Bringing it all together: takeaways from the inaugural Celeste Innovations Summit

Highlights and lessons from Celeste’s first-ever launchpad for collaborative innovation.

Late last year, Celeste hosted its first-ever Innovations Summit, a multi-day event that set the stage for a new era of collaboration between health solution companies. Bringing together solution partners from across the ecosystem, the Summit aimed to align teams, share insights and drive forward-thinking opportunities to improve deeper integration and, ultimately, the member experience.

We spoke with Bryan Dorathy (Vice President of Innovations at Celeste) and Johnna De Los Santos (Senior Summit Consultant) to hear their takeaways on the inaugural summit.

What was the “big idea” behind the Innovations Summit?

Bryan Dorathy, Vice President of Innovations at Celeste
So, we knew from the beginning that we wanted to bring all our solution partners together to collaborate in-person and find ways that we could leverage their efforts under the Celeste umbrella. The goal was to learn how to work together even better than we already do and continue getting that “one plus one equals three” type of outcome that we’re looking for.

This was a great way to get key players in the room to continue to ask how we can—together—drive deeper value than other offerings in the marketplace. The Summit was meant to be a collaborative experience that really highlighted the importance of these partnerships. We wanted them to continue to contribute actively to the bigger picture—and I think we were successful at doing that.

Johnna De Los Santos, Senior Summit Consultant
We really wanted to show how Celeste is different. We wanted to say: “We’re in this together. This is truly a partnership. This team wants to help you get better—you can learn from them. And everything you learn here is something you can take back and apply to the rest of your business.”

What about the Summit surprised you the most?

Bryan Dorathy
I have to say that I was really impressed by the level of engagement we were seeing at this Summit. It struck me an hour in, and then it struck me again the second day: I didn’t see almost anybody with their phones out. Everybody was facing forward, fully engaged. Honestly, I was just completely blown away by how well it all went. I’m so proud of our team and so proud of the representatives from these point solutions who showed up. It felt like they were people who we really wanted to lock arms with. And I found all of that to be really encouraging.

Johnna De Los Santos
We asked people to do a little pre-work—which, when people hear “pre-work,” they’re like, “oh, great, homework.” But once they went through it, they were genuinely excited to see that it was real-life, applicable stuff. It wasn’t this kind of boring, “put together a deck about who you are,” kind of thing. It was, “we’re going to give you a real-life scenario and you tell us how you would work with the member on that.” And they responded so positively to that, which was really a great surprise right off the bat.

What was the value of hosting an in-person event as opposed to a virtual one?

Johnna De Los Santos
Some of the most valuable moments happened outside the summit sessions—at dinners, for example—where we could build relationships in a more natural setting. After a full day of learning together, these moments provided an opportunity to connect on a deeper level, get to know people beyond their roles, and understand the perspectives they bring. I was sitting at Bryan’s table during one of the dinners—we talked about Celeste, but we also shared stories about our kids and our experiences. It was a conversation filled with laughter and genuine connection—something that’s hard to replicate in a virtual setting.

Bryan Dorathy
It was great for our internal team as well. The ability to just show up and sit next to their solution partners and help connect the dots in person was a huge benefit. You could just see the lightbulbs going off for them, and it really helped their relationships.

What’s next for the Innovation Summit?

Bryan Dorathy
We’re tentatively planning another summit in the first half of 2026. We want to carry the momentum we got from this summit to encourage our partners to integrate even more advanced technologies that will help us engage members even more effectively. A lot of our conversations to date have focused on things like real-time, on-demand data—but we’re already thinking about what’s next.

How do you think the Innovations Summit helped to make a better healthcare landscape?

Bryan Dorathy
I think it went a long way toward fostering more collaborative conversations. We’ll just continue to talk about ways that we can leverage the best capabilities that each one of these partners brings to the table. You know, none of these things are easy.

Talking about integration, talking about data sharing, talking about making changes in workflows—I mean, these are difficult things. But there’s clearly a drive in each organization to do the best that they can for the members they serve, and everybody has the best intent. And so, summits like these are opportunities to kind of poke around the edges: How can we maybe do things a little bit differently? How can we be more effective? It all comes down to this: how can we do good things for more people? And that’s a question that’s always worth asking.

The first-ever Celeste Innovations Summit set the stage for deeper collaboration among health solution partners and kicked off much-needed discussions around data sharing and the promise of true integration. It all underscores Celeste’s founding commitment to drive innovation that optimizes member experience and pushes healthcare into the future. This was just the start of our ongoing effort to bring out the best in each partner and build solutions that make a real difference in the lives of the people we serve—and we can’t wait to share what comes next.

To learn more about the Innovations Hub and Celeste’s solution partners—and how to become one—contact us today.