McDermott + Bull has successfully placed Maria Penate as Director of Compliance at ClinNEXUS. In this role, Maria will be responsible for leading the company’s risk, compliance, and quality strategy, including strengthening operational controls, formalizing risk governance, and building scalable compliance infrastructure to support continued growth. She will partner closely with executive leadership and the Board to enhance audit readiness, strengthen risk visibility, and translate complex regulatory requirements into practical processes across the organization.
Maria brings nearly two decades of healthcare experience with deep expertise in compliance, enterprise risk management, regulatory governance, and quality management. Most recently, she served as Director of Compliance and Risk at Gracelight Community Health, where she led enterprise risk assessments, compliance infrastructure, claims oversight, and regulatory initiatives while integrating risk, compliance, and quality functions to support organizational growth. Prior to Gracelight, she served as Director of Compliance and Human Resources at Kheir Clinic and Compliance and Risk Management Director at South Central Family Health Center. Earlier in her career, Maria held leadership roles with APLA Health and Wellness and Clinica MSR Oscar A. Romero and began her healthcare career with UCLA Health System. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and is a Certified Healthcare Compliance professional.
ClinNEXUS is a healthcare technology company dedicated to improving care coordination for underserved populations through AI-enabled data integration and workflow optimization. Positioned at the intersection of technology and value-based care, ClinNEXUS addresses critical inefficiencies in the healthcare system to reduce admissions and improve patient outcomes.
This executive search was completed by McDermott + Bull Partner Jake Vander Zanden and Executive Recruiter Michael Matranga.