Kellogg alumni reunite to help guide approximately $10.6 billion acquisition
In this second installment of a two-part series, we continue to explore the deep partnership between Healthcare at Kellogg and Oak Street Health. Approximately 35 alumni work for this fast-growing network of primary care centers, which specializes in serving older adults. Learn more about the company’s Fellowship for Value-Based Care Leadership in part one of this series, and read on to meet two alumni making a difference in the lives of patients.
When Jordan Allen ’20 MBA and Patton Callaway, ’20 MBA met as Kellogg students in the healthcare community in the fall of 2018, they never imagined they would be working together once again five years later — this time as part of an approximately $10.6 billion healthcare acquisition.
Both served as chiefs of staff to the CEO and COO of Oak Street Health at the time of the acquisition. The role of chief of staff is vital, serving as a liaison between senior leaders and other team members. They are responsible for taking big-picture goals and objectives of the executive team and helping translate them into workable strategies. The chief of staff plays an even more critical role when an organization is going through an acquisition or any large-scale change.
In February 2023, CVS Health announced it would be acquiring Oak Street Health, catapulting both of these Kellogg grads into leadership positions that they didn’t imagine would come until later in their careers. Both knew healthcare was a path they wanted to pursue, and the opportunities that Oak Street Health has provided have been game changing, they say.
Never a dull moment
Allen is Vice President of Strategy and Operations/Chief of Staff to then-COO Brian Clem. Callaway, who is now Vice President of Growth Partnerships, served as Vice President, Chief of Staff to co-founder and then-CEO Mike Pykosz for 2 years. In January 2024, Pykosz was appointed President of Health Care Delivery at CVS Health, leading the organization’s health care delivery strategy and unification of its care delivery assets (including Oak Street Health, Signify Health, and Minute Clinic), and Clem was appointed President of Oak Street Health.
Both alumni agree that in these dynamic roles, no two days are the same. Often tasked with special projects and implementing big changes, the chief of staff is meant to reflect the voice of the leader she or he serves.
“I feel lucky to learn from many leaders who I admire across the organization and engage in work that I find meaningful and intellectually stimulating” Allen says. And, the announcement of an acquisition brought an even more exciting, fast-paced set of challenges. “The work is rewarding and motivating.”
When working through the transition, Allen and Callaway played a role as critical to success as air traffic controllers are to takeoffs and landings. They were responsible for ensuring all the right things were happening and if there were any distractions, they quickly shut them down. They were the primary point of contact for everything from making sure the right leaders from CVS Health and Oak Street Health were being connected, to developing strategic communications plans and setting up the right governance structure. “I’m grateful I had the chance to be involved in the transition – I learned a lot about the many dynamics at play when making a bold move to transform healthcare through combining organizations,” Allen said. “I am also fortunate to have worked with Patton – she is an empathetic leader who is able to drive otherwise complex cross-team and cross-organization collaboration with ease.”
An acquisition can raise a lot of questions and concerns from teammates and sharing the news required the right collaboration and communication throughout all levels of the organization. Allen and Callaway led the development and execution of the strategic communications plan surrounding the acquisition announcement, mapping out how the news would be shared with different Oak Street stakeholders. “We really had to think about this from a human perspective: How might different cohorts of Oakies react to the news? What concerns did we need to immediately address? It required empathetic leadership and really putting ourselves in others’ shoes, from front-line workers to senior leaders,” Callaway said.
Callaway was the first chief of staff in Oak Street’s history. A highlight has been serving alongside Oak Street leaders as the company enters a period of rapid growth. “It has been an incredible experience to support Mike, our executive committee and our board during this inflection point in Oak Street’s history,” she said. “Being in the room with these senior leaders as they made major strategic decisions has helped me understand what it takes to effectively lead an organization.”
The acquisition process from announcement through initial integration took approximately six months. Both Kellogg grads found the experience positive and said they learned a lot from each other. “I learned so much from working side-by-side with Jordan. He is an incredibly patient and thoughtful leader who always ensures everyone feels heard,” Callaway says of her colleague.
Driven by the company’s mission
Allen and Callaway agree that Oak Street Health’s mission to “rebuild healthcare as it should be” aligns with the impact-focused leadership they learned during their time at Kellogg. “I think Kellogg and Oak Street have very similar cultures and values,” Callaway says. “Both organizations attract ‘high impact, low ego’ leaders who are incredibly smart but also very down to earth and care deeply about making a positive impact. I love being a part of such a mission-driven organization leading change in the healthcare industry.”
For Allen, joining Oak Street Health was an easy choice. He was drawn to the healthcare industry because of the problems that need to be solved and the opportunity to make a positive impact. “I feel fortunate to work at an organization in which our business metrics and social mission are so tightly aligned. Every time we help a patient avoid an unnecessary hospitalization, while it is good for our business, more importantly it makes a real impact for that individual patient. The work we do makes a measurable impact in the lives and neighborhoods of those we serve.” Allen said.
A Kellogg connection
After connecting as MBA students, working together again felt like a reunion for Allen and Callaway. Oak Street Health is currently home to more than 35 recent Kellogg alumni. “It has been so fun to reconnect with fellow Kellogg alumni at Oak Street,” Callaway said. “The extensive Kellogg network has helped me get up to speed on Oak Street’s business more quickly, maintain a better pulse on different projects underway across the organization and feel even more connected to Oak Street.”
Allen says Kellogg’s approach to ecosystem thinking is something that continues to stick with him as his career progresses. “One of the things I really valued during my time at Kellogg was the opportunity to get broad exposure to various components of the complex and ever-shifting U.S. healthcare ecosystem. These learnings ultimately well-positioned me for the kind of holistic strategic thinking necessary to contribute to the CVS Health / Oak Street Health integration and value creation work.”
One of the most valuable lessons that Allen learned during his time at Kellogg was about collaboration and how to share divergent opinions clearly and respectfully in search of the right answer. “I came to Oak Street right after Kellogg,” he said. “Working with a team on urgent priorities, under tight deadlines—I had to build those relationships and collaborate effectively. Those were capabilities I learned at Kellogg.”