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Our Team
Led by the firm’s two founding principals, our senior
professionals are among the best in the industry.
Flora
Acosta, Operations
Manager, Health & Welfare Plan Administration
Flora Acosta joined Cornerstone in 2004 with 15 years of experience
in health and welfare plan administration. In her current role as Health
& Welfare Operations Manager, Flora manages a staff of 19 and oversees
all areas of operations pertaining to Flexible Spending Plans, HRAs, COBRA
Administration and Retiree Billing. Prior to joining Cornerstone, she
spent more than a decade with a third party administrator where she was
responsible for drafting plan documents and amendments, handling compliance
issues and IRS Form 5500 filing. Flora received her Bachelor’s degree
in paralegal studies from Johnson & Wales University.
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Robert
F. Calise, Principal
Rob Calise is a founding partner of Cornerstone Group.
He helps clients control the costs of employee benefits by focusing on
consumer driven strategies and on how to best utilize the tax savings
tools the government provides. Rob is a board member of the Blue Cross
& Blue Shield of RI Broker Advisory Board, United HealthCare of New
England Broker Advisory Board and the Rhode Island Business Healthcare
Advisors Council. He is also a member of the National Association of Health
Underwriters (NAHU), American Health Insurance Association (AHIA) and
the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC), as well as various
human resource associations. Rob is a graduate of Bryant College with
a BS in Finance.
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Joseph
E. Cardello,
Principal
A founding partner of Cornerstone Group,
Joseph Cardello works with small and large employers to develop strategies
to control the cost of healthcare coverage for their organizations. Joe
also works with many of our personal clients to solve their life, disability
and long term care insurance needs. Joe has worked in the industry for
more than 20 years and offers a unique perspective on problem solving
through his municipal experience: Joe served for 6 years as a councilman
in North Providence, Rhode Island, and recently served for two years on
the town council in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Joe is a graduate of
the University of Rhode Island with a BS in Accounting.
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Paula
Flaherty,
Legal Counsel
Paula Flaherty is legal counsel for Cornerstone Group. She has 27 years
of experience in the Employee Benefits field, including 16 concentrated
in the Flexible Benefits area. Flaherty began her career with the US Department
of Labor in Boston and since then has worked for a large insurance company,
a major bank and three benefits consulting companies. She is a magna cum
laude graduate of Boston College and obtained her legal training at Boston
University School of Law. In 2000, Flaherty qualified with honors for
the designation of Certified in Flexible Compensation (CFC), which is
presented by the Employer’s Council on Flexible Compensation.
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Amy
Gallagher,
Senior Benefits Consultant
Amy Gallagher has over 15 years of healthcare
industry experience. In her current role at Cornerstone Group, she is
responsible for developing and managing client relationships in the large
group market. She focuses on providing clients with long-term cost-containment
strategies, often coupling consumer-driven products with results-driven
wellness programs. Her special areas of expertise include health savings
accounts and
wellness consulting. Prior to joining Cornerstone, Amy worked for
three of New England's largest carriers in various sales and account management
roles: UnitedHealthcare of New England, Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare of
New England and Delta Dental of Rhode Island. Amy speaks
regularly in the business community on a variety of healthcare-related
topics, is a frequent contributor to NBC 10's Sunrise Show with Frank
Coletta and is an occasional guest columnist for the Providence Business
News. She holds an MBA and BS in Business
Administration/Marketing from Bryant College and is a member of the Worksite
Wellness Council of Rhode Island, Human Resource Management Council of
Rhode Island, the Southern Rhode Island Human Resource Council and the
Rhode Island Business Group
on Health.
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Lawrence
Grudzien, JD,
LLM, Attorney of Counsel
Larry is an attorney practicing exclusively in the field of employee
benefits. He has more than 28 years’ experience advising on all
aspects of employee benefit law including: drafting and reviewing individually
designed and prototype retirement plans, performing due diligence on employee
benefit issues for merger, acquisition and outsourcing transactions, and
advising on administrative and design issues. Mr. Grudzien has a B.A.
in history and political science from Indiana University, J.D. from Valparaiso
University School of Law, and LL.M. in tax from Boston University School
of Law. He is a member of the Indiana and Illinois bars and a published
author and law professor.
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Amy
Hamilton,
Health & Welfare Plan Consultant
Since 2004, Amy has served as Cornerstone’s
key client contact for client acquisition and product implementation of
Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Accounts, and COBRA Administration.
Previously, she worked in account management at New Hampshire’s
largest healthcare purchaser, assisting municipal clients with medical
and dental insurance as well as flexible spending plans and COBRA administration.
Amy received her B.S. from Plymouth State College and is completing her
studies towards the Certified Employee Benefits Consultant designation.
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Andrea
Lawton,
Director of Client Service
Andrea joined Cornerstone in 2005 with
18 years of management experience. Her sole focus is to guarantee that
our clients receive the highest level of service. She manages our eight-member
group benefits client service team who are responsible for the most important
function that we provide: client service. We pride ourselves on becoming
“your benefits partner” and Andrea supports that vision and
goal that we strive for. She graduated with a B.S. in Management from
Rhode Island College.
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Ryan
Alan Lax,
Benefits Consultant
Ryan has been with Cornerstone since
2003 and is responsible for providing a full range of personal financial
and group benefit services to small and mid-sized businesses. Previously,
Ryan spent eight years in the payroll business working with ADP and Payrolls
Plus. He graduated with a B.A. in Communications from Lynchburg College
and holds series 6 and 63 licenses.
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Jennifer
Siefert, Account
Manager
Jennifer Siefert brought with her a decade of health insurance
experience when she joined Cornerstone in 2005 as an account manager specializing
in the 1-9 employee market segment. In this role, she advises clients
on group health benefits, including Medicare options and consumer-driven
plans, and assists with large group open enrollment. Previously, Jennifer
served as an account representative with some of the area’s largest
insurers, including Tufts Health Plan and Aetna, where she focused on
both small and large groups. A graduate of Boston College, she holds a
producer’s license for health and life insurance in the state of
Rhode Island.
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