NKF-MD Announces New Board Members

LUTHERVILLE, Md. –The National Kidney Foundation of Maryland (NKF-MD) has elected the following individuals to a three-year term on its board of directors:

• Michael Bison, director of corporate tax for Allegis Group, has 20 years of industry experience. He previously served as vice president of tax planning at NBC Universal, and senior tax manager at Arthur Andersen and KPMG. After earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Loyola University Maryland, he earned an MBA in corporate finance and media asset management from Fordham University.

• Deidra C. Crews, MD, ScM, nephrologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, researches disparities in the care and outcomes of chronic kidney disease. She has examined the contribution of social determinants of health, including poverty and access to healthful foods, to disparities in kidney disease. Her work in end-stage renal disease includes studies of the optimal timing and setting of dialysis initiation among vulnerable groups, and patient preparation for the start of renal replacement therapy. Dr. Crews is the inaugural Gilbert S. Omenn Anniversary Fellow of the Institute of Medicine, the chair of the American Society of Nephrology Chronic Kidney Disease Advisory Group and a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Chronic Kidney Disease Surveillance Team. NKF-MD also honored her with its Greater Baltimore Community and Patients Service Committee All-Star Award. After earning her medical degree from Saint Louis University School of Medicine and completing her internship and residency in internal medicine on the Osler Medical Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital, she received a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

• Jordan Levine, president of Myers Solomon Realty/Pelican Property Management, has 14 years of commercial real estate, finance and international business experience. Previously, he served as president of the Shirlen Co., LP, where he leased and managed over 300,000 square feet of retail and office space and headed acquisitions and development. He received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Northeastern University and a master’s degree in real estate from Johns Hopkins University-Carey Business School.

• Joseph M. Bellew, Esq. has spent 31 years as a corporate and real estate lawyer. With experience as an in-house attorney and as a private practitioner, he has focused his practice on small, medium-size and major business acquisitions, general corporate matters, real estate & leasing transactions and tax planning. Bellew began his legal career at Frank, Bernstein, Conway & Goldman after spending four years as a tax manager at Ernst & Young LLP. He later served as partner at Tydings & Rosenberg LLP and assistant general counsel at Baltimore Gas & Electric. Bellew graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh and then studied European Economic Community law at the University of Sussex as a Paul Harris Fellowship of Rotary International recipient. He proceeded to earn a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, an LL.M. in taxation from the University of Baltimore School of Law and admissions to the Maryland, Pennsylvania and U.S. Tax Court bars.

• Greg Miller has 25 years of executive management experience. He began his career as director of financial reporting & analysis for Ameriprise Financial/American Express, before becoming a delivery and account executive for Deloitte Consulting, LLP. After serving as executive manager of his own consulting firm, Miller Advisory Services, he joined CareFirst BCBS in 2006, starting as vice president of IT business operations, before working his way up to his current position: vice president, PMO, SMO, Sourcing, Service Operations Support. In addition to receiving a bachelor’s of science in finance and economics from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Miller has certifications from the CFA institute and IT Service Management Practices.

• Jonathan Hazman has made kidney disease his “life’s mission.” Inspired by his grandfather’s battle with kidney disease and experience on dialysis, he founded Porter Dialysis Centers to carry out his vision of a better way to dialyze patients and create a better quality of life.” After serving as its CEO for over six years, he transferred to the corporate sector, holding such positions as Phoenix Advisory Board owner, Accelerent market director-Baltimore, Interactions Group president and Apex Premium Finance founder/president. In 2013, the Ithaca College graduate returned to the kidney community full-time as CEO of Home Dialysis of Maryland. An active supporter of NKF-MD, Hazman served two prior terms on the board, sat on the golf committee, chaired a gala and participated in several Greater Baltimore Kidney Walk events. He even “went over the edge” of the Hyatt Regency Baltimore during the 6th annual Rappel for Kidney Health.

• Jon S. Wilkins, managing director of the Federal Communications Commission, has a combined 21 years of experience in management consulting and the government. He began his career as a law clerk for Hon. J. Frederick Motz (Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland) before becoming a policy advisor at the FCC. He then moved to McKinsey & Company, starting as an associate and working his way up to partner, before returning to the FCC in 2013. Wilkins graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and later received a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. Serving on the NKF-MD board is especially meaningful to him because his son underwent a kidney transplant.

About NKF-MD

The National Kidney Foundation of Maryland serving central and western Maryland, the Delmarva Peninsula and portions of West Virginia, is the area’s only voluntary health agency dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of kidney and urinary tract diseases. For more information, visit www.kidneymd.org.