Core Team

Our core team works directly to meet our clients' needs, partners with our team of experts to develop and refine our services, and manages our day-to-day operations as a company. We are constantly working to improve and optimize our performance, both as individuals, and as a company. Our collaborative approach enables us to serve your organization with our combined strengths and experience. Meet our principals below:

Zohreh Yamin, MSW, Chief Executive Officer

Zohreh is the co-founder and CEO of Piurek & Associates. Ms. Yamin has more than 20 years of experience as a clinician and administrator, and she is responsible for coaching, development and planning, and in collaboration with the Team of Experts, determining the direction and business strategies for Piurek & Associates. Ms. Yamin's expertise lies in supporting strategic planning to reach organizational goals; helping organizations create the necessary momentum to reach their targets and timelines in funding, compliance, and staff and customer satisfaction; creating and securing funding for successful community-based programming, geared towards increasing the independence of vulnerable populations; and developing all levels of staff through training and coaching in progressive organizational and leadership techniques.]

From 1995 to 2002, Ms. Yamin was an administrator in state managed-care systems in Iowa, Montana and Arizona. As her career progressed, she nurtured her natural ability to lead in combination with her desire to serve; Piurek & Associates was founded in 2001, and she began providing clients with organizational development and public sector contract leadership, among other services.

Over the past ten years, Piurek & Associates has expanded under Ms. Yamin's guidance to become a national company, focused on organizational change and improvement, and her consulting now focuses primarily on supporting organizational growth and transition. Ms. Yamin is committed to being of service and making a difference, and she brings this commitment to each client and every organization. She received both her Bachelor's Degree and her Master of Social Work from Indiana University, and completed clinical internships in Fairbanks, Alaska and London, England. Ms. Yamin is also a Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor in the State of Arizona and a licensed Independent Social Worker in the State Indiana.

Jeff Piurek, Chief Operating Officer

Jeff Piurek, co-founder of Piurek & Associates, has more than 25 years of experience successfully building and managing small businesses. He manages the daily operations of Piurek & Associates and oversees the fiscal and administrative areas of the business. Mr. Piurek specializes in fiscal planning and management, facility and daily business management, and business systems.

On a daily basis, Mr. Piurek creates maximum value for the stakeholders by maximizing company productivity and implementing appropriate rewards/recognition and coaching/improvement practices to align personnel with company goals. Mr. Piurek works closely with the president to prioritize customer, team and organizational requirements, maintain and monitor team capacity, corporate financial stability, Knowledge-Skills-Attributes (KSA), expectations and resources to fulfill organizational requirements.

Mr. Piurek believes strongly in developing values-based companies and is dedicated to giving back to the communities the company serves. He is also available to assist clients when help is needed in the areas of facility management, purchasing, business systems, and subcontractor selection. Mr. Piurek holds an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Computer Science from the Academy of Business College.

Sue Dess, RN, MS, Executive Vice President of Business Development

Susan Dess is the Executive Vice President of Business Development with Piurek & Associates. Ms. Dess has more than 30 years experience in the area of health care delivery, operations, utilization management, care and case management, and disease management in the domains of physical and behavioral health. She is a Medicaid program strategist with subject matter expertise in integrated health services and she is responsible for business strategy and program development. Ms. Dess' areas of expertise include national Medical MCO business strategy and program development, as well as RFP response development for health and wellness, and medical and care management; behavioral health nonprofit merger/acquisition strategy and planning; and behavioral health crisis services program strategy and development.

Prior to working as a consultant, Ms. Dess served as the Senior Vice President of Health and Wellness and Product Development at ValueOptions, Inc. In that role, she was responsible for creating the strategic vision for the company's Health and Wellness division, and for designing integrated products and programs that met the medical, psychiatric, and social care management needs of public sector and commercial members.

Trained as a Registered Nurse, Ms. Dess received her B.S.N. and M.S. from the University of Maryland. Throughout her career, Ms. Dess has held a variety of clinical and administrative positions in provider, commercial, and managed care environments.

Elizabeth Cruickshank, MBA, Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Elizabeth Cruickshank is responsible for developing corporate strategy, marketing strategy and branding for Piurek & Associates. She has more than 20 years experience in the corporate marketing arena, both as an independent consultant and as a part of a larger marketing team. Her areas of expertise are developing corporate strategic planning and capture management; developing and managing corporate branding, communications, and marketing; organizational change management and proposal development.

Ms. Cruickshank previously served as the Director of Capture Management for Alutiiq, Inc., leading a team of 13 capture managers in the pursuit of federal government contracts, while providing writing/ editing support and developing their strategic planning for multi-million dollar business opportunities. Prior to that, she was the Director of Public Affairs and Communications at ValueOptions, Inc., developing corporate branding, communications initiatives, and win strategies.

For 16 years, Ms. Cruickshank has been an independent management consultant, developing business plans and proposals for multi-million dollar Medicaid and billion dollar federal healthcare contracts. She also has extensive experience in product development, support, and implementation. Ms. Cruickshank holds an MBA from Rollins College and is currently completing a Doctorate in Business Administration.