CNECT GPO Team

Henry N. Tuttle brings more than 30 years of transformative leadership experience to his role as Chief Executive Officer of Health Center Partners of Southern California. Prior to joining HCP in 2014, he served as CEO of Manet Community Health Center, Quincy, MA, during which time operating revenues increased by 39%, the employee base grew by 60% and the organization enrolled over 15,000 residents into health insurance coverage.

Previously, Henry served as CEO for Outer Cape Health Services, Cape Cod, MA, and held leadership positions at Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He earned a bachelor’s in English from Boston College and is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School Health Care Executive Program.

Henry serves on various boards and committees including San Diego Health Connect Board of Directors, the Health Services Advisory Board for San Diego County and the Healthy San Diego Joint Consumer & Professional Advisory Committee. In addition, he is a member of the National Association of Community Health Centers and serves on the health policy and legislative committees as well as the Health Center Controlled Network Task Force.

Sparkle Barnes is an experienced executive with a history of successfully balancing strategy formulation and execution.  She is a creative thinker, negotiator and influential collaborator that builds momentum towards a vision by leading organizational change through alignment of personnel, partners and key stakeholders. Sparkle currently serves as Chief Strategy Officer for Health Center Partners of Southern California, an enterprise of four companies that work collaboratively to help members improve operational efficiencies and deliver high quality health care to a more than 800,000 safety net population in Southern California.

In addition to serving as Chief Strategy Officer of the enterprise, Sparkle is the Executive Vice President of CNECT serving as the principal administrator of the nationally recognized group purchasing organization (GPO) since 2012.  With over 7,500 GPO member organizations operating another 23,000+ locations, Sparkle has overseen the development and implementation of three successful strategic plans that have led the company to historic returns while driving even greater member value. Sparkle holds CNECT’s legacy of service excellence as an unrelenting “north star” and a guiding principle as CNECT expands its organization into new markets and positions itself for the next horizon.

Sparkle has been asked to speak to national audiences on a variety of healthcare topics from Innovative Practices for Clinically Integrated Networks (Policy and Issues Forum, NACHC, Washington DC Mar 2019) to Expanding Business through a GPO Partnership (Afflink Healthcare Symposium, Kansas City, MO, Nov 2017). In addition, through CNECT’s affiliation with Premier, Inc., a leading healthcare improvement company that operates one of the nation’s largest GPOs, Sparkle has served and continues to serve on a variety of industry relevant committees and councils.

Previously, Sparkle assisted in the development, execution, and management of public-private venture projects for Naval and Marine Corps Shore Installations with the Department of Defense, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest and Pacific.

Sparkle holds a Master of Human Relations, Emphasis Organizational Studies, from University of Oklahoma, and a Bachelor of Arts, Communication Studies, from San Francisco State University.

Liz Guthrie is the Senior Vice President of Business Development for CNECT, formerly Council Connections. Liz is responsible for leading new expansion initiatives, building supplier partnerships across market segments, recruiting and providing solutions for strategic accounts, and directing the strategy and execution for company-wide contracting needs. Prior to this position, Liz was the Director of Business Development for the Central and East territories where she managed an in-field team and provided regional support to members and partners, expanding CNECT’s national presence into new markets. Presently, Liz sits on the Purchase Services Sourcing Committee for Premier, Inc., one of the nation’s largest GPOs for which CNECT is an Affiliate.

Liz holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture from Lincoln University, Jefferson City, MO.

Rasaun Robinson is the Vice President of Sales, for CNECT, formerly Council Connections. Previously, Rasaun served as a Director of Business Development, supporting the membership and managing the development for one of CNECTs largest territories by volume, Southern California. After assuming his current role as a Vice President of Sales, Rasaun became responsible for managing a field team and providing regional support to the membership and supplier partners across the country.

Rasaun holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

Amy Bruce is the Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Communications of CNECT, formerly Council Connections. Before assuming her current position in 2015, Amy served as Region Director for the Northeast territory for CNECT and has been a valuable part of the team since 2008.

Amy has 18+ years of expertise in sales and marketing at various companies including The Little Coupon Book, Grove Office Supply, and Williams Scotsman. She is skilled in high impact sales and devising marketing campaigns to drive business growth.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology which she obtained from San Diego State University.