Up & Comers - 2015

Being the youngest person in the room might be where David Seltz developed the humility that people say is one of his greatest strengths as a leader.

Seltz is the first executive director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, a state policymaking agency he helped build that aims to provide higher quality healthcare at lower costs.

Aspirations: To become executive director of a national health policy organization.

Role model: The late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, who believed politics were about improving people's lives.

Something surprising: My father is a Lutheran pastor.

After graduating from Boston College with a political science degree, Seltz cut his teeth as an analyst working under then-Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray. Seltz endured months of heavy lifting providing analysis for key portions of the legislation that established Massachusetts -- universal coverage law. Murray was impressed by Seltz's skills and work ethic -- he often put in 18-hour workdays. "When you work for the money that state government pays you, and work those hours, that's amazing," she said.

Seltz now implements policy. In its first two-and-a-half years, the commission has developed major programs, including the Community Hospital Acceleration, Revitalization and Transformation Investment Program, which will distribute a total of $120 million to community hospitals through 2017.

At 32, and as the only employee at the commission when it launched in 2013, being young taught Seltz to ask lots of questions. "That's an important element of success," he said. "Know what you know and what you don't know."--Michael Sandler