Mari Ryan, MBA, MHP, CWP
Certified Worksite Wellness Program Consultant
Chief Executive Officer/Founder

Mari has a passion for activity and healthy living, and is leveraging years as a business professional in managing and overseeing the delivery of the worksite wellness services of AdvancingWellness. She has held various marketing and executive roles over the past 20 years, including Vice President of Marketing for GEN3 Partners and Regional Sales and Marketing Director for ENTEX Information Services (now Siemens Business Services). Mari has also managed a successful business as an independent management consultant.

Mari holds a Bachelor Degree from Lesley University, an MBA from Boston University, and a Masters in Health Promotion from Nebraska Methodist College. She is a certified Worksite Wellness Program Consultant and is a certified facilitator in a number of evidence-based behavior change programs.

Mari’s articles on worksite health promotion topics have been published in the American Journal of Health Promotion and Occupational Health and Safety Magazine. Mari is in demand as a speaker at local and national conferences on health promotion topics.

Mari is a member of the Board of Directors of Health Promotion Advocates, a group of committed health promotion professionals who are working to integrate health promotion concepts into national health policy. Mari currently serves Chair of the Board of Directors of the Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts.

Mari’s love for walking has brought her to lead a community-based walking program in Watertown, Massachusetts , called Watertown Walks! Mari also serves as a member of the Bicycle/Pedestrian committee for the Town of Watertown and initiated a Safe Routes to School program to encourage children to walk or bike to school. She serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Boston Harbor Islands Alliance, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase awareness and use of the Boston Harbor Islands national park area, and assists the owners with island management. In 2006, Mari accomplished a personal goal of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Bobbie Orsi, MS, RN, CCP

Vice President Client Services

Bobbie is one of the leading experts in the development and implementation of results-oriented, best practice wellness programs, earning two C. E. Koop National Health Award Honorable Mentions.   Bobbie began a career in nursing nearly 35 years ago, and her acute emergency and intensive care experience has informed her passion for prevention and health promotion.

She has co-authored an article for the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine on successful strategies in reducing cardiovascular health risk and has worked with numerous businesses to deliver wellness programs that have seen significant health improvement and cost reductions.
Bobbie holds a Bachelor Degree in Nursing Science from the University of Massachusetts, and a Masters in Health Promotion from Nebraska Methodist College. She has held certifications in Emergency Nursing, Diabetes Education, and currently is certified as a Chronic Care Professional through the Care Continuum Alliance. Bobbie served on the Health Enhancement Research Organization (H.E.R.O.) Education Committee, and has held leadership roles with the American Heart Association. Most recently, Bobbie has led the development of a total employee health management approach through the integration of Occupational Health (health protection) and Wellness (health promotion), and will oversee the design and delivery of worksite wellness programs.

Valorie Bender, CWPM

Wellness Account Manager

Valorie is responsible for the management and implementation of individual client wellness programs. She has a depth of business experience in field and corporate operations, project management, training and development and special events.  Valorie’s business experience includes running a regional non-profit organization, retail management and working for BP Oil, a large multinational corporation where she developed and delivered training programs throughout the U.S. for thousands of employees. She is now combining her skills in communication, training and project management with her passion for wellness.

Valorie has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Bowling Green State University. She is a Certified Wellness Program Manager through the National Wellness Institute and is certified in the following evidence-based healthy lifestyle programs: Active Living Every Day and Healthy Eating Everyday through Human Kinetics. She is also certified as a Holistic Stress Management Instructor.

Valorie is active in the Northeast Ohio Wellness Council, a not-for-profit corporation chartered to promote the concept of wellness at the worksite.  She is a member of the Coaching Federation, American Society for Training and Development, and Your Holistic Health Team, a resource center for healthy living.

Valorie’s personal wellness program includes yoga, weights and hiking. She recently began a ‘netwalking’ program for professionals to walk and get fit as they network.  She also enjoys teaching classes on developing ones creativity based on the book “The Artist’s Way”.

Laura Ingalls, BFA, CPT, CHHC

Health Coach/Wellness Coordinator

Laura is the sort of person who, if you’d told her 15 years ago that she would be a nutrition expert, exercise specialist, personal health coach and marathon runner and coach, she’d have thought you’d jumped off the deep end. As a young woman, she was your average, every day person struggling with dieting, exercise and body image while trying to “make it” in the unrelated field of acting. It was conquering this struggle that brought a team of wonderful coaches into her life and inspired her to share her newly discovered passion for health with others by becoming a coach herself.

Over the past 10 years, Laura has grown naturally into the role of “coach” and brings to it as much passion and gusto as she did to her acting career (which, considering she spent most it as a performer at Walt Disney World, is a considerable amount!) She has worked as a Success Coach with morbidly obese patients at the Orlando Weight Management and Nutrition Center, trained women in a transformational program with Get In Shape for Women, and coached people of all types, ages and abilities to complete marathons and half marathons with Team In Training.

Laura earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Syracuse University. She is certified as a Wellcoach by Wellcoaches, a Holistic Health Coach by The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer. She also has a career diploma in Fitness and Nutrition and is a member of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.

Vicki Prussak, CWPM, ACE

Wellness Coordinator

Vicki believes small incremental changes provide large healthy gains.  A life-long health and wellness enthusiast, Vicki meets people where they are. As a health coach Vicki assists clients to find their own desire and motivation for personal lifestyle changes. Through listening, asking questions, and reflecting back to the client, Vicki helps them close the gap between desire and reality.

A successful visual marketing professional for over 20 years, Vicki gained much knowledge and understanding of the strong connection needed between mind and body health and career competence and achievement. Vicki is a Certified Wellness Coach through Wellcoaches, Corporation, an affiliate of the American College of Sports Medicine. She earned her B.A. in Marketing Management with a specialty in Ecommerce at Malone College and a B.A. in Health Services Management. Additionally, Vicki is an ACE-certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Workplace Wellness Program Manager.

Heidi Duskey, MA, CPCC
Co-Founder, AdvancingWellness

Heidi manages a clinical wellness coaching practice at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, maintains a private coaching practice, and presents regularly at industry conferences as a behavior change specialist. She is also a faculty member for Wellcoaches, the premier wellness coaches training organization in the US.  For 15 years, Heidi has worked in the health and fitness industry, holding positions as diverse as Smoking Cessation Facilitator for the American Lung Association, Health Educator for the Boston Regional Medical Center, Fitness Director at Healthworks Fitness Centers, and Director of Programs at the Mount Auburn Club.

Karen Handmaker, MPP

Karen is a health and productivity expert serving health management vendors, employers and health care providers. She has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, focusing for the past 11 years on health management and productivity enhancement strategies for employers. She has held senior roles at national firms including Towers Watson (formerly Watson Wyatt), Alere (Matria/CorSolutions), SHPS, Ernst & Young and Deloitte & Touche. Karen is a member of the editorial board for Population Health Management.  Karen earned a BA in American Studies from Trinity College (Hartford CT) and a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (Cambridge, MA).