Rachel Ryan joined Dogwood Health Trust after serving as a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, where she counseled non-profit health care systems, hospitals, physician-hospital organizations, and foundations on strategic transactions designed to further their missions and increase their impact.  In 2012, she began advising Mission Health System on physician alignment transactions that increased patient access to care and improved quality of care throughout the system.  More recently, she managed a 30-person attorney diligence team for the $1.5 billion sale of Mission Health System to HCA.  She has facilitated collaborations among private and public companies to address the opioid epidemic in Ohio and the lack of primary care residency training in Eastern Washington.  She has also advised network administrators on contracts with providers and government agencies.

While at DBR, Rachel served as Vice Chair of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.  In this role, she developed and implemented strategies to address equity concerns and retain and recruit diverse attorneys.  Those efforts resulted in the elimination of billable hours and bonus compensation disparities between diverse and non-diverse associates.  Earlier in her career, Rachel worked for several start-up companies in roles that included Director of Product Innovation and Marketing Operations Manager. 

Rachel has broken barriers in her professional and board service career.  When she was elevated to partner at DBR in 2016, she was the first Hispanic female partner at a firm of 600 attorneys.   From 2013-2014 she served as the first female board President of Shaker Ridge Country Club, an organization established in 1929.

Rachel earned her bachelor of arts from Harvard University and her juris doctorate from Albany Law School, where she graduated as valedictorian.