About Us

Before founding RELI Group, Mr. Elias held various senior project management roles in the private sector, supporting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for a decade and managing teams of up to 50 subject matter experts on CMS IT health initiatives. He holds strong business domain knowledge of Medicare and Medicaid, healthcare IT, property and casualty insurance, life insurance, and health insurance. Mr. Elias is an active leader in the professional association community and continues to actively serve the missions of local charitable and industry organizations, including  through his personal foundation, the Elias & Sultana Foundation. Mr. Elias received his MBA in Management Information System from Drake University and his bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from St. Cloud State University.

Vishal Tulsian is an industry leader with more than 25 years of experience empowering high-performing teams, driving revenue-generating market expansion, and creating frameworks for delivering best-in-class products and services. As President and COO of RELI Group, Vishal applies his global experience and strategic vision to expand RELI’s impact and support our customers’ missions.

Prior to joining RELI Group, Vishal served as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the state and local, health, and civilian agencies at SAIC. He also worked at CGI Technologies & Solutions, Inc. for nearly 10 years, beginning his tenure as the Director of Corporate Finance and rising to the Vice President of Global Delivery. His career began as the Controller and Principal of the Public Sector Group at American Management Systems, Inc.

In addition to his professional expertise, Vishal also serves as a board member for the Greater Washington Region of the American Heart Association. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s General Management Program and holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of Rochester.

Michelle Atkins has 25 years of professional experience in healthcare management with 14 years in federal healthcare contracting primarily in medical record review services at CMS. She has successfully transitioned multiple large review contracts at CMS through extensive expertise in medical records, quality assurance processes, and project and program management.

Michelle has served as the Project Director for multiple Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) and Medicare Part C programs in CM, CPI, and OFM, and has provided program oversight for the Medical Review Accuracy Contract (MRAC) and RAC Validation Contract. She currently leads RELI’s Program Integrity Sector providing executive oversight of medical record review, training, and customer support services at CMS, Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Tish Mossman is a senior leader with more than 25 years of experience from a strategy and delivery focus across commercial, industry and government contracts. She has been with RELI since 2018 and has held a variety of VP roles in Healthcare, National Security and Safety; these roles span across Engineering, Digital Services, PMO, and TSA divisions, as well as her most current position as Vice President of RELI’s National Security and Safety Sector. Recognized for her leadership, Tish was honored with the 2024 IMPACT Women in Leadership Award for her impactful approach to change management, and was named one of Washington Exec’s Top National Security Executives to Watch in 2024. Based on her professional experience, she works with her customers to understand their needs and provides sound solutions in solving business or technical problems. Tish’s drive for leadership and implementation has allowed her to successfully oversee RELI’s largest portfolio of programs.

Brian McElyea brings more than two decades of cybersecurity expertise, including experience working with the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. His background also includes work in the private healthcare, space, civil and intelligence sectors.

Prior to joining RELI Group, Brian served as the Mission Capability Leader for Peraton’s TRADECRAFT internal research and development organization, working with a team of more than 65 senior cybersecurity experts to develop new capabilities, demonstrations, whitepapers and presentations to advance Peraton’s market standing. His career also included positions with Northrop Grumman Corporation, FORCE 3 and the Jorgensen Learning Center, as well as 24 years as a Naval Officer.

McElyea brings a personal passion for sharing knowledge, both at a professional and academic level. In addition to publishing numerous whitepapers and other pieces of thought leadership, he frequently shares his expertise the industry through speaking engagements. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Webster University Graduate School and led the national American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) on contractor security.

Brian holds a Ph.D. in Knowledge Management from Walden University, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Troy State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Widener University.

Douglas F. Kelly Jr. is a seasoned executive with over two decades of experience in both public and private sectors, specializing in federal health and IT services. Kelly’s career spans leadership roles at top consulting firms, including NTT Data, Booz Allen Hamilton, KPMG and Accenture, where he has consistently delivered results in business development, P&L management and client engagement. With an International MBA from the University of South Carolina and a BA in History from the University of North Carolina, Kelly brings a global perspective to his work, having operated across American, European and Asian markets. Based in the Washington DC metro area, Kelly is known for his strategic acumen and ability to foster client relationships, as evidenced by numerous delivery excellence awards and successful market entries. His leadership style emphasizes client engagement, team collaboration and organic growth, making him a respected figure in the federal health and IT sectors.

As RELI Group’s Vice President of Health, Ken Hofgesang brings more than 20 years of experience in account and project management, business development, and executive leadership, focused on cost control, new operation setup, automated solutions, and innovative technology infusion. Prior to joining RELI Group, Ken served as the Vice President of the Health and Human Services account at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). His career at SAIC began in 2004 as a Software Application Engineer and progressed through several program manager, senior program manager and director roles. Prior to his time at SAIC, Hofgesang served as a Software and Business Developer for VillageWorks Communications.

In addition to his extensive experience across the industry, Hofgesang holds a master’s degree in computer science from Hood College, as well as a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Mount Saint Mary’s College. He is a certified Project Management Professional, holds an ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management, and has earned certificates in both executive and performance leadership from eCornell through Cornell University.

Sarah Sanchez is Vice President of Digital Services at RELI Group where she is responsible for developing the vision, strategy and methodologies to innovate new services, develop partnerships and collaborate internally to deliver increased value to federal clients.

Sarah served as Chief Growth Officer at ATG Innovations, where she led strategic growth initiatives to accelerate penetration of the federal market.  She developed marketing and communications campaigns which led to a 500% increase in new business opportunities.  She led strategic investments in cloud, cybersecurity and human centered design and development of proprietary processes and proven outcomes.

As Vice President of Managed Services at SAIC, she developed and oversaw implementation of innovative approaches to IT service offerings that included the use of intelligent automation, self-healing, and artificial intelligence technologies. She was responsible for more than 50 customer programs valued at more than $1B annually delivering the full spectrum of IT services. .

Sarah has more than 25 years of managerial and technical experience with IT systems, working to meet or exceed technical, operational, and financial performance objectives.

Earlier in her career, Sarah managed a group of civilian healthcare facilities in Las Vegas, where she implemented a new electronic health record system.

Before that, as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, she served as a healthcare administrator, managing and directing the administrative activities and health information management operations for multiple departments and facilities.

Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Nazareth College and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in healthcare from State University of New York.

She and her husband, Scott, have two sons, Austin and London. They own a Redline Athletics franchise that provides youth athletic performance and skill development and are avid Kansas City Chiefs fans.