Effective March 1, 2024, Ascension named two new members to its Board of Directors: Naveen Agarwal and Benny LaRussa.
“Ascension is blessed to add such dedicated and experienced leaders as Naveen Agarwal and Benny LaRussa to our Board of Directors. We look forward to them sharing their experience, expertise and innovative perspective as we continue to deliver on our Mission commitment to serve all persons with special attention to those who are poor and vulnerable,” said Joseph R. Impicciche, JD, MHA, Chief Executive Officer, Ascension.
Naveen Agarwal serves as Managing Partner at NavDots, having worked in various C-suite and CEO roles of large public companies and startups during his 30+ year career. Prior to NavDots, Mr. Agarwal was Chief Customer Officer at Prudential Financial, where he led global digital technology, customer experience, data sciences and marketing and served on Prudential's US Management Committee and US Operating Committee. During his tenure at Prudential Financial, Mr. Agarwal also served in the roles of Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Market Development Officer. Naveen's entrepreneurial background includes more than 20 years in Silicon Valley. He was the CEO and Board Director at Pricelock, an online marketplace for large energy buyers and sellers; served as President of E*TRADE Capital Management and ran E*TRADE's retirement, mutual funds, investments, corporate stock plans and benefits, and wealth management businesses. He also held executive roles at startups and public companies including Renaissance Software, SunGard and TCS. Mr. Agarwal currently serves on the Board of a Copenhagen-based AI company called 2021.AI, as a Senior Advisor to AI4All, is a Fellow at Creative Destruction Lab at University of Wisconsin, and is an Advisor to CNBC TEC. Mr. Agarwal holds an MBA from Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi, India.
Benny LaRussa, Jr. is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Capital Management, a multi-asset holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Sterling Capital Management owns and operates three platform companies: Fenwick Brands, a consumer-packaged goods private investment firm; American Pipe and Supply, a regional wholesale distributor of pipe, valves, and fittings; and StoneRiver Company, a multi-family acquisition, development and property management company. Currently, Mr. LaRussa serves on the boards of Security Engineers Inc., Synovus Bank-Birmingham, Quarterbacking Children’s Health Foundation, and the Auburn University Real Estate Foundation. He is also the Board Chair of the Joseph S. Bruno Charitable Foundation. Mr. LaRussa graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and received his master’s in public and private management from Birmingham-Southern College.
