Community Strategist Connector Relationship Builder

STACIA ORTEGA

Phoenix, AZ 623-***-**** ad2ihx@r.postjobfree.com www.linkedin.com/in/staciaaortega

COMMUNITY STRATEGIST CONNECTOR RELATIONSHIP BUILDER Creative solution-focused senior leader with extensive experience in non-profit and corporate community, employee and volunteer engagement and partnerships, executing, developing, identifying and leading market strategic planning. Passionate advisor promoting equitable and positive community engagement opportunities promoting brand and organizational mission/goals while building community trust.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Community Relations Non-profit Management/Programs Employee Volunteerism Diverse/Multicultural Communities Program Design/Project Management Health Equity Market Strategy Development Community Research Stakeholder Engagement Public & Private Sector Cross-Functional Teams Nonprofit, Federal & State Programs Evaluation/Gap Analysis Communications/Presentations/Content Development

Technology: Microsoft Suite SharePoint Social Media Platforms Snapseed Animoto PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Aetna CVS Health

Senior Manager, Strategic Market Head of Community Affairs, 2022-2023 Reignited presence of Community Affairs in Arizona and California markets with a focus on community stakeholder engagement and relationship building. Developing creative strategies to enhance and advance internal/external relationships to support the enterprise, market strategic impact goals and advance employee volunteer opportunities for philanthropic giving.

● Designed, developed, and implemented 3 strategic marketing plans for AZ and CA, with $50K and $85K budgets.

● Secured $250,000k+ from Corporate Social Responsibility/Philanthropy ESG funding for AZ market social impact partners: AZ Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Phoenix Indian Center, Navajo Nation Foster Care Program, Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community and Equality Health Foundation.

● Led and collaborated with Corporate Philanthropy Team, and cross-functional internal teams to initiate and activate 20 sponsorships, employee and volunteer engagement opportunities and events. Campaign development, implementation through the lifespan of the campaign. Leveraged sphere of influence with internal and external stakeholders to meet the RO

● Advised AZ & CA market leadership on populations and underserved communities and marketing insights based on national data and research findings from peer reviewed materials and industry experts.

● Led national and AZ & CA market business segments collaborations (Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, Retail, Affordable Care Act) advancing enterprise campaigns and initiatives creating employee engagement and advancing business units’ community impact and relationships with Tribal, Latino, Black, unhoused, and LGBTQ+ communities.

● As a national co-lead for JUNTOS employee resource group (ERG) consisting of 4000+ membership, initiated a new approach to collaborate across the enterprise with national Community Affairs teams to plan and produce events to accomplish strategic objectives and enhance brand amplification, sponsorships, employee engagement and volunteer opportunities.

● Led community partnerships across the national enterprise via cross-functional teams focused on access, health equity, well- being and community needs which led to an increase in retail pharmacy traffic, increase use of digital applications and increase in COVID and Flu vaccine access.

● Created and generated content for enterprise on social media platforms with content development and photo and video assets. Health Equity Consultant, 2020 – 2022

Conducted enterprise health equity needs and gap assessment which led to the development of the enterprise's first foundational health equity framework.

● Instrumental in leading the Health Equity and Engagement Teams across the 16 Medicaid health plans, to advance learning, development and compliance with State Authority contract requirements.

● Learning & Development focus included development and conducted 100+ internal trainings on health equity and drivers of health best practices.

● Through gap analysis developed and launched the first and only Tribal Training Course for the organization. Delivered the training to over 100 colleagues.

● Created and maintained the Health Equity and Justice Medicaid Hub and content which served as a compendium for internal colleagues.

● Served as the health equity SME with business growth strategy markets, initiatives, and for 6 RFP bids.

● Developed innovative tools including: 6 health equity issue briefs, 15 slide decks, 10 best practice guides and tools for enterprise leaderships to leverage and align with industry best practices and to maximize marketing, business opportunities and impact.

● Facilitated the cross-organizational efforts to promote the health equity framework across Aetna Commercial, Strategic Diversity Management, Learning & Performance.

● Served on the Health Equity Council to lead enterprise health equity recommendations for implementation. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona-Health Choice

Operations Program Manager/Interim Director of Medicare Operations, 2018-2020 Served the Chief of Operations in the oversight, development and delivery of federal and state healthcare contract requirements. Led innovation initiatives to assist the organization’s business growth. Managed cross-department implementation of Steward’s member-facing mobile programs and social determinants of health platform in Arizona and Utah for Medicare and Medicaid business lines.

● Organized the development and implementation of the Aunt Bertha web platform across the organization.

● Conducted literature reviews and research to support mobile application (technology) opportunities to increase the plan’s approach to social determinants of health for improved member experiences and promote thought leadership toward innovation.

● Served as the Interim Director of Medicare Operations leading up to and during the annual enrollment period (AEP) ensuring compliance with CMS regulations governing Medicare, business unit’s adherence to project deliverable timelines and conducted peer review of submission documents.

● Created employee engagement and volunteer opportunities with St. Mary’s Food Bank and AHA Heart Walk. Mercy Care Aetna

Health Equity Consultant/Senior Project Manager, 2017-2018 Developed Mercy Care’s first Blueprint to Achieve Health Equity.

● Collaborated with internal stakeholders to evaluate available data sources to identify opportunities to apply approaches to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities which resulted in the informatics team developing programming to more accurately collect member demographic data to support the care management teams in providing improved culturally competent services.

● Developed the strategy for the Health Equity Group to execute research-based approaches to address social determinants of health, cultural competency, and health literacy.

● Served as the lead for employee engagement/volunteerism opportunities for Aunt Rita’s Annual AIDS Walk.

● Served as SME in the development of RFP bids and project managed the RFP award execution ensuring deliverables and business objectives met timelines.

● Organized Mercy Care’s first ever Prescriber’s Symposium: Changing the Conversation: A Prescriber’s Symposium, a one day

“Ted Talk Model” on alternative approaches to address the opioid epidemic. Attendees included 200+ MDs, NP, and Dentists. Mercer

Government Services Behavioral Health Consultant, 2012-2017 Served as trusted advisor in support of state and federal government agencies in RFP developments, evaluations, external quality reviews, developing programming.

● Led the multi-year $1M+ program assisting Arizona in meeting the terms of the Arnold v. Sarn Exit Stipulation Agreement, and the Quality Service Reviews and Priority Mental Health Services Capacity.

● Supervised assessments developed and drafted 10 key informant surveys and stakeholder feedback summaries; conducted 12 annual focus groups and facilitated client meetings.

● Managed a team of 8 – 10 including data analysts, associates, subcontractors, and report writers.

● Served as trusted advisor in support of State Authorities compliance with CMS HCBS transition plans and Mental Health Parity initiatives that supported the State Authorities in meeting CMS’ federal requirements.

● Created Mercer Arizona’s first employee engagement with community-based organizations: Aunt Rita’s, Sojourner Center and Quality Care Network.

EDUCATION

Master of Fine Arts Program, (Attended) Western Connecticut State University Danbury, CT Bachelor of Arts (BA), Political Science, University of Connecticut Storrs, CT CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

● Founding member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) Breaking Points Women of Color Cohort and Mentor for CVS Health Enterprise.

● Served as the National Leadership Chair of JUNTOS CRG for the CVS Health Enterprise and National Community Committee Chair ANATIVE CRG, CVS Health Enterprise.

● STN Episode 9, Community Leader Insightful Conversations: https://lnkd.in/dX3Dw3nF

● Aetna COVID Vaccine Social Media Campaign: https://youtu.be/6ZyG7gQPZJo

● Established the first Mercer Arizona Racial and Ethnic Diversity (R&ED), served as the Chair of the R&ED BRG.

● Partnered with Mercer CEO to create and deliver Mercer’s first Phoenix Racial and Ethnic Diversity BRG “Diversity Town Hall” and Client Diversity Workshop, “The Importance of Developing Racial and Ethnic Business Resource Groups in your Organization.”

COMMUNITY

St. Mary's Food Bank AZ Pet Project Phoenix Indian Center UMOM Phoenix Community Alliance The Care Fund

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