Meet VBA
Our Mission
We make the healthcare experience better for everyone.
How We Achieve Our Mission
Our secure, scalable solutions provide critical information in a timely manner, positively impacting member outcomes while reducing administrative costs. The healthcare system is complex, but with the functionality and interconnectivity of our solutions, VBA makes it simpler and more efficient for everyone.
Who We Are
We’re a team of innovators, creators and problem solvers who are passionate about making a difference in people’s lives. While technology is important, we understand that what our clients do with our technology is what really matters. We are constantly on the move, challenging the status quo and focusing on what’s next so we can deliver solutions that exceed expectations. Most of all, we like to have fun and work as a team to deliver exceptional service and support for our clients.
Our Leadership Team
When you partner with VBA, you’ll have access to our executive leadership team at every step along the way. We are dedicated to your success, and you’ll experience our ‘whatever it takes’ attitude from the first meeting.
"I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance." – Steve Jobs
Michael Clayton
President & CEO
Joined VBA: 2013
Professional History
Mike joined VBA as the CEO and 12th employee in February 2013. Today, VBA has over 125 employees and continues to grow rapidly. Mike has day-to-day operational responsibilities for all aspects of the business, full profit and loss responsibility, and leads the overall strategic plan development and execution for VBA. Mike was elected to the VBA Board of Directors in 2020.
Prior to joining VBA, Mike was a partner in The Capital Executive Group (CEG), LLC. As part of CEG, Mike was the Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman for Woods Equipment Company with a broad set of responsibilities including ongoing post-acquisition operational integration, business development and strategic planning.
Previously, Mike held various positions in finance, distribution, marketing, business development, and general management, both domestically and abroad. His prior employers include well-regarded companies such as at Textron’s Jacobsen Division, Deere & Company (Germany), Case Corporation/CNH Global NV, and Ford Motor Company.
Mike earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa and his MBA from Pennsylvania State University. He is also a graduate of Wharton’s Executive Management Program and Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business Mergers and Acquisition Program.
Mike is a respected leader in the industry and currently serves on the VBA Board of Directors and the Board of Directors for the Health Care Administrators Association (HCAA).
Personal History
Mike is an avid marathon runner, having completed over 20 marathons to date including Chicago (14x), Boston (2x) and New York City. He is also passionate about cycling. Each summer, Mike bikes across the State of Iowa in an event known as RAGBRAI and a one-day event (235 miles) across Wisconsin called RAW. Mike has his eyes set on biking across the U.S.
Mike is active in multiple charity events and organizations, including fundraising for the American Red Cross, Susan G. Komen Foundation, Children’s Hospital, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation through some of his marathon and biking events. Mike also enjoys spending time with his two great children, hunting, watching movies, woodworking, and cooking.
Joe Richlen
Chief Revenue Officer
Joined VBA: 2024
Professional History
Joe joined VBA in 2024 as the Chief Revenue Officer. He is responsible for demonstrating the value proposition of VBA solutions in the market and achieving the company’s strategic growth objectives. He oversees the sales, marketing and account management functions.
Joe brings over 20 years of experience in sales leadership to this role. Prior to joining VBA, he served as the Vice President of Sales for ONE, a financial technology company. He also led the sales division at Mineral, formerly ThinkHR, where he played a pivotal role in turning around the company’s financial trajectory and growing it eightfold. Joe was also a national sales consultant at Wisconsin-based Zywave during the company’s rapid growth phase.
Through his leadership, Joe has helped technology companies grow revenue, drive sales and foster team collaboration. He has also led significant strategic transformations and rebranding initiatives.
Joe earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.
Personal History
Outside of work, Joe enjoys hiking and watching movies with his pugs. He is constantly in search of the perfect slice of pizza.
"If it excites you and scares you at the same time, it probably means you should do it." ― Unknown
Kelly Wiza
Senior Vice President, Product Experience
Joined VBA: 2023
Professional History
Kelly joined VBA in October of 2023 as the Senior Vice President of Product Experience. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the strategy, planning and development of VBA’s solutions from initial concept through launch and beyond. She works closely with the development, operations, sales and marketing teams to ensure a cohesive product strategy.
Prior to joining VBA, Kelly was the Senior Director of Product Operations at Applied Systems, Inc. In that role, she oversaw the development and ongoing management of product-related processes and tools in an effort to develop better cross-functional organizational alignment with the go-to-market teams and achieve the company’s strategic goals.
Kelly brings over 20 years of experience across a variety of operational functions in organizations that support the healthcare and insurance industries, including provider network management, software product management, implementation and design.
Kelly earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from St. Norbert College and a master’s degree in health care services from Cardinal Stritch University. She is also Pragmatic Marketing certified.
Personal Interests
In her free time, Kelly enjoys spending time with her husband and three daughters. She can often be found in the cheering section at her youngest daughter’s volleyball games. Kelly likes to travel and Door County, Wisconsin is one of her favorite places to visit.
Maggie Lecher
Chief of Staff
Joined VBA: 2024
Professional Information
Maggie joined VBA in March 2024 as the Chief of Staff. In this role, she is focused on VBA’s strategic planning, operational cadence, and cross-functional projects to ensure alignment and execution of the company’s goals and objectives. Her responsibilities include advising on communication strategies, managing high-value initiatives, and providing insights to enhance organizational effectiveness.
Maggie brings a wealth of experience in finance and business strategy to her role. Prior to joining VBA, Maggie was the Vice President of Finance at Datassential. She has also provided financial expertise and operational guidance as the Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis at Connecture and as a Financial Analyst for Kohls department stores.
Maggie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where she majored in finance, investment and banking, and real estate.
Personal Information
Outside of work, Maggie enjoys spending time with her family and friends, going on walks with her dog, and trying out new restaurants in the Milwaukee area with her husband, Mike.
"The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Albert Einstein
Michelle Bounce
Senior Vice President of Business Transformation
Joined VBA: 2024
Professional Information
Michelle joined VBA in October 2024 as the Senior Vice President of Business Transformation. In this role, she is focused on VBA’s pre-sale project planning and scoping to enhance VBA’s customer engagement strategies. Her responsibilities include leading pre-sale project planning and scoping activities, collaborating with the Sales team, and developing detailed project plans to align customer needs with VBA Solution capabilities.
Prior to joining VBA, Michelle served as the President of JP Farley Corporation, where she remained focused on driving operational excellence in the company and the industry. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Health Care Administrators Association (HCAA) and has been a transformative leader in the healthcare industry. Her dedication to transparency, cost-effectiveness, and improving healthcare outcomes aligns perfectly with VBA’s mission to deliver innovative and client-focused solutions.
During her 18-year career in the TPA space, Michelle gained firsthand working knowledge in vendor relations, plan building, claim and eligibility processing, accounting, account management, and reporting. Michelle began working in VBA as a client in 2011 and credits it for both changing her career trajectory and fueling her desire to improve the way that healthcare is administered.
Personal Information
Outside of work, Michelle is an avid reader of any genre and has never met a book she did not like. She loves hanging out with her dogs and is a regular angel donor for animals in need of care.
Rich Pierce
Chief Technology Officer
Joined VBA: 2001
Professional History
Rich began his career with the US Air Force in 1995 where he earned the Honor Graduate commendation during basic training, a recognition only awarded to 7 percent of graduates. After basic training, he was stationed in Biloxi, MS, where he received his initial training in software development and design at the Air Education Training Center (AETC).
Upon honorably exiting the Air Force in 1999, he took a role with GlyThor Consulting where he developed inventory tracking systems and websites for several clients. While at AWHN, Rich entered the healthcare space when he designed and developed a provider network application for the credentialing of physicians according to NCQA requirements.
In early 2001, Rich left AWHN for a software developer position at KeyLink Solutions, a third-party administrator and a sister company of what would eventually become VBA. He quickly advanced in the organization while continuing to grow the core functionality of the claims administration application. In 2009, Rich completed development of the next-generation software solution, VBASoftware, and became a partner and owner in VBA.
Over the next several years, he would be responsible for the development of a robust flex administration platform, process automation, offline remote perpetual adjudication and real-time claims payment, and VBA has experienced tremendous growth as a result of these efforts.
In 2013, a new leadership team was formed, and Rich was promoted to Chief Technology Officer. In this role, he has continued to oversee the growth of the core products while working with AWS on developing a new services platform that will continue VBA’s role as a technology leader in the healthcare space for years to come.
Personal History
Rich’s hobbies include watching NBA Basketball, playing hoops, video games and movies!
"Leadership is not about being the best. It's about making everyone else better." - Jack Welch
Scott Topper
Senior Vice President of Professional Services and Client Experience
Joined VBA: 2024
Professional History
Scott joined VBA in February of 2024 as the Senior Vice President of Professional Services and Client Experience. He is responsible for overseeing the strategy and execution of all client-facing and operational functions at VBA, including implementation, training, support, and integration services.
Prior to joining VBA, Scott was the Global Vice President of Customer Solutions at Snapsheet, an enterprise SaaS vendor in the property and casualty insurance space. In that role, he was responsible for the strategy, implementation, pre-sales, and channel partnerships functions. He built and scaled SaaS implementation and service delivery models and established the company’s first pre-sales and channel partnership functions.
Before Snapsheet, Scott spent six years as a management consultant at PwC, where he led cross-functional project teams in the strategy and delivery of enterprise software, new operating models, and innovative client experience initiatives for Fortune 500 companies.
Scott brings over 15 years of experience leading global teams in program and project management, strategy, professional services, SaaS-based implementations, and client service. Scott has consistently demonstrated his capability to scale programs and teams, optimize processes, and foster environments of collaboration and growth.
Scott earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and an MBA in strategy and finance from the Michigan Ross School of Business.
Personal Interests
In his free time, Scott enjoys spending time with his family, including cheering on his daughters in various extracurricular activities and playing with his family’s two dogs. He also enjoys working out, listening to podcasts, and rooting for his favorite Chicago and Michigan sports teams.
Our Industry Presence
VBA has joined leading industry associations to stay up to date on the latest regulations and market trends. There is nothing more powerful than face-to-face conversations to build trust and understanding. That’s why VBA maintains a strong presence at industry conferences and events where we can hear firsthand about the needs of payers and benefit administrators, connect with potential partners and demonstrate how we can be part of the solution for the industry’s most pressing challenges.
Watch for us at upcoming industry conferences and events. We’d love to meet you.
Join Our Team
Ready to jump in and start making an impact with an industry leader? VBA is growing fast, and we are looking to expand our team of talented individuals. Onsite, hybrid and remote positions are available.