About Grouper
OUR MISSION
To encourage healthy living through activities that build meaningful social connections and shared experiences.
OUR VISION
For people to live happier and healthier lives through connection & belonging.
Our Group Leaders
Doug Wenners
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Favorite Group Activity: Group Workouts
Doug has spent 25 years as a business leader who believes the health care system should be organized around the needs of people, not the customs and traditions of the system itself. He is outspoken on the role of social determinants as a driver of health, and believes that forming strong social bonds is a “connection prescription” for many of the health challenges in the United States. As a 30-year survivor of Hodgkin’s Disease, Doug’s own experience with cancer helped him to understand that when we have a strong social network to lean on, we have longer, happier and better lives. In his personal life, he enjoys the social connections developed while living in a small New England community and counts group workouts as his favorite activity. Doug also enjoys spending time with his wife and daughters, as well as driving in his pick-up truck with his dog (and best friend), Ruby.
Amy Cheslock
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Favorite Group Activity: Anything Outdoors
A highly-regarded healthcare executive, Amy brings more than 20 years of experience in designing and leading transformational models of preventive and population healthcare to Grouper. Her leadership in population health as well as her groundbreaking work with payers has made a lasting positive impact on patients, providers and large employers throughout the United States. It is this force for positive, lasting change that Amy brings to Grouper and our many members and partners. Amy believes relationships fuel all the best aspects of life and has seen firsthand how strong social connections have helped her loved ones live vibrant active lives. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family in North Georgia.
Spencer Morgan
FOUNDER AND CHIEF COMMUNITY OFFICER
Favorite Group Activity: Skiing, Martial Arts
Eleven years ago, Spencer founded Grouper with the goal of encouraging more people to participate in group activities. He was first inspired while covering the Senior Games as a journalist and later after visiting with clubs in active adult communities, hearing from members whose lives had been transformed by fun groups of fellow enthusiasts. To Spencer, America is a diverse and beautiful patchwork of interest groups and associations. His mission is to help every club flourish and help every individual find their club. Spencer’s group activities of choice are Muay Thai kickboxing and skiing with his daughters. His wife and daughters and dogs are the center of his universe.
Phil Stead
CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER
Favorite Group Activity: Tennis
With more than two decades of leadership experience in healthcare working for companies that were patient-focused, Phil observed the truth to longevity was beyond just the product or the device; healthy aging is strengthened through social connections that yield healthier outcomes. Phil is a firm believer that when individuals are active and engaged in a social network, the power of their social fitness enables a better life and healthspan. In his personal life, Phil loves being around people and championing the Grouper brand. Phil importantly cherishes his time with his wife and three children, enjoying the New England outdoors and rooting on the kids’ sporting events!
Josh Studzinski
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Favorite Group Activity: VR Workouts
What Josh has learned over nearly two decades of go-to-market strategy and execution for older adult healthcare companies is that everyone – at their core – wants to feel connected. They want a good laugh. They want to know they are needed and that they live a life of meaning. At Grouper, Josh drives marketing, brand and overall revenue growth while delivering on the mission of improving lives through meaningful social connections. He sees Grouper activities as the conduit to meaningful relationships. His own most meaningful relationships are with his wife and kids, with whom he enjoys spending quality time and cooking amazing meals.
Dr. Jenn Crenshaw
CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER
Favorite Group Activity: Dinners with Friends
Jenn is an entrepreneur at heart who is driven to see others meet their potential and follow their passions. For more than 25 years, Jenn has served as a trusted advisor in healthcare, consumer goods, hospitality and professional services. A recognized leader in cultural alignment, human capital systems and change management, Jenn is known for developing practical solutions while staying focused on speed to market and return on investment. As Adjunct Faculty at Florida Atlantic University, Jenn is teaching the next generation of leaders to recognize, cultivate and nurture success in others. In her spare time she enjoys the outdoors with her family and friends in Virginia and Florida.
Erik Hjortshøj
Chief Technology Officer
Favorite Group Activity: Racing Cars, Building Furniture
Erik is an early growth technical leader with deep experience in building and scaling health and wellness companies – experience that has led him to see social isolation and loneliness among older adults as a solvable problem. Erik says he was drawn to Grouper due to his passion for building products that truly engage and help people. He believes Grouper has a real opportunity to create a meaningful, accessible and powerful difference in people’s lives. When he is not at his keyboard, Erik endeavors to cook daily, drive race cars as often as possible, and occasionally build a piece of furniture.
Phillip Franz
Chief Financial Officer
Favorite Group Activity: Rock Concerts
Phillip has been in healthcare for three decades, shaping his understanding of and deep commitment to lifting barriers to wellness for all people, especially people 65+. He had the honor to play a vital role in the lives of his grandparents, who remained healthy and energized into their 90’s due to active lifestyles. Phillip has seen the Grouper mission in action and believes that shared passions drive not only friendships but also improved health outcomes.
Mike Angelo
Chief Product Officer
Favorite Group Activity: Movies, Coaching Hockey
Mike is an experienced product executive who has led the vision, execution, marketing and support of products in a diverse range of industries. His many years of experience has helped him home in on customer experience success, building the kind of mission-driven teams that make it easier for Grouper members to find groups, activities and friends that enhance joy. In his off time, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing with the latest technology. Mike lives in Framingham, Massachusetts with his wife, kids, and their dog.
Leila Berkeley
Senior Vice President, Business Operations
Favorite Group Activity: Rowing
Leila learned the power of communities and human connection as a teenager, first while living and working on a farm in central Vermont and later while living in a bustling city in West Africa. She quickly developed a passion for supporting people and their communities and, throughout her career, has pursued opportunities with companies that harness the power of business to support stronger social structures. She has worked with early-stage startups and legacy companies, all the while honing her operational expertise and developing the mettle to navigate companies through challenges and changes. Some of her fondest memories of her own passions are the connections she made on a masters crew team when she was just out of college, rowing with a group of women whose ages spanned five decades. She calls New Jersey her home, where she is learning to garden with her husband and two children and the help of a lot of neighbors.
Louisa Neumann
Business Leader – Club Affiliate
Favorite Group Activity: Skiing, Cooking
Louisa has dived head-first into the Grouper goal of creating community through meaningful social connections. With a positive attitude and a sales and marketing expertise, Louisa has a strong track record of pioneering new business. What that means for Grouper is growing our club partnerships, a vast network of clubs spanning just about any passion you could think of where members stretch, learn, grow and have fun. Louisa thinks the best of her job is meeting our members at club gatherings – whether it’s at a bridge tournament or pickleball competition, meeting our members face to face is a thrill for her. A graduate of both Wheaton College Massachusetts and La Varenne Culinary School in France, Louisa is full of joy, surprises and sometimes cheese. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband John and their 11 year-old son, Thomas.
Steve Burke
Business Leader – Associations
Favorite Group Activity: Golfing, Fishing
Steve manages relationships with some of Grouper’s largest market partners. Steve joined Grouper after a long career as a corporate leader because he feels connected to the mission of helping people find a welcoming community built around shared passions. A proud graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Steve majored in Engineering Management and played both baseball and ice hockey. In the military, Steve was a leader in both peacetime and combat operations, including a year-long tour during Operation Iraqi Freedom where he helped oversee security for the first free and democratic election in that country’s history. Steve lives in North Carolina with his wife, Deborah, with whom he has two children Griffin and Zoie. In his free time, Steve enjoys biking, golfing, fishing and curling.
