How Blue Shield of California Achieved Gender Parity on its Board of Directors

Kris Leslie is the first woman to be elected chair of the board of Blue Shield of California in the company's 81-year history. The company has also recently added Guillermo Diaz, Jr. and Colleen Johnston to their board, achieving total gender parity and increasing its racial diversity.

Blue Shield is heads and shoulders ahead of its industry: of health companies in the Fortune 500, executive teams are projected to take 77 years to reach 45% women in leadership, while boards will wait 72 years (according to Rock Health). Parity.org Founder and CEO Cathrin Stickney spoke with Kris Leslie about what it's like to be the "first" in a role, how Blue Shield has achieved gender parity in leadership when the industry lags behind, and advice for other companies that want to follow Blue Shield of California's example.

Cathrin: Thank you for talking with me, Kris. You are the first woman to chair the board of Blue Shield. What does it feel like to know you are a "first," and does it change how you approach the role?

Kris: I am incredibly proud to be a part of an organization that holds diversity, equity and inclusion as one of its core values and am humbled to have been selected by my fellow directors to lead the board. Being a woman is just one dimension of my leadership style, so I don’t think it changes my approach. The board’s goal is to ensure the company works to fulfill its mission of improving health outcomes for our members and all Californians by making health care more accessible, affordable, and higher quality. As chair, my role will be to ensure the board remains focused on Blue Shield’s priorities, facilitate active and engaged participation from all board members, set the appropriate tone at the top on matters of culture and governance, and serve as a sounding board for our CEO.

C: You have served on the board of Blue Shield for seven years. How has the organization changed in your time there?

K: What has not changed in the past seven years is our focus on our mission, or “north star,” as we often refer to it. What has changed is how we go about executing on those goals. When I initially joined the board, the company was very focused on becoming brilliant at the basics, understanding that if we wanted to truly create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable, we needed to get our own house in better order. That fundamental work put us in a position to develop an aggressive transformation and innovation agenda that we are now pursuing. As the transformation goals began to take shape, what also became abundantly clear was that our success would depend on people, talent, and leadership. Our CEO made it his top priority to assemble a world-class leadership team from a broad range of industries. And in conjunction with our chief human resources officer, developed a leadership model that has been rolled out across the organization. The board is confident that this team is positioned to achieve our aggressive goals.

C: We know from experience that having commitment from the top really makes the difference, and it's evident at Blue Shield! Overall in healthcare, women make up the majority of employees but only hold 26% of board seats at Fortune 500 health companies. In contrast, Blue Shield has achieved gender parity on its board—a rare feat. How has Blue Shield accomplished this?

K: With diversity, equity, and inclusion as a core value, Blue Shield set a goal of gender parity on the board, as well as across the leadership of the organization. As of today, we have accomplished both, with an equal number of women and men at the vice president level and above and also on the board. Additionally, four of the five standing committees of the board are chaired by women, and for the first time a woman is the board chair. This happened because as an organization we were intentional in our hiring and recruiting and fundamentally believe in the value created by diverse perspectives, be it gender or otherwise. 

C: That is really fantastic. What advice do you have for other companies seeking to improve gender and racial parity on their board or C-suite?

K: First, companies need to change their mindset about what they truly value, and then be intentional about achieving their goals. I often hear people say that they want more diversity on the board or leadership team, but at the end of the day they want to hire the “best candidate.” Unfortunately the definition of “best candidate” often means somebody with similar experience and background, somebody who has been in the same role elsewhere or somebody who seems less risky because they come from our known networks. Companies need to re-define what truly makes the best candidate and that should include diverse perspectives and experience. Studies done over the last decade show that companies with meaningful female representation on board and leadership teams, on average have better business and financial performance. Research also shows that diversity in general results in greater creativity and innovation.

C: One final question: what do you believe is the biggest benefit of having greater diversity in health leadership?

K: The healthcare system in this country is in crisis, and there is an urgent need to transform it into one that is accessible, affordable, and high quality. The cost of health care trend is alarming and not sustainable. It is also an incredibly complex system with multiple stakeholders who often have competing priorities. To meet the needs of diverse stakeholders in a way that results in improved health outcomes for all Americans will require unprecedented creative and innovative thinking and actions by industry leadership.   The kind of courageous and transformational actions required will only be possible if the people sitting around the table bring diversity in all forms to the conversation.