Board of Directors

Healwell’s Board brings a variety of critical talent, skills, and industry knowledge to guide our overall direction.

Mary Ester, Chair

Mary is the Chief Development Officer at Global Action on Gun Violence. She has worked in fundraising for more than 20 years and has had the privilege of working for local, national, and international organizations in Washington, DC, including WAMU-FM, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and Global Rights. Prior to Global Action on Gun Violence, she served as Director of Individual Giving at Consumer Reports and as Director of Development for the Government Performance division of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Mary is a licensed massage therapist, trained at Potomac Massage Training Institute (PMTI) and feels fortunate to have taken oncology massage courses taught by Healwell’s Cal Cates and Lucille Eddy. Mary earned a B.A. in Russian Language from Grinnell College in Iowa.

Caroline Hamric, Treasurer

Caroline Hamric is the Deputy Director of City Kids Wilderness Project, a nonprofit that harnesses outdoor adventures to build resiliency, broaden horizons, and develop life skills for underserved DC youth. She has spent her career serving nonprofits dedicated to women’s rights, environmental protection and the rights of animals, and is keenly interested in how organizations learn. Caroline received her Master of Science in Organization Development from George Mason University in 2016, and is a proud alumna of Hollins University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business. 

In her free time, Caroline enjoys volunteering in her community, taking road trips to the mountains and petting every dog she encounters.

Rory Farrand, Secretary

Rory Farrand is an accomplished Senior Executive and thought-leader with more than 20 years of success within the healthcare industry. Her broad areas of expertise include palliative care, geriatric primary/acute care, clinical healthcare management/operations, innovative program development & training. She recently took on a role with NHPCO as the Vice President of Palliative and Advanced Care; prior to NHPCO, she served as the National Director of Palliative Care for VITAS Healthcare. In that role, she had oversight all of VITAS’ palliative care initiatives to improve and expand palliative care for VITAS patients, families, and health care providers. Her key objectives included embedding goals-of-care conversation expertise into the palliative care specialty and serving as an industry advocate for legislative and regulatory action toward community-based palliative care delivery models.

Prior to VITAS, Rory served as Vice President of Medical Management for Centene Corporation’s PA Health and Wellness, serving Pennsylvania—a role that included national program development for projects on palliative care and social determinants of health. She previously served as VP of Clinical Learning & Development and Regional VP of Clinical Operations for PA/WV for Aspire Health, with multistate oversight of dispersed interdisciplinary teams providing high-quality palliative care.

Rory is a board-certified adult nurse practitioner with an MSN focused on geriatric and adult health. Additionally, she holds an advanced practice certificate in palliative care, a BA in Psychology, an MS in Behavioral Neuroscience, and an MA in Art Therapy. She has worked as both a Nurse Practitioner and an Art Therapist. Rory serves as a member of NHPCO's Palliative Care Advisory Council (appointed in 2020 for 2-year term) as well as serves as a steering committee member of the Professional Education and Organizational Development committee, and she also works with HPNA as a member of the Membership Awards and Advocacy Committees. She is also a member of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association. Rory enjoys baking, yoga, reading, and spending time with her sons.

Tara Coles, Director

Tara was born in New York but has lived in the Washington DC area for almost 25 years. She attended George Washington School of Medicine and completed her EM residency training and served as Chief Resident at Boston Medical Center. She has worked clinically in both academic and community medical settings. Her professional passions are humanism and creativity in medicine, work-family balance, women’s leadership, injury prevention, and palliative care. She and her husband John are raising 4 children and enjoy spending their time together surrounded by nature, books, music, and friends.

Gabriela DeAnda, Director

Gabriela is HPNA (Hospice & Palliative Nurses Association) Certified in Hospice and Palliative Care and is an RN for Montgomery Hospice and Prince George's County Hospice. Gabriela's prior experience on a board was in 2002 for the DC Massage Therapy Licensing Board. She graduated with a Bachelor in Arts in Theatre Arts from Loyola Marymount University which helped her land jobs with Joe Weider's Muscle and Fitness Magazine's BodyBuilding Camp, flight attendant for Pan Am, Administrative Manager for the National office of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and finally as a Small Business Owner of her own massage therapy practice from 1998 -2008. She is so excited to be invited to Healwell Board and to make being sick suck less!

Jeff Kost, Director

Jeff Kost serves as the Director of Donor & Community Relations for National Capital Treatment & Recovery, an Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit organization for individuals struggling with substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders. Evidence-based treatment solutions include gender-specific residential programs for adults and a continuum of outpatient programs for adults and adolescents. He has more than 30 years’ experience leading fundraising and communications programs for local, regional and national organizations, primarily in healthcare, including HIV/AIDS social services, nutrition for chronically ill individuals, and hospice and palliative care. He has also served as a consultant supporting nonprofits with growing fundraising capacity and campaign planning.

Outside of work, Jeff appreciates the arts and theater, pursues his passion as a self-proclaimed foodie, traveling, and relaxing at home with his husband and dog.    

Kelly Mack, Director

Kelly Mack is a communications professional, specializing in health issues. In her spare time, she writes articles about living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and moderates for RheumatoidArthritis.net. She has lived with RA since age two, resulting in significant physical disabilities and use of a motorized wheelchair. Kelly earned a MA in Communications from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College. 

You can find Kelly on Twitter @MsKellyM and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/mskellym/. 

Angela Wrubleski, Director

Angela Wrubleski serves as the Chief Operating Officer and brings over fifteen years of experience in the healthcare industry to Open Arms. Prior to joining the team, Angela supported two large hospice organizations as a Regional Operations Director. Between these two roles, her responsibilities included oversight of a $180 million budget, implementation of cost saving measures to reduce medical supply and DME costs, management of inpatient and community palliative care programs, and creation of efficiencies that reduced the accounts receivable backlog by 3 million in two months. In addition, she mentored multiple individuals to help them grow from site specific roles to regional or executive level positions. It was her passion for quality healthcare at home that drew her to Open Arms Solutions. She believes the future of healthcare is at home. 

When not at work, Angela enjoys attending Cubs games, global wine tastings, and spending time with her husband and friends.

Healwell’s board and staff are honored to work with a group of special advisors who provide valuable insight and knowledge based on years of experience. Our team of professional advisors provides expertise in their field and enables us to develop programs and initiatives that are built upon experience, cutting-edge information, and practical wisdom. Their contributions are invaluable to Healwell and we are deeply grateful for their support.