Diana is the founder and President of AMC Strategies, built upon 30 years of strategic planning experience. Prior to establishing AMC Strategies in 2001, Diana internally led strategic planning for Cedars-Sinai Health System in Los Angeles, and served as the Executive Director and founder of the Joint Office of Strategic Planning, a unique “joint” planning office between Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, that oversaw collaborative strategic planning initiatives across the hospital and school of medicine. Diana also served as the first-ever Assistant Dean for Strategic Planning at Washington University School of Medicine. Before focusing on academic medical center strategic planning, Ms. Carmichael was a management consultant with the national healthcare strategy practice of PriceWaterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) followed by the healthcare strategy practice of Ernst & Young. She received her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Master of Hospital and Health Care Administration from the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Diana is a Past National Chair of the Group on Institutional Planning of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and past President of the St. Louis Society for Healthcare Planning and Marketing. Diana continues to be a national presenter on strategic planning in the academic setting at many AAMC meetings. Diana is the recipient of the prestigious “Distinguished Services Award” from the AAMC’s Group on Institutional Planning for “outstanding service and commitment to the mission of the GIP and to the advancement of the practice of planning in academic medicine.” She has been a keynote speaker on strategic planning for the Association of American Cancer Institutes/Cancer Center Administrators Forum and has served as an invited lecturer on strategic planning in the academic setting for the Stanford University Physician/Faculty Leadership Development Program.

Becky has been instrumental to AMC Strategies in her leadership role as Vice President the last several years, while also serving as an AMC Strategies consultant for the past eighteen years, working on every major engagement across a broad client spectrum.  In her new role as Senior Advisor, Becky continues to apply her significant experience in complex project management, strategic planning, financial analyses, and retreat facilitation.  Becky brings a unique combination of experience in health care finance and health services research.  As the Director of Health Economics and Outcomes Research at Zynx Health, she provided evidence-based medicine consultation to the pharmaceutical industry.  While at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research she managed population-based studies on access to health services as well as working on the California Hospital Outcomes Project.  As the Director of Finance for Daniel Freeman Hospitals, she was responsible for reimbursement, budgeting, financial and market analysis.  In addition to holding these positions, Becky has provided independent consultation in financial and statistical analysis, program design and evaluation, policy analysis and grant writing for clients including UCLA Center for the Health of Children and Families, Cedars-Sinai Primary Care Pediatrics, RAND, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Tenet Corporation, Charles Drew University and the Healthcare Association of Southern California.  Rebecka received her MPH from the University of California, Los Angeles and has a degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Laura was recently promoted to Vice President to reflect her senior leadership role in AMC Strategies, her extensive strategic planning experience, outstanding ability to manage complex engagements, and her commitment and service as an invaluable, respected consulting resource to all AMC Strategies clients. Laura brings 30 years of experience in academic health care strategic planning and facilities master planning to the AMC Strategies team.  As Senior Vice President and Assistant Dean for Strategic Planning at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, she led the strategic planning activities that resulted in doubling of research funding, creation of satellite campus, mergers and acquisitions, and the establishment of a new health professional college and programs.  She has managed medical center and university economic impact studies and developed and implemented a 10-year facility master plan leading to the construction and occupancy of three new research buildings and the renovation of over 1 million square feet of medical center space.  She has extensive management and technical experience in research, education and clinical space allocation and utilization. As senior vice president she was also responsible for the public relations, government relations and crisis protocol for the medical center. She has the ability to work effectively with a diverse group of people at all organizational levels.  Laura served as a member of the National Academies’ Committee on Assessing the Capital Needs of the National Institutes of Health, charged with identifying mission critical facilities, completeness of proposed capital projects, and identifying approaches for developing a twenty-year comprehensive capital strategy.   She is a past Program Chair of the Group on Institutional Planning of the AAMC and received her MPH from the University of Michigan. The University of Cincinnati CARE/Crawley Building was awarded the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design American Awards 2009 which was overseen by Laura.  Laura joined AMC Strategies in 2010.

Susanne brings over 25 years of experience in management consulting and strategic planning, with a strong focus on healthcare and academic medical centers. At AMC Strategies, she draws on a diverse background that spans both private-sector consulting and in-house roles within leading academic institutions. Susanne began her consulting career at Booz Allen & Hamilton in the Information Technology Practice, where she advised clients across multiple industries on optimizing information flow and operational processes to support strategic business growth. Prior to joining AMC Strategies in 2018, Susanne served as a Project Manager in UCLA’s Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research. There, she collaborated with faculty from the five University of California medical centers, Cedars-Sinai, and other healthcare stakeholders on grant-funded research initiatives. Her work focused on improving healthcare quality, access, and delivery across the UC system, including managing physician proposal submissions and program evaluation. Susanne also led requirements analysis and implementation for a UnitedHealth Group Ventures–funded wellness startup, where she helped launch a wellness coaching and member support platform. She holds an MBA in Finance from The George Washington University and a BS in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland.

Grant joined AMC Strategies as a full-time consultant in 2021, following his time as a strategic planning intern with the firm during his undergraduate studies. In his role as consultant, he supports a broad range of strategic planning engagements for academic medical centers nationwide. Grant contributes to all aspects of project execution, including data analysis, market research, and qualitative insight gathering through interviews, focus groups, and survey analysis. Since joining the firm, he has been a consistent contributor to every client engagement. Grant earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University Bloomington. He brings a strong foundation in business analytics, a creative and thoughtful approach to problem solving, and a genuine enthusiasm for helping clients define their future direction.

Kendall began her working relationship with Ms. Carmichael at Cedars-Sinai Health System, and she brings a variety of assets to AMC Strategies.  At Cedars-Sinai she was responsible for the design and branding of all deliverables of the Strategic Planning Office, as well as for presentations given by the CEO and Board of Directors.  Prior to that, Kendall worked with the Vice President of Education at the Milken Family Foundation where she was responsible for research project coordination and data analysis, as well as proofing and editing in-house publications, skills she also brings to AMC Strategies.