Empowering change.
Nexben is leading a truly radical marketplace transformation by creating the most advanced digital insurance platform in the country. We’re helping companies of all sizes to transform their process of buying and selling health insurance by making it as simple as possible.
Our focus is on making health insurance easier for everyone, so businesses can focus on what they do best.
Join the digital changeover.
Helping businesses connect and build partnerships with customers is important work. Interested in joining Nexben on this ongoing mission? Please contact us…we look forward to hearing from you.
Leadership Team
John Kelly
Founder & CEO
The grand design, growth and direction of Nexben was and continues to be innovated by John Kelly. John’s singular passion is to finally and permanently fix the entire health benefit experience — bringing it into the 21st century and leading it beyond as the industry evolves.
Prior to his revolutionary work at Nexben, John’s deep industry knowledge and insight was forged as founder and CEO of the BrocorXchange in 2011, the proto-concept that began to transform the health insurance marketplace through a first-ever consolidation of plan information.
John earned his BA at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. He regularly engages with like-minded organizations that focus on health insurance issues and industry solutions.
Jeff O’Dell
President
People, process, and tools are Jeff’s watchwords for his approach to building a successful enterprise. His challenge at Nexben is to come alongside an existing executive team, using his professional experience and relationships, and guide them to growth and profitability.
Being a relationship builder enables Jeff to effectively lead, train, coach and mentor the Nexben team for optimal performance. He focuses on meeting customer needs while delivering increased shareholder value. Jeff is a serial entrepreneur with an impressive history of successes.
In 1992 Jeff co-founded August Technology, and as Chairman and CEO, grew the company to 300+ employees globally culminating in a $200M IPO. In 2006 it merged with Rudolph Technologies, an NYSE listed corporation. Over the past 10 years, he has worked in a variety of tech-based industries including semiconductors, energy, software development, healthcare, and automation, among others. Jeff has served in a number of executive roles for both start-up and emerging growth companies, most recently as Interim CEO of a closely held healthcare services firm.
Jeff earned his BSME in Mechanical Engineering/Robotics, University of Minnesota.
Jim Sparks
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO Jim manages all financial strategy for Nexben, including financial planning, recording, risk management, and reporting. He also oversees all administrative functions including Human Resources, Legal, and Internal IT.
Jim brings 15 years of executive finance experience in both the health insurance and information technology industries. Prior to joining Nexben in 2019, Jim served as the VP of Finance at Optum and as a Finance Director for UnitedHealthcare. In those previous roles he worked with an array of payors, providers, and health products. Jim also developed extensive experience as a private equity-backed CFO for digital health portfolio companies.
Jim earned his BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and MBA from Yale University. Early childhood education is a passion that plays out for Jim as a board member of Think Small, a non-profit organization that provides services, resources, and advocacy for early childhood education in Minnesota.
Barry Carlson
Chief Revenue Officer
With over 30 years of industry experience, Barry fully leverages his market expertise at Nexben. As CRO he oversees all revenue generation processes including sales, marketing, and customer success functions. Cultivating relationships with brokers and distribution partners to provide technology solutions is a critical part of his role here.
Barry’s background includes key roles at Allina Health, Aetna, Medica and ING. Barry has learned every element of the healthcare, insurance and employee benefits business. He has built and lead successful sales and account management teams and held significant leadership roles during those tenures.
Barry earned his BA in Business and Economics from Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He likes to work with creative people and forward-thinking companies where he has an opportunity to leverage his skills and experience in new ways. Barry enjoys community service opportunities and currently serves on the board of the Wayzata Conservancy.
Kasey Bacso
VP Business Development
Kasey has been ensuring that Nexben solutions meet the needs of all their customers since 2013, when it was still the BrocorXchange. He is responsible for connecting business with technology through quality partnerships inside and outside of the organization.
Kasey is one of the very first hires at Nexben and has continued growing alongside the company ever since. The knowledge and skills he’s gained by helping build this forward-thinking startup tech company has vastly expanded his expertise. Kasey has been able to immerse himself in every aspect of the company, giving him a 360º perspective and the chance to take on multiple leadership roles.
Kasey earned his BS from the College of Saint Scholastica, Minnesota. He is most excited about bringing a lasting real-world solution that will benefit millions of consumers.
Victoria Schanen
HR & Recruiting Manager
As the Human Resources and Recruiting Manager, Victoria brings both the human and resources into her responsibilities at Nexben. She leads and executes the people/talent strategy, and all HR functions including, hiring and onboarding, benefits, payroll, policies, and employer branding.
Victoria’s specialty is working with growing technology companies. Prior to joining Nexben, she held executive leadership roles at software companies Kipsu, as VP of Talent, and Leadpages, as Director of Recruiting. Her professional passions are about opening doors for others and being a leader who helps cultivate a strong and sustainable company ecosystem.
Victoria earned a BA from the University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts and a PHR certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI).
Julie Halgren
Director of Marketing
Julie’s task is to drive all marketing strategy to optimize corporate and customer solutions. She is responsible for the marketing vision and roadmap for the overall company, including competitive market analysis, marketing initiatives, brand efforts, and communication strategies.
Three decades of marketing and corporate strategy experience in the financial services industry, including time at FICO and Thrivent, is what Julie contributes to Nexben every day. Prior to joining Nexben, she held positions as the Director of Corporate Strategy & Innovation and Director of Product Marketing at Thrivent. She seeks to leverage her passion of challenging the status quo to identify innovative ways to drive change.
Julie earned her BA in Business Administration, Marketing, and Finance from Luther College, Iowa. Outside the office, Julie volunteers at non-profit humanitarian organizations.
Terri Stang
Director of Customer Success
As Director of Customer Success Terri is the ambassador between broker partners and carriers. Her expertise and acumen is essential in strengthening customer relationships and supporting partners so they can achieve their desired outcomes.
Terri brings over 2 decades of experience in insurance to Nexben. For 19 of those years she held leadership roles within commercial health brokerages and management positions leading account teams at Associated Benefits and Risk Consulting. Terri also has extensive experience designing and implementing several successful staff training and client management systems.
Terri earned her BA from Concordia College, Minnesota. She is excited to be part of the innovative solutions Nexben is bringing to the employee benefits marketplace.
Dave Koelln
VP of Product Management
Dave has been committed to leading transformational change efforts in the healthcare industry throughout his entire career, with a specific focus on leveraging technology to do so. As the Vice President of Product Management, Dave leads the vision, direction, and strategy for all Nexben Products. Dave brings a wealth of knowledge to Nexben, having led organizations through transformative change throughout his career. Highlights include having added $30M of EBITDA in 18 months, which contributed to a successful VC exit at a 25x EBITDA as well as developed a patient centered program from ideation through execution that contributed to a 300%+ stock price increase within 12-months of launching increasing revenues 72% YoY. Dave’s healthcare experience includes Boston Scientific, Inspire Medical Systems and UnitedHealth Group, among others.
Dave earned his B.A. from the University of North Dakota and completed an Executive Education program focused on Leading Transformational Change from the University of Minnesota.
Scott Wayne
Regional VP
Scott is responsible for all Nexben sales, service and relationships in the West and Midwest. He brings 35 years of benefits, consulting and insurance industry experience, evenly split between the vendor world and consulting world. Scott gained his expertise at companies including, UnitedHealth Group, Mercer, and Fidelity, where he was focused on national accounts and difficult cases.
Scott earned his BA from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire. After three decades in the health insurance industry, Scott is thrilled about the opportunity to grow a truly revolutionary solution from the ground up.
Mark Pontliana
VP of Operations
As the operations leader, Mark oversees the design, build, launch and support of Nexben products. He brings his recognized driving focus to delivering outstanding technology solutions by specifying deliverables and deadlines, defining business requirements, motivating people and aligning processes. Mark specializes in start-up organizations, new product launches, process engineering, mergers and acquisitions, acquisition integration and strategic planning.
Mark’s deep knowledge in health insurance was gained at organizations including, Conduent, Alegeus, and UnitedHealth Group. He has extensive experience leading new program development, incorporating quality design and defining new technology deployment initiatives. Mark has also acted as an independent consultant, working at the intersections of healthcare and financial services, focusing on platform implementation, product development and process improvement.
Kelly Harman-Severson
Director of Operational Delivery
As Director of Operational Delivery, Kelly ensures positive outcomes for Nexben clients through the strategy and execution of post-sales processes and operational delivery. Her thoughtful leadership and ability to build meaningful, cross-functional relationships with both internal and external stakeholder are the key to Nexben’s success.
Kelly’s critical thinking and creative problem solving set her apart and she has more than 20 years of experience in operations management, strategic account management, process improvement, contract negotiation/management, vendor management and strategic planning. Prior to joining Nexben, she held leadership roles with Thrivent Independent, Voya Financial, Securian Financial and Allianz.
Kelly earned her B.S. from the University of Iowa. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, entertaining, wine and travel.
