Kristin Wood is the Vice President of Talent at Blue Shield of California, a 4-million-member nonprofit health plan serving the state’s commercial, individual and government markets. Wood leads the Talent organization, which includes strategy; talent acquisition; mobility; diversity, equity & inclusion; HR technology, data, and analytics; and operations. Wood is also a member of the Diversity Leadership Council.
Joining Blue Shield in 2019, Wood has over 20 years of experience driving talent and people strategies. She has served as a partner with executives and sat on executive committees to build global businesses, while leading human resources, talent, and operations teams. Prior to Blue Shield, she spent eight years as Chief Human Resources Officer and Global Head of Talent Acquisition with Balyasny Asset Management preceded by Conversus Asset Management, a Bank of America private equity firm, FinanSure & Affiliates and Williams-Sonoma Inc.
Wood serves as a member of the Forbes HR Council, where she has been an invited writer on leadership, strategy, and talent-related topics. She has served as a board member and member of the corporate and fundraising sub-committee for Share our Spare. She has also served as a member of 100women.org and a Better Chicago. She is a published author with notable works in leadership and strategy related topics including: Leaders’ Perceptions of Mobile Technology in the Workplace.
Wood earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Leadership and Master of Science in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from The Chicago School. Wood is currently attending an Executive Human Resources Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Wood has also studied with the University of San Francisco and Benedictive University.
