Mark Peysakhovich is the Managing Partner of MBM Advantage LLC. Mark has 30 years of public affairs, community engagement and management experience, having previously held a variety of leadership positions in the public health and human services sector.
Mark’s experience in the health and wellness sector includes almost two decades heading up government relations for a major national public health organization. During that time, he helped guide many successful campaigns on major issues, including making all public and workplaces in Illinois smoke-free, keeping physical education in Illinois’ schools and remapping cardiac and stroke systems of care statewide to help patient experiencing heart attacks and strokes get the expert care they need faster and more efficiently. Most recently, his healthcare lobbying has focused on the mental health field and psychiatry.
Over the last decade, Mark’s lobbying has helped shape Illinois’ cannabis and hemp laws and regulations, which allowed him to develop an intimate understanding of the business and the politics of cannabis. One of his most satisfying career accomplishments was helping to pass the state law that permits cannabis to be used as an alternative to opioids and narcotics. Mark has worked as a consultant for existing industry players as well as companies looking to enter the cannabis or hemp space. He is a regular presenter on cannabis and hemp industry topics at conferences and trade shows as well as at Oakton Community College.
As a refugee whose family came to the U.S. to escape religious persecution when he was a child, Mark recognizes the privilege he has enjoyed and knows he has a responsibility to “pay it forward.” He is active in community organizations and political campaigns and is committed to advocating for better access to mental health care. Mark also enjoys serving as a mentor for startups and community organizations at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago.
Barbara Otto is a Partner of MBM Advantage LLC. She has played a leadership role in building smarter systems of health and social determinants of health for vulnerable people and places across the nation for three decades. Her work in solution building around Medicaid initiatives helped 39 states expand access to health and behavioral healthcare for medically and socially complex populations.
Barbara brings extensive expertise in Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security as well as other public benefits programs for older adults, children, and adults with disabilities. She leverages ethnographic methods to help MBM Advantage’s clients better understand the intersection of health and social determinants of equity. Barbara’s clients include community-level health and social services providers, health systems and health plans.
She is frequently called upon to provide expertise and insights on health, disability, and employment matters with Congress, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Social Security Administration, and media outlets. Barbara was appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative Public Health Council (2011-2017). She is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) and the author of several publications including the No Nonsense Guide Series on Medicaid, Medicare, and employment and disability.