer can say how much revenue sits behind the consumers most likely to lose coverage, or how fast that revenue would go. The difference is not awareness of policy change itself – it is operational readiness to understand the financial exposure and respond before it impacts performance.
This panel runs the readiness check out loud. We’ll dive into how H.R. 1 is changing Medicaid eligibility, what a finance function needs in place to see the exposure early, and what organizations proactively setting themselves up for coverage changes are doing today.
Attendees will leave with:
- A gameplan for applying proactive strategies to prepare for eligibility changes and ultimately protect the bottom line
- An assessment of the financial impact of Medicaid eligibility changes on revenue and operational stabilityÂ
- A realistic view of how H.R. 1 is reshaping Medicaid eligibility requirements and what those changes mean for leaders of finance teams Â
The CFO As System Architect: Rebuilding Finance Operations Around A New ERP
Most finance leaders inherit an accounting system someone else chose. Replacing it is one of the few decisions a CFO fully owns, and it sets what the finance team can and cannot do for the next decade.
This session follows an I/DD CFO through that rebuild, from the realization that a change is needed, through go-live and the months after. Attendees will hear what the organization got right, what it would do differently, and where the capacity gains exceeded expectations.
Attendees will leave with:
- A read on when an aging accounting system has become the constraint on growth, and how to make that case to a board
- The sequence of a full implementation, including the internal staffing and hours the project requires
- Where finance team capacity is recovered after go-live, and how long it takes to begin seeing the return
Adam B. Shuster, CPA, CIA, MBA
Adam Shuster is Chief Financial Officer of Incompass Human Services, a $60 million nonprofit organization supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, acquired brain injuries, and other complex needs throughout Northeastern and Central Massachusetts.
Since joining Incompass in 2018, Adam has served as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, helping shape both the organization’s financial direction and overall strategy. His responsibilities extend well beyond traditional finance, with Adam playing an active role in organizational strategy, planning, operations, and long-term sustainability.
Adam played an integral role in the planning and execution of the merger of LifeLinks, Inc. and CLASS, Inc., which created Incompass Human Services. He also led efforts that secured more than $10 million in pandemic-era relief funding, helping strengthen the organization during an unprecedented period.
Adam brings more than 20 years of nonprofit executive leadership experience to his role. Prior to joining Incompass, he held senior financial leadership positions with the American Lung Association of the Northeast and Easter Seals Massachusetts, with a focus on financial strategy, organizational restructuring, operational efficiency, and continuous process improvement.
A Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor, Adam earned his MBA with high honors and his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from Boston University. He also has a longstanding commitment to public service in his hometown of Ashland, Massachusetts, where he has served as Town Moderator since 2011.