Administration
Richard F. Kotz, Esq., Glencoe, IL
Board Secretary Chair, Finance Committee Consultant and retired Attorney; former Vice President –
Law and Deputy General Counsel of Sears, Roebuck and Co.; former Member, Illinois Assembly on
the uninsured; Former President and Executive Committee current and Board Member, Mental
Health America in Illinois; Board Member, Mental Health Association of the North Shore; President
and Board Member, Health and Disability Advocates; Advisory Board member, Psy. D. Program, of
the Chicago School of Professional Psychology; former consultant to National Institute of Mental
Health; former Glencoe Village Trustee; former President and Board Member of Midwest Regional
Group, and former National Board Member, of the American Society of Corporate Secretaries. Mem-ber
of the American and Chicago Bar Associations, including former Chairman of the Securities Law
Committee of the Chicago Bar Association; graduate of the Wharton School of Finance and Com-merce
of the University of Pennsylvania, and of the University of Pennsylvania Law School; M. B. A.
from The American University.
Laura Leon, Chicago, IL
Laura Leon is the Director of Faith Initiatives, Campaign for BetterHealth Care and former Acting Ex-ecutive
Director of Illinois of Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition. Before that she led the na-tional
recognized Illinois Covering Kids and Families Coalition for eight years. The coalition was a
private public partnership with the State of Illinois and helped to increase the AllKids enrollment from
400,000 to the status of 1.4 million children. Ms. Leon has a long social justice and urban develop-ment
background; having worked for the National Training and Information Center and Habitat for
Humanity. She created and assisted emerging community organizations and coalitions across the
country with strategy and organizational building skills. Ms. Leon earned her B.A from the
Northeastern Illinois University in 2007 and is currently an MBA student at National Louis University.
James M. Meyer, Naperville, IL
Chair, Underwriting & Carrier Oversight Committee; Chair, Grievance Committee; B. S. in Business
and Economics, University of Wisconsin.
Jay R. Naftzger, Esq., Naperville, IL
Chair, Personnel Committee Jay Naftzger is a lawyer currently teaching Torts, Health Law and Insur-ance
Law at Northern Illinois University, College of Law. His legal career began in a private law firm
in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Naftzger moved from private practice to become Associate Counsel for
the Prudential Insurance Company of America, then Vice President and General Counsel of Rush
Prudential Health Plans in Chicago. When Rush Prudential was purchased by WellPoint Health Net-works
Inc., he became a Vice President in WellPoint’s legal department and functioned as General
Counsel for, and a member of the Board of Directors of, several WellPoint subsidiaries. Mr.
Naftzger is a past Chair and current Board Member of the Illinois HMO Guaranty Association, and
he is a past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Health Law Committee of the Tort and Insur-ance
Practice Section. He has been an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University’s College of Law. He
is admitted to practice law in Illinois, Minnesota (Non-resident) and the United States Supreme
Court.
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