Pam Kehaly

Pam Kehaly is President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (AZ Blue). With a mission to inspire health and make it easy, she leads over 3,200-employees to inspire health through inventive programs, services, and health insurance products.

Pam joined AZ Blue in 2017 and was quickly recognized by the Phoenix Business Journal as one of the state’s “Most Admired Leaders” and made Arizona Business Magazine’s “Most Influential Women in Arizona” list. In 2021, she was named Leader of the Year by Arizona Capitol Times. In recognition of her significant contributions to the healthcare industry in Arizona, she received an Honorary Doctorate from Northern Arizona University (NAU) in 2024, the university's highest academic honor awarded to individuals for their distinguished service to their fields, communities, and society. Through Pam’s leadership, AZ Blue has secured a spot in Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare list along with being named by Arizona Business Magazine as a Most Admired Company.

Since joining AZ Blue, Pam has led the company to number 1 market share by focusing on consumer needs and company culture. She has been an active leader in the community through COVID-19, mobilizing the AZ Blue team to help jumpstart two state-run vaccination sites. During the three-month assignment, AZ Blue managed more than 145,000 volunteer hours, helping Arizonans receive more than 491,000 vaccines.

Among the many initiatives Pam is spearheading is the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Foundation for Community Health & Advancement, which began operations in January 2022, to enhance the company’s commitment to the public good by focusing on the critical health issues impacting our state, including mental health, substance use disorder, chronic health conditions, and health equity. The Foundation stems from AZ Blue’s Mobilize AZ public health initiative, which began in 2018. AZ Blue has already contributed over $10 million to fight the opioid crisis and will continue efforts to improve the lives of Arizonans.

With more than 30 years of experience in the health insurance industry, Pam has developed an expertise in collaborating with doctors and hospitals to drive results.

Prior to joining AZ Blue, she served as president of Anthem Inc.'s West Region and Specialty business, responsible for $20 billion in annual revenue. Pam started her career in 1986 with Blue Cross of California, where her various responsibilities ranged from operations to profit-and-loss management.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Stanislaus. She serves as Chair of Greater Phoenix Leadership and sits on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Commerce Authority, UNS Energy, The Translational Genomics Research Institute, National Institute for Health Care Management, and the Phoenix Police Reserve Foundation. Additionally, Pam is on the Advisory Board of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California and sits on Senator Mark Kelly’s Health Advisory Board; Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes’, business board, and Mayor Kate Gallego’s Go Bond Commission.