About This Episode
Leonard share s his path from Medical ICU Nurse at Mount Sinai to President and CEO of LiveOnNY – where lives are saved daily through organ and tissue donation. Leonard also shares how his current role is the most impactful thing he’s done but recalls some unforgettable moments in his career that led him to where he is now.
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About Our Guest
“A single organ donor can save eight people’s lives. A tissue donor can save up to 75 people. You very well may be sitting in a room with a bunch of people who benefitted from a donor.” – Leonard Achan
Leonard Achan is a Healthcare Executive from New York with over 20 years of experience within a variety of leadership roles spanning clinical, operational, communications, crisis management, digital transformation, merger and acquisitions, branding, innovation, new ventures, commercialization, and turn-arounds. He is currently the President and CEO of LiveOnNY.
Achan’s diverse leadership experience has no boundaries. Prior to his recruitment to LiveOnNY, Achan most recently served as President of the Innovation Institute at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), after serving as their Chief Innovation Officer. He has also held several executive C-suite and academic roles through his career including but not limited to Chief Communications Officer, Chief Access Officer, as well as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) while concurrently serving as Senior Associate Dean for Global Communications, Branding and Reputation at the Icahn School of Medicine. Achan is a Registered Nurse (RN) and Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ANP) and began his career as a Medical ICU Nurse at Mount Sinai, before moving into administrative, operational, and academic roles.
Achan is also co-founder and chairman of Quality Reviews Inc, a digital health company serving tens of millions of patients each year in the United States across over 50 healthcare organizations. He advises public and private companies and serves as a board member of several nonprofit organizations, including appointments to the Board of Trustees of Help USA and Help USA Fund where he serves as Chairman, Adelphi University, where he serves on the executive committee, Federation of Organizations, The Hagedorn Little Village School and Healthcare Leaders of NY (HLNY), the regions chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He has also been appointed to the American Hospital Association (AHA) Center for Health Innovation Leadership Council. Achan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from Adelphi University, received his Master’s Degree and his Nurse Practitioner from New York
University, Post Master’s in Administration from Villanova University and is an alumnus and Fellow of The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Achan has won awards for clinical excellence and executive leadership as well as community service, including the William H Barfoot Award, the highest honor given by the New York State Troopers. He is the recipient of the 2020 Award of Distinction, the highest honor given by the Healthcare Leaders of New York of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). He has also been recognized in Crain’s New York Business “Notable in Healthcare 2020” for work during the Covid Crisis in NYC and was recognized as a civic hero for his community work in Crain’s New York Business inaugural “Diversity and Inclusion Awards 2021”
Achan shares his wealth of knowledge locally and abroad. He has taught and lectured at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Adelphi University School of Business and Columbia Business School. He has taught internationally as adjunct faculty at the City University of Hong Kong, the University of Macau, and the University of San Carlos. He is also an honorary senior naval professor in the Philippines. Achan is a contributor to Forbes, Huffington Post and several other publications. His unorthodox career trajectory has been the subject of several books as well as publications including articles in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Inc., and Newsday. He has also most recently been featured as a guest on several national programs including Good Day New York, NY1, ABC, NBC, CBS, and quoted in hundreds of articles for advocacy work for organ and tissue donation including CNN, USA Today, NY Times, Daily News and Newsweek that have exceeded a billion media impressions in 2022 alone.
In his private life, he is a contemporary and street artist. He is married with two children and resides in Nassau County, NY.