Board of Directors

Michael K. Lester headshot
Chairman

Michael K. Lester

Michael K. Lester is a co-founder of LifeStance and has served as our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board of Directors since 2017. Prior to founding LifeStance, Mr. Lester was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Accelecare Wound Centers, a comprehensive wound care and disease management company. Prior to that, Mr. Lester was a Venture Partner at Bain Capital and SV Life Sciences and founder and Chief Executive Officer of Radiant Research, a comprehensive clinical research company providing Phase I-IV study conduct and drug development services to the biopharmaceutical industry. Mr. Lester was formerly a board member and President of the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. He serves on The University of Texas College of Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Foundation Advisory Council, is a member of the board of directors of Upperline Health, Inc., and is a senior advisor to Silversmith Capital Partners. Mr. Lester previously served on the board of directors of Accelecare Wound Centers, Inc. and Radiant Research, Inc. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Texas.

Katherine Wood
Director

Katherine Wood

Katherine Wood has served on our Board of Directors since May 2020. Ms. Wood is a Principal at TPG Capital, where she focuses on investments in the health care sector. Ms. Wood also serves on the boards of Convey Health Solutions, Kadiant, Ellodi Pharmaceuticals, and Neogene Therapeutics, and was previously on the boards of Adare Pharmaceuticals and AskBio. She has also been involved in TPG’s investments in Allogene Therapeutics, Aptalis, EnvisionRx, IASIS and Par Pharmaceutical. Prior to joining TPG in 2009, Ms. Wood worked in health care investment banking at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Ms. Wood holds a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular and cell biology from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. We believe Ms. Wood is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on her investment experience in the healthcare industry.
Member of the Audit Committee
Chair of the Compliance Committee
Robert Bessler, M.D.
Director

Robert Bessler, M.D.

Robert Bessler, M.D. has served on our Board of Directors since 2017. Dr. Bessler founded Sound Physicians in 2001 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Dr. Bessler also serves on the boards of directors of private organizations, including UpStream Rehabilitation and BroadJump, LLC. Dr. Bessler holds a Bachelors’ degree from Tufts University and an MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Dr. Bessler completed his residency in emergency medicine at the MetroHealth Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland Ohio. We believe Dr. Bessler is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his experience and leadership roles in the medical industry.
Darren Black
Director

Darren Black

Darren Black has served on our Board of Directors since 2017, and on the board of our predecessor since 2015. Mr. Black is a Managing Director with Summit Partners. Mr. Black joined Summit Partners in 2013 and focuses primarily on the health care and life sciences sector. Mr. Black also serves on the boards of Abode Healthcare, InnovaCare Health, Leon Medical Centers, Paradigm Outcomes, PharmScript, Sound Physicians, Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care, VaxCare, Vertava Health, and U.S. Renal Care. Prior to Summit, Darren was a Managing Partner with SV Life Sciences, where he focused on health care services, health care information technology and pharmaceutical services. Prior to SV Life Sciences, Darren was Cofounder and President of two companies—ClinCare and PharmaStar. Previously, he was a health care consultant for Accenture. Darren holds an AB in government from Harvard College and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. We believe Mr. Black is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his investment experience in the healthcare industry.
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Jeffrey Crisan
Director

Jeffrey Crisan

Jeffrey Crisan has served on our Board of Directors since 2017, and on the board of our predecessor since 2015. Mr. Crisan founded Silversmith Capital Partners in 2015 and currently serves as managing partner. Prior to founding Silversmith, Mr. Crisan served as Managing Director of Bain Capital Ventures. While at Bain Capital Ventures, Mr. Crisan’s investments were predominantly growth equity investments in both Healthcare IT & Services as well as SaaS & Information Services. Mr. Crisan previously served in various roles at Bain Capital and Bain & Company. Mr. Crisan also serves on the boards of Panalgo, Inc., Iodine Software, MediQuant, Upperline Health, Nordic Consulting Partners, Inc. and Partners Surgical. Mr. Crisan holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. We believe Mr. Crisan is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on investment and leadership experience.
Member of the Audit Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Compliance Committee
William Miller
Director

William Miller

William Miller has served on our Board of Directors since July 2020. Mr. Miller is Chairman and CEO of WellSky. Prior to joining WellSky in July 2017, Mr. Miller served as the CEO of OptumInsight, a division of Optum, which is the health services platform of UnitedHealth Group. Prior to OptumInsight, Mr. Miller served as senior vice president of technologies at Cerner Corporation, where he had global responsibility for the company’s managed services, outsourcing, and technology services business units. Mr. Miller holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in Urban Planning and Public Policy from the University of Kansas. We believe Mr. Miller is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his industry experience, including as a chief executive officer of a health services company.
Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Jeffrey Rhodes
Director

Jeffrey Rhodes

Jeffrey Rhodes has served on our Board of Directors since May 2020. Mr. Rhodes is a Partner of TPG, where he co-leads the health care group and the firm’s investment activities in the health care services, pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. Mr. Rhodes also serves on the boards of Beaver-Visitec International, Immucor, Kelsey Seybold Clinic, Kindred at Home, Kindred Healthcare, and WellSky. Mr. Rhodes previously served on the Boards of Biomet, EnvisionRx, IMS Health, Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Surgical Care Affiliates, Zimmer Biomet and as a founding Board member of the Healthcare Private Equity Association. Mr. Rhodes holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Williams College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. We believe Mr. Rhodes is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his investment experience in the healthcare industry.
Chair of the Compensation Committee
Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Eric Shuey
Director

Eric Shuey

Eric Shuey has served on our Board of Directors since 2018. Mr. Shuey is a Partner at Revelstoke Capital Partners LLC where he focuses on the health care services sector. Mr. Shuey also serves on the boards of CEI Vision Partners, Encore Rehabilitations Services, Genea, Partners Surgical, Sound Physicians and US Renal Care. Prior to Revelstoke, he was a co-founder and served as the President of Liberty Health Partners which was merged with Remedy Partners. In addition, he served as a senior Corporate Development executive for Fresenius Medical Care North America from 2012 until 2017, and Chief Financial Officer of Liberty Dialysis LLC from 2006 until 2012. Prior to joining Liberty Dialysis, he served as a Director at DB Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Deutsche Bank, and a Principal at Aurora Capital Group. Mr. Shuey earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fullerton. We believe Mr. Shuey is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors based on his financial and leadership experience.
Chair of the Audit Committee
Seema Verma Image
Director

Seema Verma

Seema Verma has served on our Board of Directors since August 2021. Ms. Verma is a leading national health policy expert with over two decades of experience in the healthcare industry. As the longest-serving Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator in modern history, she oversaw health insurance programs for over 140 million Americans and set out to transform the American healthcare system by lowering costs, improving quality and increasing access. Prior to CMS, Ms. Verma was the founder and CEO of a health policy consulting firm helping states and private industry navigate a range of healthcare issues. Ms. Verma received a BS in life sciences from the University of Maryland and a Master of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University.

Member of the Compliance Committee