Monica Holt • President & CEO, Co-Founder

Monica Holt is President and CEO of Encore Wellness & Weight Loss and Encore At Work, organizations established to address the need for wellness and well-being, behavioral health and weight management. She brings over thirty years of experience in the health care field to Encore and understands the importance of integrating wellness into the corporate culture to create a more productive and healthy workforce and community.

As founder and principal consultant of an employee benefits brokerage and consulting firm, Monica understands the challenges that employers face. She works with small businesses, large national corporations, municipalities and non-profit organizations with a focus on risk management, benefits plan design, wellness program development and identifying effective funding strategies for her clients’ core benefit and wellness programs. 

Along with using utilization and claims data as a tool for rate negotiation, Monica uses this data to design wellness programs tailored to the needs of her clients’ workforce. Her work involves analyzing historical medical claims from a variety of sources to identify lifestyle-related claims that can be targeted for intervention. Overall results are designed to improve employee health as well as the corporation’s bottom line.

Monica brings a depth of experience to Encore and is committed to delivering the most effective and sustainable approach to achieving wellness. With a focus on behavioral health, improving nutrition and establishing healthy daily rituals, Encore members are able to realize lasting results. 

Monica holds a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and Finance. She sits on the So. CA Advisory Board of US Bank and is involved in several community organizations whose primary objectives are to improve the health and education of children.

Zuri A. Murrell, M.D • Medical Director

Zuri A. Murrell, M.D. is a leading Los Angeles Colorectal Surgeon & Specialist. He is currently chairman on the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, and Physician Member on the Board of Directors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He served as Director of the Colorectal Cancer Program (2012-2018); Clinical Chief of Colorectal Surgery (2012-2014); and Attending Surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Dr. Murrell has worked to extend healthcare services to diverse communities and has been published more than forty times in scientific articles and books. He consults with the American Cancer Society to align resources of major healthcare corporations and hospitals, in an effort to facilitate early cancer diagnosis and health care services.

Dr.Murrell serves as a major scientific resource to community-based organizations. His passion is early childhood education, and he is dedicated to increasing exposure to science and art. He currently has an active clinical practice in colorectal surgery in West Los Angeles and the South Bay.

Since 2008, Dr. Murrell has maintained certification with the American Board of Colon & Rectal Surgery, and since 2007 with the American Board of Surgery.

Donald Henderson, M.D., MPH • Co-Founder

Dr. Henderson has had an extensive career in healthcare and wellness, with an emphasis in public health. He built a thriving medical practice, while continuing to remain on the cutting edge of innovation and healthcare delivery systems.  Dr, Henderson received his B.S. from Howard University, attended the University of Florida Medical School, Haverford College and the Harvard School of Business. He earned his master’s degree in Public Health from Harvard University, followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology at UCLA Medical Center.

Dr. Henderson maintained a medical office at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Towers in Los Angeles, as well as a location in Inglewood, CA. His practice focused on longevity, disease prevention and quality of life. As a clinical consultant, Dr. Henderson provided health systems with utilization management and cost containment strategies to improve the quality of care provided. 

In addition to his many published papers, Dr. Henderson delivered a strong media voice for health promotion and wellness, with appearances on health-related radio and television programs. He served as Executive Producer and host of national radio and television broadcasts that focused on health and wellness. 

His depth of knowledge helped form the basis for much of the work Encore has done over the years to help organizations and individuals realize optimal health.

Ron Pion, M.D.

Ronald J. Pion, MD currently offers strategic assistance to companies involved in the virtual practice of medicine. He serves as an advisor to several healthcare investment capital firms. Ron has been involved in the development and production of television/radio and other interactive electronic programming for health care professionals and patients for more than 40 years. As a gifted teacher, he's been dedicated to facilitating learning on the part of patients and their families, assisting in disease prevention, health promotion and wellness enhancement. Following a successful career in academic medicine, serving on the faculties of the University of Washington and the University of Hawaii, Dr. Pion returned to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue healthcare telecommunications on a full-time basis. 

He served on the board of directors of the American Academy of Home Care Physicians and the Abbey HealthCare Group, now Apria.  He co-authored a book about the business of caring for patients at home published by McGraw-Hill in 1999. 

He is a clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Tammy Tucker

Tammy is a health care management consultant, with over 25 years’ experience leading large sales and account management health plan organizations.  Most recently, she was the Vice President of Account Management for Anthem Blue Cross, based in Los Angeles.  She led Large Group Client Management for 3,800 commercial and public sector clients, with 3.5 million members and $6 billion in fully insured premium. Prior to joining Anthem Blue Cross, Ms. Tucker was Vice President, National Accounts for UnitedHealthcare. Previously, she held the positions of Senior Vice President, Sales in New York and Vice President of Special Accounts (Fortune 500 companies) in California for Health Net.

Ms. Tucker graduated with a BS degree in Business Administration, Southern Nazarene University, Cum Laude. Her professional affiliations include a seat on the board of the Paul Merage School of Business Center for Healthcare Management at the University of California Irvine and the LA Chapter of 2020 Women on boards.