Clarity Before Action - Alignment Before Investment
At First Stage Advisors, we believe great strategies succeed when leaders begin with alignment around purpose, priorities, and decision authority. In healthcare, initiatives rarely fail for lack of ideas — they fail because leaders aren’t aligned before the first step.
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That’s why we created the Executive Alignment Process and the Pulse Methodology™ — structured, practical ways to listen to stakeholders, surface gaps early, and strengthen leadership alignment throughout the life of an initiative.
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Our purpose is simple:
We help leadership teams cut through the noise, align early, and move forward with clarity and confidence — so strategy delivers real impact.
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Alignment isn’t an event — it’s a culture. And it’s the foundation of every successful transformation.
Rebecca Bonds
Founder and CEO
From Our Founder
Throughout my career, I’ve watched healthcare organizations invest tremendous effort into strategies, technologies, and transformation initiatives — only to see progress stall for reasons that had nothing to do with capability or intention. Projects faltered not because the ideas were flawed, but because leaders were not aligned early around purpose, priorities, and decision authority.
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Over more than 30 years working with health systems, physician practices, and complex healthcare organizations, I saw the same pattern repeat.
When leadership is aligned, progress is steady, confident, and anchored to the outcomes the organization expects. When it isn’t, friction grows quietly until it becomes visible, costly, and disruptive.
I founded First Stage Advisors to solve that problem.
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The Executive Alignment Process and the Pulse Methodology™ were built from real-world experience leading organizations through digital transformation, enterprise data strategy, operational modernization, and AI readiness. These tools help leaders surface assumptions, expose blind spots early, and build the shared clarity needed to move together — not just forward.
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My purpose is simple:
Give leadership teams the alignment they need to turn strategy into measurable results — without wasted effort, rework, or drift.
Because in healthcare, alignment isn’t an event - It’s a culture. It's the foundation of every successful transformation.
Why First Stage Advisors
Healthcare organizations don’t fail because of poor ideas — they fail because leaders aren’t aligned on purpose, priorities, or decision authority before the work begins. First Stage Advisors exists to solve that problem.
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What sets us apart:
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Executive-level experience that spans hospitals, multi-site physician practices, and complex healthcare systems
Giving us a clear view of how decisions, politics, and priorities play out across the organization. -
A proven alignment process grounded in real transformation work
The Executive Alignment Process and Pulse Methodology™ were built over decades of leading digital transformation, enterprise data strategy, operational modernization, and AI readiness. -
Unbiased clarity at the moment it matters most
We help leadership teams surface assumptions, identify friction early, and establish the shared direction needed to move confidently and efficiently. -
A practical, disciplined approach — not theory
Our work equips executives with structured alignment they can trust, ensuring resources, timelines, and efforts flow in the same direction from day one and remain aligned through completion.
At First Stage Advisors, alignment isn’t a deliverable — it’s a leadership discipline. And it’s the force that turns strategy into measurable, sustainable results.