JoAnna is a passionate champion for people and communities with six years of experience advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategic priorities impacting enterprise-wide systems change in corporate, government, and community settings. Her previous experience includes work focused on eliminating health inequities faced by communities of color at the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and strengthening recruitment and retention of diverse executive leaders at theState of Minnesota.

In her most recent role of Diversity and Inclusion Program Manager at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, JoAnna worked to advance enterprise-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategic priorities. She co-created the company’s first Diversity & Inclusion Committee, working closely with executives and a diverse group of people leaders from business units across the institution. She managed the enterprise-wide DEI audit, reviewing HR policies, trends of hiring and retention, and employee engagement surveys. Her proactive and innovative approach to advancing equity led to her managing 11 employee resource group (including the Women’s Network resource group, which she co founded and chaired), and coordinating the African American ERG group’s leadership mentoring program.

For her contributions to improving the delivery of state government services, JoAnna received the “Better Government” award from former Governor Mark Dayton in 2016. In 2019, a fellowship awarded by the African American Leadership Council’s Josie R. Johnson Leadership Academy provided a powerful glimpse into national dialogues on equity-centered systems change (during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC). The Caucus’s systems-based approach to ensuring full and equitable participation in the US economy has inspired her continued work to build policy and systems solutions to addressing inequities.

JoAnna holds a degree in Political Science from Tuskegee University, and is a Qualified Administrator in The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®).