Team
Who We Are
We are building a team of professionals that are passionate about healthcare and talent, and who are looking for an opportunity to build something special. We value integrity, accountability, intellectual curiosity and grit, and we pride ourselves on being both action and results-oriented while still having fun at what we do.
Mission
Simply put, we exist to help healthcare companies hire the best executive leaders in the industry. Further, we want to leverage our network in creative ways, both to help our clients grow, and to find opportunities to give back to the healthcare community.
Tim Gordon is the Founder & Managing Partner of Aequitas Partners, which he founded after spending over two years helping to build Oxeon Partners, nearly from its inception. Since the firm’s founding, Aequitas has been engaged on Board, CEO, CFO, CGO, CTO, COO, VP of Sales, and VP of Marketing searches, among others, for clients whose focus ranges from Population Health, to Interoperability, to Clinical Workflow Transformation. As a Director at Oxeon, Tim led searches and placements across the C-suite for clients such as Evolent Health, PatientSafe Solutions, Shareable, RxAnte, Silverlink, Liazon, The Advisory Board Company, eVariant, T-System and Cambia Health. Additionally, Tim managed the human capital content creation for StartUp Health’s Curriculum, and continues to advise its entrepreneurs on building their leadership teams. His interest lies in the strategic and consultative build-out of high caliber executive management teams for companies in the Aequitas Partners Portfolio — companies that are changing the way the world thinks about Healthcare.
In addition to managing the firm, Tim spends time every month consulting with StartUp Health entrepreneurs holding office hours and engaging with them on topics ranging from hiring sales and business development executives, to recruitment strategy, to long term human capital planning. He is also a Mentor at StartupBootcamp and MATTER, is the Co-President of The Healthcare Club New York, and an Advisor to a number of early stage healthcare companies.
Tim graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Supply Chain & Information Systems, but has been a Nittany Lion all his life. Originally from the Philadelphia suburbs, Tim spent more than a decade in Manhattan, where Aequitas was founded, and now resides in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia with his wife Kristy, who is a Nurse Practitioner at Jefferson University Health System, and his son Theo.
Stephanie Sutsko is a Principal at Aequitas Partners. She joined the firm in 2021 with 7 years of executive search experience and a decade of experience working in the pharmaceutical and clinical research industry. Stephanie has a passion for the intersection of healthcare and technology and the impact that digital health companies can have on patients’ lives.
Prior to Aequitas, Stephanie was a Principal at Howard Fischer Associates, where she served as a partner and strategic advisor to executive leaders of both emerging-growth and Fortune 500 companies. She collaborated with her clients to identify, engage, and evaluate strong talent to drive success for their business needs. She worked across many industries including SaaS, telecommunications, industrial technology, healthcare, manufacturing, computer software, financial services and media. She has recruited across functions, placing Board members, CEOs, C-Suite executives, and other executive leaders in operations, finance, marketing, IT/engineering, sales, and HR.
Stephanie started her career in executive search at the Atlantic Group where she expanded the firm’s practice into life sciences and technology. Her early career was in pharmaceutical clinical research where she worked both for clinical research organizations and in Big Pharma at Novartis. There she focused on bringing new oncology treatments to market as well as patient recruitment initiatives across indications.
Stephanie graduated with degrees in Biology and History from the University of Delaware where she was also a member of Chi Omega sorority. She is a certified Pilates instructor, roller-coaster enthusiast, and loves spending time outdoors. She is originally from Philadelphia and now resides in the suburb of Bucks County with her family, including daughter, Emmelyn, and son, Gavin.
Kelly McEldrew is a Principal at Aequitas Partners. She joined the firm in 2022 with 10 years of executive search experience.
Prior to joining the firm, Kelly was a Principal at Howard Fischer Associates, where she partnered with executive leaders of both emerging-growth and Fortune 500 companies, collaborating with clients to identify, engage, and evaluate strong talent to drive success for their business needs. Her work spanned across multiple industries, including media, telecommunications, digital, consumer and enterprise services and products and technology. She has recruited across functions, including Board members, CEOs, C-Suite executives, and other executive leaders in operations, finance, marketing, IT/engineering, product, sales, and HR. In addition to traditional executive search, a large portion of her search portfolio was dedicated to helping her clients enhance and fulfill their executive commitment to DE&I by engaging with top level diverse talent.
Prior to Howard Fischer, Kelly started her search career at the Atlantic Group, a boutique executive search firm focusing on finance recruitment.
Kelly graduated with honors from Georgetown University with degrees in Psychology and English and a minor in French. She was also a member of Georgetown’s Varsity Women’s Track and Field and Cross-Country teams. She is originally from Gwynedd Valley, PA and now lives in the East Passyunk neighborhood of Philadelphia with her husband, Brett, and son, Parker.
Nina Mermelstein is the Chief of Staff at Aequitas Partners, where she leads searches for clients who are building innovative digital health businesses ranging from tech-enabled direct primary care to disease management mobile applications. During her tenure, she has built relationships with executives across the healthcare technology industry, placing skilled professionals in a variety of positions such as Chief Technology Officers and Chief Medical Officers. With a mission to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across the health tech industry, Nina has built a free DEI resource center and organized a series of Health Talent Roundtables with leaders across the industry to discuss DEI initiatives. She also spearheads volunteer efforts at Aequitas Partners, organizing volunteer opportunities with non-profits such as BUILD NYC.
Prior to joining Aequitas Partners in 2017, Nina was a healthcare consultant at Avalere Health, a Washington D.C.-based healthcare policy consulting firm. Once she gained a broad perspective of the healthcare policy landscape, Nina joined Avalere's Payment & Delivery Innovation team where she managed client relationships and advised a wide variety of stakeholders such as providers, payers, and life science companies on value-based care initiatives.
Nina graduated with her BA in Public Health and Entrepreneurship & Management from Johns Hopkins University. She is currently pursuing her MA in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from NYU and looks forward to applying that knowledge to enhance team culture and talent management across the digital health landscape.
Regina Heffernan
Senior Associate
Regina Heffernan is a Senior Associate at Aequitas Partners where she drives cross-functional searches across various sectors of the Digital Health industry. She joined the firm after working at Independence Blue Cross as a Product Manager where she managed enhancements to the product portfolio for various market segments including virtual care, disease and chronic condition management, customer service, and weight management solutions.
Regina began her career in Government and External Affairs at AmeriHealth Caritas Family of Companies focusing on Medicare, Medicaid and other publicity funded low-income populations. During her time there, she was responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of the Political Action Committee. In addition, Regina supported the company’s state legislative and advocacy efforts and the development of their strategic government affairs objectives in current and expansion markets.
Regina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and recently earned her Masters of Business Administration, Management Specialization from La Salle University. She also volunteers and works closely with Fred’s Footsteps, which is an organization that provides interim funds for otherwise financially stable families to help them handle the financial burden of a child’s illness or traumatic injury.
Julia Kramer-Golinkoff
Sr. Market Analyst
Julia Kramer-Golinkoff joined Aequitas Partners in 2021 as a Market Analyst. She is passionate about digital health and the application of technology to lower healthcare costs and improve patient care, especially for underrepresented populations. She believes success and impact is driven by innovative leaders, and is committed to bringing top talent to technology-enabled companies across the healthcare continuum.
She started her career as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where she oversaw a number of clinical research studies. She also served as the Communications and Advocacy Liaison for the Global Leukodystrophy Initiative Clinical Trials Network, working with clinicians, research teams, and advocacy partners from around the globe. Julia is a co-founder of Emily’s Entourage, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing research for rare nonsense mutations of Cystic Fibrosis.
Julia received her BS and MSPH from Tulane University. She currently resides in Philadelphia. On the weekends, you can either find her racing down the ski slopes or playing just about any beach game. She is always in search of her next concert!
Carlee Horgan
Associate
Emily Baker
Graduate Associate
We’re Hiring
If all of this excites you, we want to hear from you. We’re always on the lookout for great people to join us in these efforts.