Clarita Santos is Executive Director of Corporate and Civic Partnerships for Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) — the nation’s largest customer-owned health insurer, operating through its Blue Cross and Blue Shield® Plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Working for the Office of the President, CEO, and Vice Chair, she is responsible for strategic planning and execution of key initiatives focused on access to care and economic opportunity.  

 

Santos joined HCSC in 2007 and has held several positions responsible for community relations and corporate social responsibility initiatives. Previously, she was Executive Director of Community Health Initiatives at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, where she oversaw community engagement through grant funding (a $40 million allocation during her tenure), volunteerism and outreach and working with community stakeholders to help increase access to care so everyone thrives. She considers the Blue Door Neighborhood Center℠, a hub for health and wellness in Chicago’s Pullman, Morgan Park, and South Lawndale neighborhoods, as one of her major collaborative accomplishments. In 2024, BDNC   expanded outside of Illinois to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

 

Santos is a founding board member of the Center for Asian Health Equity at the University of Chicago Medicine. She was previously Chair of the Executive Advisory Board of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. Her former board service includes the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Chicago Sinfonietta and the Common Ground Foundation. Currently, she serves as Board President of the Asian Health Coalition, a member of Roosevelt University’s Women's Leadership Council Advisory Board and Von Steuben High School Local School Council. Her work has been recognized among the Top 100 Under 50 Emerging and Executive Leaders from Diversity MBA Magazine, the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Champion of Change and a Leadership Greater Chicago 2023 Fellow.

 

Santos holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the College of Charleston. She and her husband, Steve, are the proud parents of a Chicago Public School student and a college student studying Cybersecurity.