Vanessa Benavides of Kaiser Permanente Joins CDC Foundation Board of Directors

Vanessa M. Benavides, senior vice president and chief compliance and privacy officer for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, has been elected to the board of directors of the CDC Foundation.

“Vanessa is a respected leader in the healthcare industry, and we are excited she has joined our board of directors,” said Judith Monroe, MD, president and chief executive officer of the CDC Foundation. “Her passion and depth of knowledge will be a great asset as we support and extend CDC’s mission to save and improve lives in the United States and around the globe.”

At Kaiser Permanente, Benavides is responsible for planning, oversight and coordination of activities to drive effective compliance with regulatory requirements and Kaiser Permanente policies. In collaboration with leadership across the organization, she leads the development of strategies to embed compliance and ethics into the core design and operations of the organization, and to foster a culture of trust and ensure all staff are consistently delivering Kaiser Permanente’s mission of providing high-quality affordable healthcare services that improve the health of the communities they serve.

Benavides joined Kaiser Permanente in November 2015 and is a member of the national executive team, reporting directly to Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and chief executive officer, as well as the Audit and Compliance Committee of the board of directors.

Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Benavides was chief compliance officer for Tenet Healthcare, where she managed ethics and compliance programs across all Tenet-owned entities, including acute-care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient centers, physician practices, commercial and government health plans, and Conifer Health Solutions, Tenet’s health management services subsidiary. She also served as senior regulatory counsel during her 10-year tenure.

Before joining Tenet, she served as legal counsel for Caremark Rx, a pharmacy benefit management company, and was in private practice with the law firm Locke Lord, LLP, where she specialized in health care, employee benefits and corporate law.

“With a reach that extends to more than 130 countries, the CDC Foundation represents a unique opportunity to positively impact lives at scale,” said Benavides. “I am honored by this appointment and am eager to join my colleagues on the Board in forging partnerships that enable the Foundation’s critical health protection work.”

Benavides holds a law degree from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she served as articles editor for the Iowa Law Review, and a bachelor of arts degree from Vanderbilt University. Benavides serves on the national board of directors of the Human Rights Campaign and is the co-chair of the board. Benavides is also a member of the board of directors of The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth.