WellPoint Honored for Women in Top Positions

WellPoint Health Networks in Thousand Oaks, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health insurance companies, has been named one of America’s Top 25 Public Companies for Executive Women by the editors of Working Woman magazine.

Working Woman lauded WellPoint for providing successful special assignments to help women reach the executive suite and its strong representation of women on its board of directors. The company was also recognized for its initiative in extending leadership development programs into the lower managerial ranks, a mentoring program that is regularly tracked to determine effectiveness, and a quarterly review of progress to identify and support high-potential executives, including women.

Working Woman editors surveyed Fortune 1000 companies with at least two women on their boards. The editors looked for companies that developed female leaders by giving them line experience and mentoring opportunities with high-level executives and growth potential within their companies as well as their careers.

WellPoint’s board members include Sheila P. Burke, executive dean at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; Julie A. Hill, president and chief executive of Hiram-Hill Development Co., and Elizabeth A. Sanders, a principal with the Sanders Partnership and former vice president and general manager of Nordstrom Inc.

In WellPoint’s executive office, Joan Herman, one of WellPoint’s three group presidents, serves as head of the senior and specialty business division. She is the highest-ranking female executive at the company. Herman is joined in the senior management ranks by six female senior vice presidents, six female general managers and 22 female vice presidents. Nearly 30% of the corporate officers at WellPoint are women.