2026 SHSMD Leadership Excellence Award Recipients

Lisa Crockett, MBA, DBA, served as Vice President, System Strategy & Planning for Providence, the third largest health system in the United States. Lisa passed away on Nov. 25, 2025, after a long career in healthcare strategy and years of dedication and service to SHSMD. She worked for Providence for nearly 26 years, serving in progressive leadership roles. Lisa led the development of the system-wide strategic plan and metrics, certificate of need efforts, and other strategic leadership and development priorities. During her career, Lisa earned more than a dozen national and international honors for her work, as well as other accolades within Providence..

During her career, Lisa earned more than a dozen national and international honors for her work, as well as other accolades within Providence. She served on the SHSMD Advisory Board and several other volunteer committees. She was also a recipient of the 2016 SHSMD Rising Star Award.

Lisa was deeply involved in leadership of her profession, serving SHSMD in many roles throughout her career, including as a member of the Advisory Board from 2021 through 2025, as the co-chair of the Executive Strategies Task Force in 2024 and 2025, and as the Annual Conference Chair or Co-Chair in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2023. Lisa was recognized with SHSMD’s Rising Star award in 2016.

Lisa earned a master’s degree in business administration from Norwich University and a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Liverpool. She served on the Norwich University Board of Fellows – College of Graduate & Continuing Studies and the Norwich University Partridge Society Board of Directors.

Here’s what Lisa's nominators had to say:

"Lisa demonstrated a strong ability to move from idea to execution across her career, delivering meaningful impact in healthcare… Her work reflected an ability to connect innovative thinking with measurable results. She brought diverse stakeholders together by fostering open, transparent communication and ensuring all voices were heard"

"Lisa successfully led change by combining servant leadership with high expectations. She created environments where individuals felt valued while pushing teams toward excellence. Her interdisciplinary background in marketing, communications, and strategy enabled her to integrate messaging, planning, and business development into cohesive strategies to improve organizational performance and patient-centered outcomes... Overall, she demonstrated how strategic leadership, grounded in communication and collaboration, could drive measurable improvements in healthcare organizations and the communities they served."

"Mentorship was central to her impact. She served as an SHSMD mentor and supported early- and mid-career professionals, while also tutoring adult learners. Her broader service—including academic board roles, global mission work, and humanitarian efforts—reflected a commitment to growing people and communities. Recognized as a SHSMD Rising Star, Crockett enhanced the credibility of the profession through leadership, service, and a clear dedication to SHSMD’s values of collaboration, innovation, and service."

Suzanne Bharati Hendery has more than 30 years of experience as a healthcare executive specializing in listening to and engaging key stakeholders to create engaging communications plans and exceptional experiences that delight customers and transform organizations. She is a nationally recognized leader in successfully implementing teams focused on customer-centered, enterprise-wide digital and branding campaigns to build preference, loyalty and drive revenue and growth.

Suzanne’s extensive career includes ascending marketing positions – over a 26 year span at Baystate Health in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she began as an entry level marketing associate and finished as vice president of marketing and public affairs, to ten years as Chief Marketing, Communications and Customer Officer at Renown Health in Reno, Nevada.

Suzanne is a guest lecturer at Harvard University, A.P.R. Accredited by the Public Relations Society of America, and served two terms on the SHSMD Advisory Board, along with several other volunteer roles. She was selected as “Marketing Person of the Year” by the Healthcare and IT Marketing Community and is a member of the editorial advisory board of Strategic Health Care Marketing. Suzanne and her teams have won numerous international and national awards for their outstanding contributions and best practices in healthcare marketing, branding, patient experience and community engagement programs.

Suzanne earned a master’s degree in marketing communications from the University of Connecticut.

Here’s what Suzanne's nominators had to say:

"Suzanne also works beyond traditional healthcare marketing boundaries. She bridges clinical and non-clinical teams, technology and human experience, strategy and execution, and physician engagement and consumer expectations. She is widely recognized as a mentor and talent accelerator. Six professionals from her teams became SHSMD Rising Star recipients. Across SHSMD and healthcare leadership circles, Suzanne is recognized as one of the profession’s most generous mentors, collaborators, and knowledge sharers."

"A defining strength is her ability to bring diverse stakeholders together to lead significant change. She has built collaborative, cross-functional teams that bridge marketing, digital strategy, operations, physician engagement, and community outreach to create integrated enterprise strategies. Her leadership style fosters alignment, agility, and innovation, enabling organizations to respond quickly to evolving healthcare and consumer expectations. She is an advocate for all people"

"I witnessed firsthand how she volunteered to lead our call center. She had a vision for improving access, driving appointment growth, and aligning operations with marketing and communications. In her first year, she saw a 30% increase in new patient appointments and, more importantly, a more engaged team. She never wastes a crisis; she finds an opportunity in every situation. Because of her "Yes, AND" attitude, she bridges so many worlds all to benefit her teams, our patients, and families."

"One of Suzanne's greatest strengths is not only her exceptional leadership and strategic vision, but also the profound and lasting impact she has had on the people around her. While Suzanne’s national reputation, awards, and accomplishments speak for themselves, what truly sets her apart is her ability to lead with humanity, authenticity, and heart. Suzanne is an extraordinary mentor who has invested deeply in developing future healthcare leaders… Suzanne leads with empathy, respect, humility, and kindness. She makes people feel heard, valued, and included — qualities that have helped her build trust, strengthen organizations, and create cultures where people can thrive."

Holly A. Sullivan is an accomplished healthcare executive known for translating strategy into measurable organizational impact. As Corewell Health’s Senior Vice President of Brand, Communications, Marketing and Consumer Experience, she is guided by the belief that a brand is more than a logo or marketing campaign; it’s a promise that must be consistently delivered through every interaction with patients, team members and communities. She has played a central role in aligning culture, communications and experience to advance Corewell Health’s commitment to making health better.

Holly uses her 25-plus years of leadership experience in healthcare strategy, business development, marketing, finance, consulting and organizational transformation to connect vision with execution and align stakeholders around common goals. She is recognized for enterprise strategies that strengthen reputation, deepen loyalty, enhance experience and support growth. She leads with integrity, empathy and collaboration that empowers teams to do their best work and achieve meaningful results.

Holly served two terms on the SHSMD Advisory Board.

Here’s what Holly's nominators had to say:

"As the architect of Corewell Health's brand transformation, she elevated brand from a strategic initiative to a unifying enterprise strategy—aligning culture, operations, and experience across a newly integrated system of tens of thousands of employees and hundreds of care sites. What began as the merging of legacy organizations became, under her leadership, a redefinition of how a health system connects purpose to performance—accelerating integration, strengthening trust, and positioning the organization for long-term growth."

"Her “inside-out” approach to brand transformation demonstrates her ability to create meaningful, human-centered experiences that resonate deeply with employees and the communities they serve.  Her leadership is defined by exceptional ability to integrate and co-create… She erases the boundaries of business, positioning brand, strategy, and experience as central to building more connected, accessible systems of care."

"As an original architect of [SHSMD’s] Bridging Worlds 1 and 2, she has helped shape one of the profession’s most important guiding frameworks—advancing how strategists integrate marketing, planning, and business development to deliver value. Her work exemplifies excellence and innovation, both in concept and in application.  She is deeply committed to mentoring and growing the profession… her leadership fosters a culture of respect, where diverse perspectives are valued and individuals are empowered to contribute and grow."

"Her career reflects a rare combination of visionary thinking, disciplined execution, and deeply human leadership—qualities that have transformed organizations, advanced the healthcare strategy profession, and strengthened the SHSMD community."