Executive Team

Learn more about Stanford Medicine Children's Health’s executive team

Paul A. King

President and CEO
Paul King is the President and CEO of Stanford Medicine Children's Health and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.  Prior to joining Stanford in 2019, Mr. King’s 40-year career in healthcare included executive management posts at other leading academic medical centers including the University of Michigan; Children’s Hospital Los Angeles affiliated with the University of Southern California; leading physician practices, including the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Sports Medicine Clinic in Los Angeles; and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and Scottsdale, Arizona.  Mr. King serves on the Board of the Children’s Hospital Association, serving as Chairman in 2022.  He serves as Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles. Mr. King also serves on the San Francisco Federal Reserve Board Economic Advisory Committee and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. 

View Paul King's executive profile and biography >

Marcie A. Atchison, JD

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
Marcie Atchison has extensive experience developing labor strategy, including successfully managing union negotiations. She's partnered with executives, including nursing leaders at Magnet® recognized health care organizations. Ms. Atchison has a strong background in development, implementation, administration and communication of human resources policies and procedures. She's developed strategies for employee relations, organizational development, talent management and rewards and recognition programs. Throughout her career she's focused on building a high performance, high accountability leadership culture as well as the application and use of LEAN principles to human resources operations.

Ms. Atchison holds a Master of Arts degree in human resource management from Webster State and a law degree from the Michigan State University College of Law. She is a proud U.S. Air Force Veteran, and served her country during Operation Desert Storm.

Karthik Balakrishnan, MD, MPH

Susan B. Ford Surgeon-in-Chief at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Dr. Balakrishnan joined the Stanford Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford faculty as associate professor in early 2020. He also serves in several other leadership roles in Stanford Medicine, including co-chair of the Teamwork Advisory Council, co-lead for the Otolaryngology Department’s diversity/equity/inclusion program, and NSQIP Pediatric Surgeon Champion.

Dr. Balakrishnan is a renowned pediatric otolaryngologist specializing in the care of children with complex disorders of breathing, voice, and swallowing. He is an expert in complex surgical reconstruction of the larynx (voice box) and trachea (windpipe); innovative approaches to pediatric airway reconstruction; and vascular anomalies of the head and neck. He earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, did his residency at the University of Washington in otolaryngology, and completed a pediatric ENT fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Jesus Cepero, PhD

Chief Nursing Officer, Senior Vice President Patient Care Services
Jesus Cepero, PhD, RN, NEA-BC provides nursing and patient care leadership across the entire enterprise, partnering with our leaders in the outpatient, treatment center, and inpatient areas.

Dr. Cepero has spent his entire career in nursing leadership roles, and is passionate about the care of babies, children, and moms. He has a special talent for creating administrative structures where services are delivered in a highly collaborative manner that is cost-effective and highly professional, ensuring patients and families receive the highest quality of care. 

Most recently, he served as chief nursing officer for the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI. He was responsible for leading all aspects of nursing administration across the two hospitals. He developed a nursing philanthropy committee, implemented a system-wide program for senior leadership rounding, and co-led a response to the opioid crisis.

Cepero earned a doctorate in nursing from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and a Master of Science in Nursing from Kean University. He also holds a Master of Public Administration from Seton Hall University.

Yasser Y. El-Sayed, MD

Ford Family Endowed Obstetrician-in-Chief
Yasser Y. El-Sayed, MD is the Charles B. and Ann L. Johnson Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. El-Sayed has been part of the Stanford community since he arrived in 1990 as an intern. He became a full Professor in 2009, served as Associate Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Obstetrics from 2005 to 2013, and has been the Division Director, Obstetrician-in-Chief and co-Director of the Johnson Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Services since 2013. He is also Professor by Courtesy of Pediatrics and of Surgery, and Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health.

Dr. El-Sayed was instrumental in developing and directing the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Obstetrics’ extensive clinical and research programs. He was the founder of the Stanford – Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Research Collaboration, and was the Stanford Principal Investigator of the NICHD Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network from 2013-2016. Dr. El-Sayed was central to envisioning and launching the Dunlevie Maternal-Fetal Medicine Center for Discovery, Innovation and Clinical Impact, which he currently directs. Most recently, this August 2023, Dr. El-Sayed and his colleagues received a major seven-year NIH Maternal Health Research Center of Excellence award for their proposal “Preventing Inequities in Hemorrhage-related Severe Maternal Morbidity (PRIHSM)”.

Dr. El-Sayed has authored and co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications as well as multiple other publications and book chapters. He is the recipient of multiple scientific, service and educational honors, including the prestigious Alwin C. Rambar-James B.D. Mark Patient Care Award, and the Arthur L. Bloomfield Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Clinical Medicine, and he is a past Chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Obstetric Practice.

Dana Haering

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Haering joined the organization in 2011 as the Controller, became the Interim Chief Financial Officer in 2013 and was named the Chief Financial Officer in October of 2014. Haering spent more than 20 years in the public accounting industry, serving mainly health care clients, including academic medical centers, community hospitals, health plans, medical group foundations and independent practice associations. Prior to joining the organization, Haering was a Senior Manager at KPMG, LLP, in the health care practice. Haering holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a Certified Public Accountant in California. She is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Rick Idemoto

Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer
Rick will be responsible for all aspects of institutional planning: advancing clinical and academic excellence; expanding our reach; and creating a value based system. He works closely with the our centers of emphasis, service lines, Stanford Health Care, School of Medicine and others to integrate and coordinate strategy.

He has extensive experience leading strategic planning as well as business and network development in both academic and community medicine. Prior to joining Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Rick was vice president of network development and the chief operating officer at the University of Chicago Medicine. Rick earned master’s degrees in business administration as well as health policy and administration from Pennsylvania State University.

Grace Lee, MD

Chief Quality Officer
Dr. Lee leads faculty and multidisciplinary teams in achieving higher levels of quality, safety, service, and value, while spearheading innovative and best-practice programs geared toward exceeding national clinical outcomes. Her focus also includes embedding health equity into the foundation of our clinical care and quality initiatives. She leads the Center for Pediatric and Maternal Value and its three main divisions of Performance Improvement, Quality and Safety, and the Office of Patient Experience.

Dr. Lee is Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Disease) at Stanford Medicine, Chair of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Mary Leonard, MD, MSCE

Arline and Pete Harman Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Director, Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute
A graduate of the Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Leonard returned to Stanford Medicine in 2014 after spending 25 years at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. At Stanford, her multidisciplinary research program is focused on the impact of chronic diseases on bone metabolism and nutrition across the life span. Dr. Leonard directs the innovative and trans-disciplinary child and maternal health research and training initiatives of the Stanford Maternal & Child Health Research Institute.

Dr. Leonard is a distinguished investigator, an expert clinician and a respected mentor who embodies the academic and integrated mission of Stanford Medicine. A member of the Precision Health Committee, she is committed to Stanford Medicine’s vision of proactive and personalized health care and has been at the forefront of efforts to integrate Precision Health approaches and skills into our training programs.

Michele Lew

Senior Vice President and Chief Government Relations Officer
Michele Lew brings with her a wealth of experience in community engagement, policy advocacy, and nonprofit management and will be a tremendous addition to our team.

Before joining Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, she served as the CEO of The Health Trust, a nonprofit operating foundation with a mission to build health equity in Silicon Valley. Her other prior roles include Government and Community Relations Director at Stanford Health Care and as the President and CEO of Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), a San Jose federally qualified health center. Michele also served as district director for former California State Legislator Joe Simitian.

A native Santa Clara County resident, Michele earned a B.A. in economics from Yale University and a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University.

Les Lifter

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Les Lifter joined Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in June 2015 as Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to joining Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Les served as Senior Vice President of Marketing with University of Phoenix where he led all marketing strategies and initiatives for the university and its colleges.  A professional with more than 25 years in marketing and brand management, Les has held leadership positions with such recognized national brands as Unilever, Lennar Homes, AutoZone, and Hasbro. Les earned his MBA in marketing and international business from NYU’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business and his bachelor’s degree from Emory University in business administration with an emphasis in marketing.

Rick Majzun

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Majzun is responsible for providing administrative leadership and direction of the operations of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and all of the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health primary care and specialty services outpatient locations.

Majzun has more than two decades of leadership expertise in academic medical centers, with a focus in pediatrics and women’s health. He also has extensive experience in strategic planning and operations, and a strong background in lean management—all of which will be greatly beneficial to Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.

Prior to joining Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Majzun served as president and chief operating officer for Women & Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island; the vice president of operations at St. Louis Children’s Hospital; and vice president of Women & Infants for Barnes Jewish Hospital (BJH) and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, where he oversaw significant growth in volume and revenue.

Majzun earned a Master’s in Health Administration from Washington University and completed an Administrative Fellowship at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Joyce Sackey, MD, FACP

Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Dr. Sackey is an accomplished leader of diversity and inclusion in academia, joining Stanford Medicine after nearly 14 years at Tufts University, where she held roles as the dean for multicultural affairs and global health at the school of medicine and, more recently, as the associate provost and chief diversity officer for the health sciences schools.

As Stanford Medicine’s CDIO and associate dean, Sackey will oversee enterprise-wide strategies and efforts to advance diversity, health equity and inclusion, and will help implement the recommendations issued by Stanford Medicine’s Commission on Justice and Equity. Sackey will also support and unify existing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts underway at the Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley and Stanford Medicine Partners.

Jill Sullivan, RN

Senior Vice President of Strategic Space Planning and General Services
Jill Sullivan is a registered nurse by background and has worked in a variety of roles at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, including service line director for Heart and Transplant Centers and inpatient nursing director, and she led the operational planning for the first electronic medical record implementation. Sullivan works collaboratively with enterprise leaders on strategic space-planning initiatives and management of space across the organization. In this role, she led the planning for the new Main building and is now leading the planning for the remodel of the West building.

Sullivan also oversees General Services, which includes Facility Management, Environmental Health and Safety, Engineering, Food and Nutrition Services, Patient Equipment Management, the Transport/Lift Program, the Gift Shop, the Art Program, and Environmental Services. She oversees many of the services provided by Stanford Health Care on behalf of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health related to facility management, security, and parking.

Prior to coming to Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, Sullivan worked in a variety of leadership roles in various hospitals and home care facilities in California and Michigan. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

Tanya Townsend

Senior Vice President, Chief Information and Digital Officer
With extensive experience and achievements in health care information technology, Tanya leads the Stanford Children’s digital transformation and technology-driven initiatives. Overseeing an award-winning team, she will create enterprise resource planning systems, drive operational excellence, and spearhead strategic planning.

She previously served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at LCMC Health in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and Chief Information Officer at HSHS Eastern WI Division in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Tanya holds a Master of Science in medical informatics from Milwaukee School of Engineering/Medical College of Wisconsin and a Bachelor of Science in health information administration.

Chantal Volel-Torres

Chief Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Operations and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Packard Children’s Health Alliance (PCHA)
In her role as Chief Administrative Officer of Ambulatory Operations and CEO for PCHA, Volel-Torres is charged with coordinating the operational aspects of our ambulatory clinics across the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health system. In order to provide outstanding service to our patients and families, she oversees the financial, clinical, and operational aspects of the management of our comprehensive clinical services at more than 65+ locations in Northern California.

Volel-Torres has worked as a health care administrator for more than 20 years in the New York City area. She earned her Master of Healthcare Administration from Hofstra University.