Our Leadership

Meet the dedicated leaders guiding the mission of the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation.

Our Staff

Franklin Walker, MBA

Executive Director, NCMS Foundation, Community Practitioner Program, Project VBOT NC
With the NCMS since 2010
Email Franklin
Cell: (919) 280-4334
Phn: (919) 833-3836 x. 5250

Franklin earned his BA at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill and his MBA at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to his position with NCMS, Franklin was a medical practice CEO, a health care consultant, and a faculty member at UNC’s Gillings School of Public Health. Franklin and his wife Melanie reside in Raleigh. They have two sons, Trey and Paul.

Monecia R. Thomas, PhD, MHA

Vice President, Professional Growth
Executive Director, NC Clinician and Clinician Retention and Well-being Consortium
With the NCMS since 2024
Email Monecia
Phn: (919) 719-4166

As Vice President of Professional Growth, Monecia leads NCMS strategy to stimulate health system environmental changes to improve the daily lives of its members through the North Carolina Clinician & Clinician Retention & Wellbeing Consortium (NCCPRW) and grows the next generation of NC leaders by providing programming under the umbrella of the Kanof Institute for Clinician Leadership (KIPL). Previously, Monecia served as Associate Director for the Clinician Leadership in Quality and Safety program and Senior Quality and Organizational Excellence Leader at UNC Health. Prior to her work at UNC Health, she served as a County Health Director, the Senior State Accreditation Coordinator for the NCLHDA program, and a Director within the NC Institute for Public Health. Monecia earned a Bachelor’s degree in Science Education-Biology from NC State University, a Master of Healthcare Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill, and a PhD in Leadership from North Carolina A&T State University.

Lisa Mwaikambo, MPH

Program Manager, North Carolina Clinician & Clinician Retention and Well-being Consortium (NCCPRW)
With the NCMS since 2025
Email Lisa
Phn: (919) 833-3836 x. 4164

Lisa brings more than 15 years of experience in program leadership, professional development, and workforce well-being to her role as Program Manager of NCCPRW. She leads initiatives that support the retention and resilience of North Carolina’s clinician and clinician workforce through strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and educational programming. Before joining NCMS, Lisa served as Senior Program Officer II and Knowledge Management & Learning Technical Lead at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, where she directed global capacity-strengthening efforts across 45 countries and supported health workforce resilience through training and digital learning solutions. She holds a Master of Public Health from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Wooster in Ohio.

Lydie Ky, MIDP

Manager, Professional Growth
With the NCMS since 2025
Email Lydie
Phn: (919) 833-3836 x. 4168

Lydie brings extensive experience in program leadership, professional development, and global operations to her role supporting the NCMSF professional growth programs, including the Future Healthcare Leaders, the Advanced Healthcare Leaders, and the Executive Healthcare Leaders academies. She helps lead initiatives that strengthen continuous learning through program management, stakeholder engagement, curriculum coordination, and strategic operations. Before joining NCMSF, Lydie served as a senior program manager at Save the Children, where she managed capacity-strengthening programs in Africa and Asia, supported workforce training initiatives, and collaborated with ministries, clinicians, and subject matter experts to advance professional education and organizational learning. She holds a Master of International Development Policy from Duke University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Mount Holyoke College.

Kristen Spaduzzi, MS

Vice President, Health Care Transformation
With the NCMS since 2017
Email Kristen

Kristen Spaduzzi was born in Hong Kong, raised in Georgia and Tennessee, and now thriving in North Carolina since 2007. With a BS in Exercise Science and an MS in Sports Management, Kristen started her career in corporate fitness and wellness, tripped into health care practice management, and landed in health care advocacy, igniting her passion for change leadership. In 2017, Kristen joined the NCMS to promote provider-payer collaborations, drive policy development, and advance value-based care initiatives. After the launch of Medicaid Transformation, Kristen took an opportunity with Carolina Complete Health Network to gain experience on the payer side of value-based care as their Director of Value-Based Programs. In the fall of 2025, Kristen returned to the NCMS Foundation to lead efforts in developing the Transformation Resource for Accountable Care (TRAC), an initiative to engage, empower, and educate health care professionals and stakeholders navigating the transition from fee-for-service to high-value care delivery.

When not driving change, you will find Kristen on the softball field, bantering and laughing with friends and family, or attempting a new activity or project. She is a proud girl mom to an active and spirited teenager (survival tips welcomed) and an unapologetic Georgia Bulldog fan!

Melanie Phelps, DrPH, JD

Executive Vice President, Strategy & Innovation, NCMS Foundation
Email Melanie

Melanie currently serves as a strategic consultant for the Transformation Resource for Accountable Care (TRAC) program of the NCMS Foundation. She is a health policy and advocacy leader with over 30 years of experience. Her professional passion is improving health and well-being for all people. Her career has focused on transforming health care payment and delivery systems and redefining how we understand and pursue health. Over the years, Melanie has represented the patient, provider, and payer perspectives.

She has extensive experience in policy development, strategic leadership, partnership building, program design, and collaborative learning. Her work spans health system transformation, health equity, the drivers of health, population and community health, maternal and child health, person-centered care, and team-based care.

Melanie has been a licensed NC attorney since 2000 and, more recently, earned her DrPH in Health Leadership from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in 2023, strengthening her skills in leadership, research, strategy, finance, communications, and evaluation.

Lisa Shock, DrPH, MHS, PA-C

NCMS Foundation Consultant, CEO and Founder, Clinician Catalyst
With the NCMS since 2017
Email Lisa

Lisa Shock is a clinical and public health professional with extensive experience in value-based care, population health management, and clinical operations across primary care, geriatrics, rural health, and post-acute care. She partners with health system leaders and frontline clinicians to design and implement population health strategies, optimize care models, and improve quality, experience, and cost outcomes.

Lisa is skilled at translating complex clinical and public health data into clear, actionable strategies and integrating metrics into decision-making across organizations. Her work includes clinician engagement, care model redesign, social drivers of health integration, and network management.

She maintains an active clinical practice while serving in consulting and leadership roles, and has taught in areas including community and family health, geriatrics, and rural health.

Our Board

Palmer Edwards

President (2026-2028)
Psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC

Lacy C. Hobgood, MD, FACP, FAAP

President Elect / Gifts & Grants Chair (2022-2028)
Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, ECU Health

Pascal O. Udekwu, MD

Finance Chair (2023-2026)
Surgeon/Critical Care, WakeMed Health and Hospitals, Raleigh, NC

Steve Keene, JD, MBA

Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice President, North Carolina Medical Society, Raleigh, NC

Michelle Jones, MD

Trustee (2025-2027)
Family Medicine, Wilmington, NC

Christopher Grubb, MD, MBA

Trustee (2024-2027)
Pain Management, East Carolina Anesthesia Associates, Greenville, NC

Roy E. Strowd, III, MD

Trustee (2023-2026)
Neurologist, Wake Forest Baptist Health Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC

Venkat Prasad, MD, MBA, MHA, CPE, FAAFP

Trustee (2023-2026)
Family Medicine, Cary, NC

Vinay P. Saranga, MD

Board Member (2023-2026)
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Saranga Comprehensive Psychiatry, Apex, NC

Karen L. Smith, MD, FAAFP

Ex-Officio Member (2025-2026)
NCMS President-Elect

Carl Westcott, MD

Ex-Officio Member (2025-2026)
NCMS President
General Surgery, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC

Grant Irons, MS4

Trustee