Maureen K. O'Connor
Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel
Maureen Kelley O'Connor is executive vice president, chief strategy officer and general counsel of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). She leads the development and implementation of our enterprise strategy, and is responsible for Business Development, Healthcare Management and Programs, Health Policy, Network Management, Information Management and Informatics, Legal Services, and a number of other corporate services. O'Connor joined BCBSNC in 2000 as vice president and deputy general counsel and later assumed the roles of general counsel and chief administrative officer.
O'Connor has extensive experience in health policy and strategy, business, provider relations and contracting, corporate and healthcare law, and regulatory affairs. Before joining BCBSNC, O'Connor was senior regional counsel with CIGNA, senior vice president and general counsel of Healthsource North Carolina and was in private practice with Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett & Jernigan in Raleigh, N.C. While in private practice, O’Connor represented hospital systems, physician practices, state medical societies and boards, and other health-related organizations.
O'Connor is active in community affairs, serving on several civic and charitable boards. She currently serves on the boards of Meredith College, Elon University Law School, Triangle Chamber Orchestra, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. O'Connor also served on the board of the American Lung Association of the Atlantic Coast and the North Carolina Institute of Medicine’s Health Care Access Study Group. She is past president of the North Carolina Association of Health Plans and the North Carolina Society of Health Care Attorneys. O'Connor has served as chair of the Triangle's American Diabetes Association 2008 "Step Out Campaign" and the 2005 BCBSNC United Way Campaign.
O'Connor received a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School in 1983 and a bachelor's degree in English literature from College of the Holy Cross in 1976. She was named by Diversity Journal as one of the country's "100 Women to Watch in 2009" and was recognized in 2008 as one of ten "Women Extraordinaire" in the Triangle by Business Leader Media. O'Connor is married and has three children.