Our Team

Who are the people behind Happify? Get to know our team of passionate creators and innovators.

Tomer Ben-Kiki

Co-Founder and CEO

Tomer is an experienced entrepreneur who has held the top leadership position at several companies, successfully steering them from inception through rapid growth. Previously, Tomer was the Co-Founder and CEO of Oberon Media, a leading casual gaming company providing for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Microsoft, Yahoo and Sprint. Prior to Oberon, Tomer was the Co-Founder and President of RichFx, an e-commerce startup that provided visual merchandising technologies to top retailers. He graduated cum laude from Tel Aviv University with a B.Sc. in Computer Science, and served as an IDF officer for seven years.

Ofer Leidner

Co-Founder and President

An experienced entrepreneur and business leader, Ofer co-founded and built several digital media businesses, most recently iPlay/Oberon Media, a leading casual downloadable games company where he held several executive leadership roles. Ofer has also served as Co-Founder and President of Gate42 Technologies, a software startup in the customer relations management space. Earlier in his career, he served as an investment manager at an early stage seed fund and as a management consultant in the strategy practice of Trigger Consulting, a leading firm in Israel. Ofer holds an M.B.A. in Finance and a B.A. in Economics and Information Technologies, both from Tel Aviv University.

Rick Held

Chief Experience Officer

Rick is responsible for leading Happify’s consumer experience and growth strategy including analytics and reporting. By applying data-driven behavioral insights and consumer marketing best practices, Rick helps Happify deliver unmatched rates of activation, engagement and retention. Prior to Happify, Rick was the President of Make The Web Better, LLC, a consumer software company that built, marketed and delivered fun, easy-to-use, family-friendly search monetization products. Previously, Rick was the Vice President of Affinity Direct, LLC, the fourth largest federal student loan consolidation company in the US. Rick has a Bachelor’s degree in Consumer Affairs in Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Chris Wasden

Head of HappifyDTx

As Head of HappifyDTx, Chris is leading the effort to bring Happify’s platform to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Recently he was a professor at the University of Utah and served as Executive Director of the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation, a digital health game incubator. He is the co-author of two books on innovation, creativity, and leadership: Tension - The Energy of Innovation; and Solving for Why - Change Your Identity, Change Your Future. He is the named inventor on 12 issued patents, has been a founding leader in 10 startups, and has held leadership positions at JP Morgan and PwC. He holds a doctorate from George Washington University in Human and Organizational Learning, and an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School.

Patrick Burke

Head of Healthcare

Patrick leads the healthcare segment for Happify Health, where his focus is to bring Happify's digital mental health and well-being platform to employers and health plans. After more than 25 years with Aon Hewitt, he joined the Happify team because of his firm belief that organizations that work to improve emotional health will excel. At Aon, Patrick led innovation, product strategy & distribution for their Retiree Health Solutions division. He was responsible for innovation, emerging solutions and go-to-market efforts. Patrick has worked with Fortune 500 companies across all industries, focusing on delivering results, client satisfaction, retention, and product innovations. He is also the founder of YourOwnHow and educates people on how to become—and stay—physically active in their communities. Patrick has a B.S. in business management from Purdue University.

Murray Zucker

Medical Director

As a psychiatrist with a background in academia, large group practice, and health plan clinical executive leadership, Dr. Zucker brings expertise in medical behavioral integration, patient engagement and adherence, health behavior change, and new technologies in diagnosis and treatment. Prior to Happify, he was Senior Medical Director of New Product and Innovation for Optum where he spearheaded the formation of a telebehavioral service and was part of the team bringing innovation to this sector. Previously he served as Optum’s Western Regional Medical Director and Medical Director for Tricare – Western Region with Health Net, where he gained experience with large government contracts and coordinated with the VA and DoD. Dr. Zucker received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, his M.D. from the University of Rochester, and completed his psychiatric residency at UCLA.

Tiffany Sun

Head of Content Strategy

Tiffany serves as editor-in-chief of Happify, overseeing content development and strategy across Happify’s platforms and developing ideas for engaging experiences with leading experts in the field of positive psychology. Previously, Tiffany was the managing editor of Oprah.com and oversaw online content and products for O, The Oprah Magazine. She also managed digital extensions to the Martha Stewart Living brand and developed editorial programming as a senior editor at MarthaStewart.com, and has held several editorial roles at Hearst Magazines. Tiffany graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Psychology.

Nancy Oliker

Head of Enterprise Marketing

Nancy brings over 20 years of health care marketing expertise and a passion for building new marketing capabilities that support rapid growth. She spent 15 years in various marketing leadership roles within UnitedHealth Group including creating UnitedHealthcare’s national Medicare education platform, Medicare Made Clear, and building the marketing infrastructure to support its Group Medicare business, becoming the dominant market leader in less than 5 years. Nancy graduated with an M.B.A. in International Business from George Washington University and also holds a B.S. in Marketing and B.A. in French from Kansas State University. She is a current Board Member of the American Heart Association of the Twin Cities.

Ran Zilca

Chief Data-Science Officer

Ran is an entrepreneur, research scientist, author, and certified coach, who has pioneered the use of digital/mobile platforms to deliver psychological interventions. His work at Happify focuses on the development and scaling of Artificial Intelligence models, utilizing deep learning, NLP, statistical methods, and signal processing algorithms. Ran’s experience as a data scientist spans close to 30 years working at industry and government and heading various entrepreneurial endeavors. He is also the author of Ride of Your Life—a Coast to Coast Guide to Finding Inner Peace, describing his 6,000-mile solo motorcycle ride of personal transformation.

Acacia Parks, Ph.D.

Chief Scientist

Acacia's research focuses on self-help methods for increasing happiness via books and digital technology, with an emphasis on objective/observable outcomes such as physical health indicators. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Reed College, and her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, where her graduate research helped build the foundation for research on bringing happiness interventions to the general public. She regularly publishes articles in scientific journals, has edited three books, and is also Associate Editor at the Journal of Positive Psychology. Prior to joining Happify full-time, Acacia was an Associate Professor of Psychology at Hiram College.

Emil Kurtisi

Senior Vice President of Market Solutions and Implementation

Emil oversees market solutions and implementation of Happify’s enterprise healthcare and DTx verticals. He works closely with internal and external stakeholders to establish solution strategies and drive execution from solution design through commercial launch and implementation. Emil joined Happify from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ where he spent seven years working in various impactful roles, starting in corporate finance, office of the CEO, and chief of staff, to head of commercial sales & marketing, and finally Director of Specialty Products and Services. Prior to that, he worked in various finance roles for Eaton Vance and Prudential Financial. He holds an M.B.A. from Rutgers University and a B.S. with honors in Finance from Seton Hall University.

Hillary Garris

Vice President of Finance

Hillary serves as Happify Health’s Vice President of Finance and has a track record of working with companies during periods of rapid growth and transformation. Prior to joining Happify, Hillary led finance and operations for several software and digital technology ventures including Piano Software and Talent Inc. She also spearheaded Anheuser-Busch InBev’s equity listing on the NYSE and was a member of the company’s Better World Council. She began her career researching and investing in technology companies as part of Oaktree Capital’s Emerging Markets group. She holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.

Derrick Carpenter

Vice President of Digital Coaching Solutions

Derrick brings over a decade of experience as a positive psychology instructor and coach to help lead Happify Health’s integration of artificial intelligence to deliver optimized digital mental health interventions. Prior to Happify, he was an instructor for the Penn Resilience Program where he led resilience and positive psychology trainings for the U.S. Army, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the University of Texas. Incorporating experiential elements ranging from rowing to urban adventure races, Derrick has taught leadership and high-performance teamwork for Nike, Intel, McKinsey, and Columbia Business School. Additionally, he has facilitated workshops and coached individuals on personality and workplace dynamics at NASA, Morgan Stanley and LinkedIn. He holds a B.S. in Math from MIT and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (M.A.P.P.) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Elise Pietracatella

Vice President of HappifyDTx Marketing

Elise’s experience as a marketer with a design-thinking philosophy extends 20+ years working in various positions at top agencies throughout the country including Saatchi and FCB. Her passion for health and wellness drives her desire to evaluate human and scientific truths, putting brand stories into action. Throughout her career, she has led the implementation of health and wellness campaigns for doctors and patients with various pharmaceutical companies. At Happify Health, Elise focuses on making the DTx platform accessible to patients to manage their chronic and comorbid conditions. She graduated with a B.F.A. in Visual Communications Design from the University of Dayton.

Melanie Leibowitz

Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs

Melanie has led the quality and regulatory efforts for companies manufacturing healthcare and consumer products for over 18 years. She has worked on medical devices, over-the-counter drugs, EPA-registered disinfectants, and cosmetics, as well as children’s products. Melanie is a trained microbiologist and has managed analytical lab operations. She is certified as a lead auditor for ISO 13485:2016. She has also hosted more than 15 FDA audits, including pre-approval inspections (PAI), and has led FDA submission meetings. Melanie holds a B.S. in biology from Rutgers University.