A Learner at Heart: Madison Palmer’s Career at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Our summer internship program is a valuable pipeline that has helped launch the careers of many talented BCBSRI associates. Among them is Madison Palmer , a manager of business planning.

Madison’s BCBSRI journey began during the Covid-19 pandemic in May 2020, as she was finishing her junior year at Providence College (PC) and started a summer internship with our employer segment. That experience gave her a true taste of healthcare from the customer perspective. Madison stayed on with the employer segment and continued her internship through the spring of 2021, when she graduated from PC. At that point, there was a full-time opening on the team, and she joined BCBSRI as a business planning analyst in June 2021.

A few months into her role, the team expanded to become more involved in products that we offer to our commercial customers. With that shift, Madison took on more, like market analytics and healthcare navigation.

“It was super interesting work and an exciting springboard for my career,” she recalls.

Another important catalyst for Madison was in spring of 2022, when she applied for and accepted a chief of staff role supporting our executive vice president and chief customer officer. In that role, Madison was able to broaden her skill set and knowledge. She performed several functions for the organization, supporting process management to streamline operations, ensuring more aligned communication across the division, and leading some associate engagement activities.

In June 2023, Madison’s role was expanded to include supporting our senior vice president of government programs. While still functioning as a chief of staff to both senior leaders, Madison’s role has evolved to include a new title of manager of business planning. “I’ve immensely valued both of these roles, and the diversity of learning about many parts of the company, including corporate strategy and Medicare,” Madison explains. “The end-to-end of Medicare in particular is pretty complicated, but I’m always learning more about it!”

Secrets to success

Madison has accomplished quite a bit in her relatively short time at BCBSRI. She attributes her career success to three main factors. First is networking, especially early on as the entire company was still working remotely. “I had to be intentional with building relationships to advance my career during that time, for example reaching out to associates to request ‘meet and greets’ to learn more about their

department and their work, something I still do to this day,” Madison notes. “This has allowed me to explore my interests, get my name out there, ask for help or advice, and try new things.”

Next has been seeking out mentors – and being open to their guidance and feedback. “I have always asked questions like ‘What more can I do?’, ‘What can I do differently?’, and ‘What resources do I need to do that?’,” she says.

Last, Madison has remained proactive in her work and in learning. While she strives to improve what she’s currently doing, she always looks for ways to take on more and embrace new things. “I’m a learner at heart, so I’ve always prioritized continuous learning. In fact, I took advantage of our tuition benefit to get my master’s in healthcare administration!”

Leadership in action

Two specific projects stand out to Madison as highlights. The first was advocating for and building our emerging leader development program, which she’s had the chance to do as part of her chief of staff role. “This is a bit of a passion project for me, as I can relate to soon-to-be or recent graduates who are entering the workforce and eager to learn,” Madison says. “I’ve helped hire and mentored program participants, and over the last couple of years the program has earned credibility across the company and is helping to create our future leaders!”

Since 2022, Madison has also taken ownership of the large summer internship program for her division. Specifically, she’s helped to create and shape their summer experience with experiences, programs, and resources unique to them. As a former intern herself, Madison is proud to be contributing to our associate growth and retention efforts through this important program.

Additionally, Madison is now a member of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Executive Leadership Team.