MEET OUR TEAM
Hunter Gatewood
Strategy, Teaching and Coaching for Change
Hunter Gatewood is a social worker, educator and consultant who helps mission-driven organizations and individuals do good better, through his company Signal Key Consulting. Hunter helps people move from strategy to implementation, building their knowledge and effectiveness at each step, so they are more capable and confident in facing the next set of changes. He does this through the design and facilitation of professional learning networks and change management initiatives, and through shorter strategic planning and instruction engagements. Through work with Hunter and the Signal Key team, clients get both measurable results for the people they serve and new knowledge and skills for themselves.
Hunter guides people through their real work at the intersection of performance improvement methods, management skills and personal leadership. People appreciate his pragmatism, his flexibility, and his engaging and democratic approach to change management. People also appreciate his use of creative and interactive teaching methods, which replace static slide presentations with tactical exercises and graphic facilitation.
Clients and audiences of Signal Key include grant-makers, membership organizations, primary care health centers, hospitals, health plans, medical groups, behavioral health and social service agencies, and schools. Learn more about our WORK.
Before working as a consultant, Hunter was Director of Health Improvement at San Francisco Health Plan. Prior to that he managed learning collaboratives for the California Health Care Safety Net Institute. His clinical experience as a social worker includes community case management for patients with high care needs related to multiple chronic illnesses, homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. It was these partnerships with patients that got him interested in systems thinking and change management.
Denise Armstorff
Performance Improvement and Team Development
Denise Armstorff, BSHA, has worked in the healthcare industry for over 30 years, and in the arena of performance improvement since 2008. She has a wide range of experience in quality improvement, having served as Director of Performance Improvement at Kaiser Permanente, Manager of Performance Improvement Capability Development at Partnership HealthPlan of California, and as an independent Performance Improvement Consultant. She has deep experience working as a Practice Coach, collaborating directly with provider practice teams to develop provider/staff capability and capacity for improvement; as a Master Coach, training and developing improvement advisors and coaches; as a Curriculum Developer and Program Designer, creating practical, applicable, and participatory learning program, events and tools; and, as a Facilitator/Trainer, delivering curriculum via interactive exercises and methods reflecting adult learning theory, including IHI’s Model for Improvement and quality improvement leadership topics.
Denise brings her love and passion for people and quality healthcare into every interaction and seeks to connect participants more closely with their patients, one another, and the work that they do. She employs humble inquiry, powerful questions, observation, and story-telling in working with goal-oriented groups.
Rebecca Bromberg
Strategy, Facilitation & Mindfulness
Rebecca Bromberg, MBA, has consulted for over 16 years in the private, public and nonprofit sectors and has deep experience in health care and nonprofit management. She worked with Federally Qualified Health Centers for much of her career, conducting Community Needs Assessments, creating business plans and shepherding nonprofit leadership through multi-million-dollar New Markets Tax Credit financial closings. Through Signal Key, she serves as the Facilitator and Program Manager for the Inland Empire Opioid Crisis Coalition (IEOCC), corralling the efforts of four diverse workgroups focused on stemming the overdoses and stigma challenges that are part of the opioid crisis.
In addition to her business background, Rebecca is trained in mindfulness-based somatic psychotherapy, and brings in her training to mindfulness instruction to focus on emotional wellbeing and the neuroscience of emotional regulation. She is the founder of Sole Clarity (www.soleclarity.com) where she and her team provide Mindfulness at Work offerings, including teaching mindfulness and mindful communication to healthcare and nonprofit administrators in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island. Rebecca has a Bachelors of Science in Biology from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from Boston University. She is also a published writer of prose and poetry, and a former ballet dancer.
Melinda Avellino
Administration and Project Management
Melinda Avellino has over 20 years of professional experience in administration, web design, digital marketing, social media management, project management, and workflow systems, through supporting entrepreneurs, professionals, and small business owners in a multitude of industries.
Melinda provides organization and communication for the Signal Key team. She provides services to Signal Key and to our clients directly, including email marketing, website maintenance, and social media management.
Loreta Villemez
Performance Improvement and Data Analytics
Loreta Villemez combines two disciplines, Lean Six Sigma and PCMH, one technical and the other conceptual, to form the foundation of a unique perspective on quality that is both rigorous and relevant to the community health center audience. She is, both, a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and an NCQA PCMH Certified Content Expert. Her area of expertise is in data analysis and applying statistical knowledge within the Six Sigma framework to support a patient-centered model of care.
Loreta has 20 years’ experience in the healthcare industry, primarily with FQHCs. She has led 18 FQHC practice sites and 19 private medical practices in practice transformation and successful PCMH recognition. Learn more at villemezconsulting.com
about the name
Signal Key is named for the telegraph signal key, the dot-and-dash-making machine that brought the world into frequent reliable contact virtually overnight. The signal key is a symbol of clear direct communication, of the specific information needed to know what’s happening now. Among its contributions to society, the telegraph facilitated great improvements to the safety of the railroads, and improved the range and reliability of news reporting. The telegraph also connected people in all types of personal and professional relationships, to do what they do in a closer and more coordinated way.