Gail Koziara Boudreaux, born in 1960 in Massachusetts, United States, is a leading figure in the healthcare industry, currently serving as CEO of Elevance Health, a company that provides health insurance services. She also runs her own firm, GKB Global Health.
Elevance Health is one of the most prominent companies in the healthcare sector, which has placed Boudreaux among the most influential women in recent years. Starting in 2020, Forbes ranked her in the top 10 most powerful women leaders.
Gail’s beginnings
Known earlier as Koziara, she attended Chicopee Comprehensive High School. There, she first gained recognition not for her business career, but for her standout basketball performance.
During her high school years and early university period, Gail was named Ivy League Player of the Year three times. With over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds at Dartmouth, she has not forgotten her sports background. In many interviews, she has said that sports were the foundation for understanding “roles within a team.”
Her final basketball season at Dartmouth coincided with her internship opportunity. Boudreaux earned a degree in Psychology and Sociology from Dartmouth College and went on to complete a master’s in Finance and Healthcare Administration at Columbia University.
During that period, she accepted an internship at Aetna, a U.S.-based health insurance company. She remained there for years, from 1983 to the early 2000s. Along the way, she became Senior Vice President of Group Insurance, a role she left in 2002.
She next joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, another major health insurance provider, for four years before moving on to another healthcare services company. Her most notable role came as CEO of UnitedHealthcare, a division of UnitedHealth Group.
From 2011 to 2014, she held executive and vice president positions at the company, but stepped down in 2014. After a long career in corporate healthcare, she decided to launch her own business: GKB Global Health, a medical consulting firm.
GKB Global Health and Anthem
GKB Global Health combined Boudreaux’s two major passions: business and healthcare. Her training in healthcare administration paved the way for a new opportunity in 2017, when she was appointed CEO of Anthem, now known as Elevance Health.
Anthem, which is part of Blue Cross Blue Shield — where Gail had previously worked — is one of the largest health insurance and healthcare providers in the United States. Since Boudreaux took over, the company has experienced strong growth, with outstanding financial results, company acquisitions, new office expansions, and a full corporate rebranding.
In 2023, Elevance Health announced that Blue Cross Blue Shield would be integrated into the company, making the firm led by Boudreaux the most important in its sector. This rapidly accelerated Elevance’s expansion into new U.S. states and broadened its member base.
Honors
As mentioned, Gail Koziara’s professional and athletic background has earned her recognition from various organizations. In 2018, she received the “Billie Jean King Leadership Award,” honoring her contributions to women’s sports, particularly basketball. Her name is also in the England Sports Hall of Fame.
Her legacy in sports continues through her induction into the Dartmouth Hall of Fame. In addition to her basketball honors, she also won four titles in shot put. As for her ranking in publications like Forbes and Fortune — which track the world’s most influential and wealthy individuals — Gail has ranked between 10th and 15th since 2020.
She has also been named a “global healthcare leader” by several medical organizations. Her career in business is deeply connected to her background in sports. In numerous interviews, Boudreaux has stated that athletics “shaped her mindset and approach to leadership.”
From dazzling audiences on the basketball court to applying teamwork principles in the corporate world, Gail Boudreaux has become one of the most successful women in health insurance.