Sandra Clarke

Sandra Clarke is executive vice president, chief operating officer at Blue Shield of California, a nonprofit health plan with over $25 billion in annual revenue, serving more than 4.8 million members. She is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the health plan, implementing strategies to deliver transformational results that improve the well-being of Blue Shield’s members, physicians, and communities it serves. Clarke oversees the company’s operations, transformation, customer experience, growth, and marketing functions, in addition to architecting the company’s bold initiative to reimagine the pharmacy care model and reduce the cost of prescription drugs. She also leads corporate development, devising and enacting Blue Shield’s strategies to support growth.

Clarke has demonstrated her ability to improve operations in global businesses, with over 25 years of experience directing worldwide organizations in an array of critical industries. Prior to joining Blue Shield in 2018 as chief financial officer, she was senior vice president and US head of finance for pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., and held executive finance roles at Philips Healthcare and Siemens Water Technologies Group.

She serves on five boards, including: board member of the Blue Shield of California Foundation, chair of Blue Venture Fund V, chair of Plan Investment Fund, board member of Synergie, and board member (formerly chair) of Evio Pharmacy Solutions. She previously served on the board of Altais and as board director and audit chair at Metromile (now part of Lemonade, Inc.).

For her achievements, Clarke was named one of Modern Healthcare’s Women Leaders of 2024.  As a recognized thought leader, she has written articles for various publications and has spoken at many prominent forums including a White House Roundtable, Reuters Total Health, Health Evolution Summit, Business Group on Health, AHIP, UCSF Rosenman Symposium, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, and Fierce Healthcare’s Podnosis.

Clarke has a Master of Science in healthcare law from Seton Hall University School of Law, a Master of Science in accounting from Bentley University, and a Bachelor of Science in finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.