Joseph Dill, DDS, MBA
Joseph Dill, DDS, MBA, is the chief dental officer for Delta Dental Plans Association. Dr. Dill has more than 35 years of experience in the dental and business fields and brings that expertise to the Delta Dental Plans Association. In his role, he leads the System’s dental policy and network strategy to fulfill the mission of increasing access to affordable and equitable oral health care. His dental experience includes eight years in private dental practice and academia, and over 20 years in the dental insurance industry. Prior to joining DDPA, he served as vice president of professional services and dental director for Delta Dental of Virginia. In that role, he led DDVA’s clinical professional services, dental policy, utilization management, fraud and abuse and quality of care areas. Prior to joining DDVA, Dr. Dill spent eight years with Delta Dental of California where he served as their dental director – western states region.
Dr. Dill also spent two years working for the U.S. Public Health Service as a commissioned officer where he provided dental care to residents of the Fort Peck Native American Reservation in Northern Montana. After private practice, he returned to business school and then founded a start-up medical device company, Otoimage, Inc., to develop a reliable means of diagnosing otitis media in infants and children. Additionally, he co-founded and was COO for Propel Biomedical Consulting where he helped biomedical firms achieve financial success through comprehensive commercialization strategies. He also worked at Premera Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska as director of dental products.
Dr. Dill earned his dental degree and bachelor’s degree from the University of the Pacific. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Irvine.
James Barone, JD
Jim Barone is the chief sales and marketing officer at Delta Dental of Missouri. He joined the organization in 2020, and currently directs all aspects of sales, marketing, account management, charitable giving and product development, and provides executive leadership for strategic goal setting, brand development and ongoing business plan metrics.
Mr. Barone has more than 30 years of sales and marketing experience. He previously served in a variety of roles at Ameritas, including as senior vice president of business development and wholesale distribution, senior vice president of group distribution, senior vice president of group business development and MGA distribution, and as national vice president of group business development. He has also held other executive positions, including as vice president/partner at Curtis Visual Communications, chief sales officer at ARAG North America, vice president of marketing and sales at Luxottica/Eyemed and vice president of marketing and sales at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Mr. Barone earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of Cincinnati and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. He was named “40 under 40” Top Business Leader by the Denver Business Journal.
John Lahr, OD, FAAO
Dr. John Lahr is a senior executive with more than 40 years of experience in eye care delivery and work within the vision care industry, including more than 20 years with EyeMed.
As vice president of provider relations and medical director, he is responsible for the interaction and relationship development with EyeMed's health partners in the areas of wellness and disease management support, HEDIS and Stars support programs plus a leadership role in EyeMed's quality assurance and improvement, network development, product development, and continuing educations program development and presentations to benefit professionals.
Before joining EyeMed, Dr. Lahr owned a healthcare consulting group for ophthalmic and optical corporations, managed care organizations and eye care practices. In addition to his clinical experience serving patients, he has extensive experience providing product development and processes leading to FDA approval, professional education concerning company products and surgery proctoring, as well as developing clinical protocols for eye care, utilization review/management standards and processes and new plan design products.
Dr. Lahr received his Doctor of Optometry degree, as well as a B.S. degree in optometric science from Indiana University.
Kim Lear
Kim Lear is known for skillfully weaving eye-opening statistics, insightful stories, and relevant case studies to make presentations come alive. Before founding Inlay, Kim was the content director at BridgeWorks, a research firm dedicated to generational and millennial trends.
Kim’s interest has always been understanding the social trends shaping the future. Her undergrad research was on Baby Boomers redefinition of aging, and her post-grad work was on Millennials and social media trends. Her two most recent studies are focused on the rapidly changing world of work. The Pandemic Time Capsule, a 200-interview project, provides insight into how quarantine, work-from-home, and the “new normal” reshaped the world and our expectations. Why They Leave, a 100-interview series focused on job change trends in the pandemic, attempts to uncover why people left their jobs, where they went, and what, if anything, could have enticed them to stay.
Kim was recently named one of today’s best speakers by Meetings and Conventions Magazine, and she appeared as keynote speaker before some of the most renowned companies in the world. She has received rave reviews from clients, such as American Express, Cisco Systems, Deloitte, Disney, General Mills, LinkedIn, Mastercard, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Wells Fargo, and more.
In addition to speaking, Kim was head of research on the book Gen Z @ Work. She has written whitepapers on generational wealth transfer, the generational implications of COVD-19, retirement trends, and Gen Z’s impact on higher education. Kim has been featured on NPR and in national publications, such as The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, USA Today, and TIME magazine.
She is a highly sought-after generational expert and serves as an advisor to The Tuesday Company, a political tech startup focused on the millennial and Gen Z vote. She also volunteers for The 78 Cents Project, an organization dedicated to helping young women develop strong presentation skills.
When not delving into the minutia of human behavior, Kim can be found spending time with her husband and daughters in Minneapolis.
