About

Mr. Baum has been hired by the Institute to assist in their research mission. Prior to CWCI, Gideon worked as the Vice President of Policy at the California Hospital Association. Gideon also served as Staff Director for the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement and served as a Committee Consultant with the State Senate for nearly 15 years. A graduate of UCLA and USC, Gideon is the proud husband of Erin Baum, who works for the University of California System, as well as the proud father of Clara Baum, the world’s greatest 10-year-old.

Ms. Widener-Brightwell joined the Institute staff as General Counsel in January 2022 and assumed the additional role of Executive Vice-President in September 2025. Sara received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Colorado State University and her law degree from San Joaquin College of Law. She brings both a claims and a legal background to the Institute. Before joining CWCI she had almost 35 years of experience in the California workers’ compensation system as a claims adjuster, defense attorney, and California claims training and compliance manager where she served as Sentry’s primary legal resource for California workers’ compensation issues. She also served on CWCI’s Legal and Claims Committees for several years. As CWCI General Counsel and EVP, Sara’s responsibilities include managing the Institute’s internal and external legal affairs; serving as staff liaison to the Legal, Claims and Medical Care Committees; analyzing regulatory and legal issues affecting California workers’ compensation; and helping to develop and present Institute research and legal and claims programs.

Mr. Young is responsible for writing, editing, production and dissemination of information and publications from the Institute, including CWCI research reports, bulletins, executive memos and briefings, news releases, marketing and educational materials, and web content, and he serves as liaison between the Institute staff and members of the press and the media. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied political science and journalism, he has been active in the California workers’ compensation community for over 30 years, having started at the Institute in 1988, prior to which he worked for nine years as a writer and managing editor of the nation’s largest weekly financial newsletter.

Mr. Hayes is the Senior Research Director of the California Workers’ Compensation Institute and has three decades of experience in the fields of group health and workers’ compensation. At CWCI he designs and implements public policy and applied research projects and analytical tools that draw on CWCI’s Industry Research Information System database. These support CWCI members and stakeholders in understanding industry trends and in decision-making. Mr. Hayes holds a Master’s degree in Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining CWCI in 2014, he served as a manager and senior consultant focusing on wellness and disease management performance analytics and reporting with Carewise Health; employee benefits consulting with both SHPS HR Solutions and Merrill Lynch; and group health pricing, risk assessment, and utilization analysis with Kaiser Permanente.

Dr. Eva Davinia Loaeza Albino joined the Institute as Vice President of Research in April 2024. She participates in establishing CWCI’s research agenda, conducting public policy research, and managing day-to-day research activities. Dr. Loaeza Albino is an Economist with extensive experience in health economics, antitrust, and public policy. Before pursuing her doctoral studies, she worked as Director of Economic Analysis at the Federal Economic Competition Commission in Mexico and as an economist at the Mexican Social Security Institute. She has presented her research at the Society of Labor Economists Annual Conference, the Eastern Economic Association, and the Southern Economic Association Meetings. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Houston.

Mr. Bullis is the Director of Data Services of the CWCI research staff, having joined CWCI in 2016 as a Research Associate, where his duties include working with CWCI members, other stakeholders and staff to gather input on issues relating to research scope, methods and analysis, and analyzing and evaluating policy and claims data quality to assure the accuracy and representativeness of data used in support of applied and public policy research projects. Prior to joining the Institute, Mr. Bullis spent 10 years as an analyst, specializing in national Medicare and Medicaid finance for Kaiser Permanente and as a health risk analyst for Carewise Health. He holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Washington, Seattle, a masters’ degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a juris doctorate from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Mr. Russell joined the Institute in 2023 as Research Associate. He has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry serving various roles within actuarial science and product management, primarily creating data models used in actuarial pricing and reserving. An East Coast transplant, Mr. Russell received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Union (NY) College and a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University upon relocating to California. He resides in the East Bay with his wife Liz, a Physical Therapist, and son Greyson.