Bonnie Bystrek serves as chief people officer of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. As a member of the executive leadership team, Bonnie leads CareQuest Institute in fostering an inclusive, engaging, and high-performing culture that aligns with the mission and values. She also drives initiatives to attract, develop, and retain top talent while championing employee well-being, diversity, equity, belonging, inclusion, and innovation.

Bonnie has more than 25 years of experience leading human resources strategy across diverse industries, including financial services, technology, health care, and professional services. Before joining CareQuest Institute, Bonnie served as interim chief human resources officer at WellSense Health Plan, where she led the People and Culture function for 1,100 employees during a period of significant growth.

Bonnie earned her bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Connecticut and her master’s degree in human resources from Northeastern University.

Leslie Carver serves as chief operating officer and executive vice president of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. As a member of the executive leadership team, Leslie leads the organizational strategy, integration, and operational efforts across the organization. She also oversees CareQuest Institute’s data and information strategy, project management, marketing, and operations teams. Leslie is focused on building the right organizational infrastructure to support the organization’s intended impact and support the next chapters of growth at CareQuest Institute, CareQuest Innovation Partners, and Delta Dental of Massachusetts.

Leslie has more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry. Before joining CareQuest Institute, Leslie served as executive director of Boston HealthNet, where she led an integrated network of 11 Federally Qualified Health Centers affiliated with Boston Medical Center (BMC). As ACO operations director at BMC, Leslie managed the implementation of MassHealth’s Accountable Care Organization program for more than 115,000 members. She also brings extensive experience with health plans, including leading value-based contracting strategy at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island as well as contract management and operations at Tufts Health Plan.

Leslie earned her bachelor’s degree in health management and policy from the University of New Hampshire and her master’s degree in health administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Grandy Cody serves as vice president of strategy for CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. In this role, Grandy supports the executive team by driving organizational strategy and process improvement to better enable CareQuest Institute’s core nonprofit areas of activation.

Prior to joining CareQuest Institute, Grandy held program and operations roles with leading nonprofits, including the DentaQuest Partnership and United Way organizations in Massachusetts Bay and Greater Cincinnati. Prior to United Way, Grandy served as a United States Peace Corps business consultant in Oradea, Romania, helping local NGO’s develop business plans and secure grant funding.

Grandy serves as an officer of the board of directors for Jeff’s Place, a nonprofit that offers hope and healing in a supportive community for grieving children, teens, families, and individuals in Massachusetts. Grandy earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from the University of Cincinnati.

Patricia (Patty) Ma, Esq., serves as chief legal officer, executive vice president for CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. As a member of the executive leadership team, Patty provides legal and executive leadership and strategic counsel to advance the work of CareQuest Institute in support of its mission and vision.

Patty has more than 25 years of experience in navigating health care legal, regulatory and compliance matters. She has served in executive leadership roles and as general counsel for both private and publicly traded health care companies. Patty’s areas of expertise include corporate governance, compliance programs and regulatory oversight, contract management and processes, litigation, and negotiating and executing complex transactions, such as joint ventures, partnerships, licensing agreements, and mergers and acquisitions.

Before joining CareQuest Institute, Patty was general counsel and chief compliance officer for Active Day, the country’s largest operator of adult day health centers. Prior to that, Patty held leadership roles at Zelis Healthcare, DentaQuest, an affiliate of CareQuest Institute, and Gentiva Health Services. She has also served as outside deal counsel to DaVita, Inc., one of the country’s largest dialysis providers.

Patty earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Johns Hopkins University and a juris doctor from Boston University School of Law.

Denise W. Marks serves as chief financial officer, executive vice president of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. As a member of CareQuest Institute’s executive leadership team, Denise is involved in strategic decision making across all aspects of CareQuest Institute operations and its full portfolio of organizations, including CareQuest Innovation Partners, a for-profit innovation and impact investing subsidiary. Her leadership has resulted in establishing effective partnerships with leading organizations in the oral health and health care space to advance CareQuest Institute’s intended impact.

Denise has more than 25 years of experience in senior finance and operations roles. Before joining CareQuest Institute, Denise was chief administrative partner and chief compliance officer at SV Health Investors, a global investment firm focused on the health care sector. Prior to that, Denise held finance, operations, and compliance positions at CMGI, @Ventures, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Denise serves on a variety of boards of directors, including Incisive Technologies, Enable Dental, Grin, and MouthWatch, and is a board observer at Wesper. She earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from The Pennsylvania State University and joint master’s degrees in accounting and business administration from Northeastern University Graduate School of Professional Accounting. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts.

Wade Rakes is the Chief Executive Officer of CareQuest Institute for Oral Health. He joined the organization in 2025, bringing deep expertise in health care, government, and community leadership.

Prior to joining CareQuest, Wade held various leadership positions at Centene Corporation, a leading health care enterprise delivering high-quality, cost-effective services to government and commercial programs. During his 15 years at Centene, Rakes rose to Chief Growth Officer and helped propel the company’s transformation from a 6-state Medicaid care management organization into a 30-state, multi-product health care entity deeply connected to local communities. As President and CEO of Peach State Health Plan, he guided one of Centene’s largest subsidiaries, delivering care to more than 1 million state residents.

Earlier in his career, Wade served as a cabinet-level official in the State of Ohio and has remained a committed civic leader. He is Chair of the Board of LGBTQ+ Victory, Vice Chair of the Board of the High Museum, a Trustee of the Woodruff Arts Center, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the James A. Baker III Institute at Rice University.

Wade earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan.