Meet the Eleanor Health team

Kyle Raffaniello is a proven leader in the healthcare industry with over 25 years of experience in accelerating corporate growth. She has a passion for excellence in bringing innovative solutions to market that add value to clients’ operations.
Previously, Kyle was Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of ValueOptions, a behavioral health company, where she was responsible for profits across all lines of business. She was Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Consortium Health Plans, an organization focused on account growth and retention for the nation’s 20 largest Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. Kyle has also held senior sales and marketing positions at a number of regional health plans, as well as led provider relations for several large medical delivery systems.
Kyle earned a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from George Washington University. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Theology from Mount St. Mary’s College.

Dr. Nzinga Harrison is Chief Medical Officer and co-founder of Eleanor Health. She is double-board certified with specialties in general adult psychiatry and addiction medicine. Nzinga has spent her career as a physician treating individuals from marginalized communities with substance use and other psychiatric disorders. As a physician executive, she has served in Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer roles, committed to creating and improving systems-based delivery of psychiatric and substance use disorder care. Nzinga is a vocal advocate for stigma reduction, and is passionate about the necessity for whole-person care as individuals and communities seek to recover from and prevent substance use disorders. She received her undergraduate degree from Howard University, completed medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, and residency training at Emory University. Nzinga is married to a stock market investor and has two teenaged sons who keep her busy with academic pursuits, swim meets, basketball games, archery tournaments, and pilot academy.

Elizabeth Hart is Eleanor Health’s Chief Customer and Engagement Officer. She is experienced in delivering revenue and profitability growth through customer acquisition and engagement. Prior to joining Eleanor Health, Elizabeth served as Vice President of Patient Engagement for Everside Health, one of the largest direct primary care providers in the U.S. Elizabeth held leadership roles at Cigna, where she built out the Medicare Supplement direct-to-consumer channel, and was recognized in 2018 as a Cigna Leadership Award Winner. Prior to joining Cigna, Elizabeth established new consumer businesses across a diverse set of industries, including consumer finance, technology, retail and packaged goods at such companies as General Mills, Hallmark and Crate & Barrel. Elizabeth received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives in Kansas City with her husband, two sons and beloved goldendoodle.

Scott Fries is Eleanor Health’s Chief Financial Officer. In this role, he works closely with the executive team to develop financial and business strategies. His functional accountabilities include leading the accounting, treasury, planning and analysis, revenue cycle management and medical economics teams. Scott is a hands-on CFO with experience leading financial and operations teams through start-ups, turn-arounds, roll-ups, high growth and realignments. After 15 years in manufacturing, specialty chemical and consumer product industries, he moved into healthcare with the goal of aligning his strong sense of mission with his professional goals. Scott has held senior leadership positions in healthcare including payers, providers, pharmacy benefit management, healthcare technology and management consulting. He is passionate about aligning financing and care delivery through value-based agreements. Scott is both a certified public and management accountant. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.

Patrick Wesonga is the Head of Product for Eleanor Health, with experience delivering technology solutions that both enable and grow businesses of all sizes. 

Prior to Eleanor, Patrick held product roles at Zocdoc, CLEAR, Capital One and Coral Health. In 2022, he was honored as one of Crain’s New York Business’ Most Notable LGBTQ Leaders. Patrick also serves on the Board of Snorble, Inc.

He earned an undergraduate degree in industrial and systems engineering from Purdue University (Go Boilers). As a very devoted New Yorker, Patrick resides in Manhattan and loves the daily challenge of navigating urban life there.

Dr. Deann Butler is Eleanor Health’s Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), Learning and Org Development. She has healthcare experience in nonprofit, corporate and startups, and has trained more than 10,000 healthcare professionals. Over the years, she has facilitated or developed training for various organizations, including Planned Parenthood, the American Cancer Society, Central Piedmont Community College, Humana, Cityblock, Eleanor, Galileo, Arise, Violet Health, and many more. She aims to ensure professionals are encouraged, motivated and have learning opportunities. Deann realized many minoritized healthcare professionals often feel unheard, undervalued, underpaid and overworked. Through these roles, she fulfills her passion for putting equity into action. 

Deann holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in public health from East Carolina University, and a dual MBA/MHA from Pfeiffer University. She received her Doctorate in Healthcare Administration from Medical University of South Carolina by defending her research project “Let’s Get R.E.A.L.: A Shared Understanding of Structural Racism is Necessary to Move Towards Health Equity.” This research provides tangible recommendations for healthcare organizations who want to address structural racism. When not working, Deann enjoys spending time with her partner, three kids and extended family.

Peter Bird serves as Eleanor Health’s Chief of Staff. Previously, Pete was Vice President of Strategy and Performance at Carolina Complete Health Network, a joint-venture partner with Centene in the North Carolina Medicaid Managed Care program. Pete is a board member for the Cape Fear Healthy Opportunity Pilot, part of the nation’s first comprehensive evaluation of evidence-based, non-medical interventions for Medicaid beneficiaries. Pete is also the Founder and Executive Director of Box Now, a non-profit peer support platform dedicated to addressing the treatment gap for alcohol use disorder. Earlier in his career, Pete served in a variety of corporate strategy and operational leadership roles at Syneos Health and IQVIA, including as Senior Vice President and Corporate Officer of Verispan, a high-growth, category-leading innovator in the healthcare informatics space. Pete received dual undergraduate degrees in economics and organizational behavior from Brown University, where he graduated magna cum laude. Pete lives in Chapel Hill where he and his wife enjoy hiking, biking, active travel and adjusting to their newly empty nest.