Meet Our Executives

Pam Kehaly

Pam Kehaly is President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ). With a mission to improve the quality of life for all Arizonans, she is leading the 3,000-employee company to inspire health through inventive programs, services, and health insurance products.

Pam joined BCBSAZ 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. Through Pam’s leadership, BCBSAZ 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 BCBSAZ, Pam has led the company to number 1 market share, with 23% growth by focusing on consumer needs and company culture. She has been an active leader in the community through COVID-19, mobilizing the BCBSAZ team to help jumpstart two state-run vaccination sites. During the three-month assignment, BCBSAZ 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 BCBSAZ’s Mobilize AZ public health initiative, which began in 2018. BCBSAZ 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 BCBSAZ, 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 Arizona Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, 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 COVID-19 working group.

Dr. Cara Christ, M.D., M.S.

Dr. Cara Christ, M.D., M.S., is Chief Medical Officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. Prior to joining Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Dr. Christ led the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) as the longest-serving director, also having served as chief medical officer, licensing director, and deputy director of public health since joining the department in 2008.

At BCBSAZ, Dr. Christ oversees the Healthcare Quality Assurance (HQA) department including: Clinical Therapeutics, Provider Partnerships, Clinical Quality, Wellness and Disease Management, Integrated Care Management, Clinical Operations, High-Cost Containment Review, and Medicare Performance (Stars). Healthcare Quality Assurance (HQA) represents clinical and non-clinical teams aiming to make healthcare sustainable for our marketplace and enhance quality of care. To achieve these goals, Dr. Christ’s teams implement programs that drive improvement in clinical outcomes, enhance the customer experience, and maximize value of the healthcare delivery system. These initiatives fall into several focus areas, including affordability, operational excellence, behavioral health, and value-based care.

Being dedicated to public and population health her entire career life, Dr. Christ most recently led the statewide response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona, including the administration of more than 1.6 million doses of vaccine at nationally recognized state mass-vaccination centers and development of a statewide Surge Line to ensure hospital capacity.

She also led the state’s opioid epidemic emergency response, oversaw the state’s Zika prevention activities, and led Arizona’s successful responses to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza, 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, and 2015 and 2016 measles outbreaks.

Throughout her public health career, Dr. Christ has coordinated Arizona’s public health surveillance systems, implemented public health interventions, provided leadership and public health expertise for the Arizona State Health Improvement Plan, recruited and supported hospitals for certification as “Infectious Disease Treatment Centers of Excellence,” led the implementation of the Maternal Mortality Breakthrough Action Plan, and overseen the development and implementation of 20 articles of rules, allowing for integration of behavioral and physical health while streamlining and decreasing the regulatory burden for Arizona’s health care institutions.

Dr. Christ, an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist, earned a Bachelor and Master of Science in Microbiology from Arizona State University. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson.

A passionate fan of all things Disney, she also holds a “Ducktorate” from Disney University in Disney-style management. Dr. Christ is a busy mom to three school-age kids and, when she is not busy working, you will find her playing with her family in a Disney Park or training for her next runDisney half-marathon.

Mark El-Tawil

Mark El-Tawil serves as chief financial officer and chief risk officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ). In this role, he provides direction and accountability for all financial planning and management functions, as well as supports the organization's strategy and goals.

Mark’s extensive business management background coupled with his ability to work collaboratively make him a key part of BCBSAZ’s plans for advancement and growth.

With more than 25 years of experience, Mark has spent his career leading operations for health insurers and physician networks.

Before joining BCBSAZ in 2018, Mark served as CFO for the P3 Health Group. He previously served as VP & West Division leader for Humana, where he worked for nearly 10 years. He also served as the Chief Senior Product Officer and Arizona market president for Health Net, as well as Regional Vice President and regional CFO at PacifiCare Health Systems (now owned by United Healthcare).

Mark has lived in Arizona for more than 30 years and is dedicated to the community. He served on the boards of several charitable and civic organizations, including Make-A-Wish® Arizona and John C. Lincoln Health Foundation.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Central Michigan University, and advanced study certificates in healthcare from both the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Harvard BP.

Maureen Fahey

Maureen Fahey serves as chief strategy officer. In her role as chief strategy officer, in collaboration with the CEO and Leadership Team, Maureen works to create and set the strategy for the organization. Additionally, Maureen serves as the liaison to the BCBSAZ Board of Directors, in support of the Board’s functions. Maureen joined BCBSAZ in 2019.

Prior to joining BCBSAZ, Maureen led regional and national healthcare strategy and operations practices, in provider and plan segments, at two different public accounting consulting firms. Additionally, Maureen has held administrator positions in both acute hospitals and outpatient programs.

Maureen holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and a Public Health Nurse Certification from the University of San Francisco.

Beth Ginzinger

As chief transformation officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ), Beth Ginzinger is responsible for developing the companies transformational strategies. With over 25 years in healthcare strategy leadership roles, her expertise helps BCBSAZ expand the meaningful work we do on behalf of our members and identify opportunities to improve quality of life for all Arizonans.

Beth joined BCBSAZ in 2018 from Anthem Inc., where she served as vice president for provider joint ventures. There, she was instrumental in developing and deploying collaborative provider arrangements that focused on delivering greater value to customers. Prior to that, Beth was president and CEO of Radiant, a WellPoint subsidiary, where she held profit-and-loss management, sales, and operations responsibilities.

Beth moved from Southern California to Arizona when she joined BCBSAZ, and she and her family have embraced Arizona as home. She and her husband have two children.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Vanderbilt University, a Master of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University, and earned a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Joe Greenberg

As Chief Operating Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Joe oversees growth strategies and profit & loss performance for all business segments including Individual, Commercial, Medicare & Federal Employees and Medicaid, in addition to leading our customer experience strategies.  

With extensive health plan leadership and operations experience Joe has a proven record of achievements in building and executing winning strategies. Since his arrival in 2021 as Vice President and General Manager of the Commercial Business Segment, Joe and his team have had numerous successes including growing the Commercial membership base by more than 75,000 members while exceeding the financial plan. 

Prior to joining BCBSAZ Joe served as Vice President of Group and Partnerships at Sidecar Health, a health-tech start-up now valued over one billion dollars.  Before joining Sidecar Health, he served as Vice President and General Manager of Blue Shield of California’s Individual line of business. Prior to this Joe spent more than ten years at Anthem Blue Cross serving in a variety of roles across all commercial lines of businesses including Vice President and General Manager of the Small Group Business Segment nationally, Staff Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for the California Plan, and Regional Vice President of National Account Operations. He has also held leadership positions at Health Net and Blue Shield of California and served as a management consultant focused on healthcare and financial services at both Accenture and First Consulting Group (now CSC). 

Joe received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Arizona and a master's degree in public administration (MPA) from the University of Southern California. Joe has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics since 2016. Outside of work, he and his wife Jessica enjoy fitness, travel and spending time with their three daughters. 

Mike Pencek

As chief information officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ), Mike Pencek provides leadership to BCBSAZ’s information technology organization, supports both short-and long-term planning of infrastructure and operations, and guides strategic implementation of the company’s technology portfolio. With more than 24 years of experience in technology, Mike is instrumental in leading the company’s IT organization through transformational changes as we leverage emerging technologies to simplify access to quality healthcare for Arizonans.

Mike joined BCBSAZ in April 2019 from his role at Honeywell International, where he was a vice president and CIO responsible for the company’s global infrastructure, platforms, and operations, and led an organization of more than 240 employees. Prior to Honeywell, he spent 13 years with Motorola Solutions, Inc., where he eventually served as vice president of information technology and spearheaded major transformation programs across information technology.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in computer science from Lewis University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Keller Graduate School of Management. Mike also served on the Customer Executive Advisory Board with Cisco Systems, and was previously a member of the Cloud Executive Steering Committee with Computer Sciences Corporation.

Daniel Ruiz II

Daniel Ruiz is Chief of Staff for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. In this role, he is responsible for driving the CEO’s priorities, building collaboration and accountability among staff to achieve the company’s strategic goals, and managing internal and external communications for the CEO. Daniel also serves as the liaison to the Board of Directors.

Before joining Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Daniel led a 20-year career in public service at various government agencies, including the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office & Elections Department, and the Office of the Arizona Governor.  

Most recently, Daniel served as Chief of Staff to former Governor Doug Ducey. In this role, he was responsible for leading the Governor’s staff and cabinet to achieve the Governor’s agenda throughout state government, at the Legislature, and across Arizona. Daniel’s leadership helped drive a successful administration in operations, legislative affairs, strategy, policy, crisis management, and communications. 

Daniel is a Flinn-Brown Fellow and was the 2018 recipient of the Jack B. Jewett Public Service Award from the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership. He was also recognized as a Breakout by the Arizona Capitol Times for his work on complex and challenging public policy issues and nominated for the 2021 Best Capitol Staffer award.

Daniel received a bachelor’s degree in business communications from the University of Phoenix in 2012. Daniel is a native of Arizona, and when he is not working, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his son.

Deanna Salazar

As chief administration officer and general counsel for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ), Deanna Salazar directs the company’s Community Relations, Government Affairs, and Legal teams. The Legal Division advises the company in matters such as risk assessment, contracting, regulatory compliance, and litigation management. She also oversees BCBSAZ’s federal and state legislative activities, community service activity, and the office of the corporate ombudsman.

Deanna also has served BCSBAZ as senior vice president and general counsel, vice president of human resources, and began her service with the organization in 1999 as associate general counsel.

Prior to joining BCBSAZ, Deanna was a partner with the Phoenix law firm of Lewis and Roca, Senior Counsel with Wells Fargo Bank, and Senior Counsel with Employee Solutions, a professional employer organization.

Deanna is a member of the Arizona and Colorado state bars. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Teach for America, Education Forward Arizona, and The Sandra Day O’Connor Institute. She is a recipient of the Valley Del Sol’ Profiles of Success Exemplary Leadership Award and the Los Abogados Community Service Award.

Deanna received a Bachelor’s degree from Adams State College and a juris doctorate degree from Arizona State University College of Law.

Lori Turner

Lori Turner joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona as chief marketing officer in April 2020. She is responsible for strategic marketing, branding, public relations, and internal and external communications in support of BCBSAZ’s purpose to Inspire Health across Arizona.

With nearly 35 years as a marketing professional, Lori has successfully built brand, reputation, and market share for financial services and insurance companies, health systems, and a variety of retail and B2B clients.

Prior to joining BCBSAZ, Lori served as Chief Marketing, Innovation, and Customer Experience Officer for Beacon Health System in Northern Indiana. There, she developed the Beacon brand and introduced digital transformation to more closely connect to patients and customers. Lori also served as Vice President of Marketing for Kettering Health Network in central Ohio, and operated her own marketing firm for 18 years.

Lori’s marketing philosophy focuses on listening to and understanding the needs of customers, and designing products and promotions to meet those needs. With the belief that customers want to interact with and manage their health just like they manage every other part of their life, Lori is passionate about building energetic, insightful teams driven to give customers an exceptional experience.

Lori moved from Indiana to Arizona to join BCBSAZ. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the College of Mount St. Joseph and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dayton.

Greg Wells

As senior vice president and chief people officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ), Greg is responsible for leading the organization’s human resources programs. His team oversees the benefits, compensation, employee relations, change management, talent acquisition and development, succession planning, and employment for over 2,800 BCBSAZ staff members across the state.

Since joining the organization in 2005, Greg has helped to lead the company’s initiative to be recognized as a premier Arizona-based employer. He is also committed to increasing employee awareness and alignment with the company’s mission and values.

Prior to joining BCBSAZ, Greg served as the director of human resources for WorldatWork, a global not-for-profit educational association focusing on compensation, benefits, and total rewards. Before that, he was the director of human resources for Blood Systems (now known as Vitalant), a multisite, national healthcare provider. At Blood Systems, Greg worked at the corporate headquarters, where he oversaw employment, affirmative action, employee relations, labor relations, safety, and loss-control initiatives.

In addition to his role as chief people officer at BCBSAZ, Greg is an active volunteer in his community. He currently serves on the board for First Place AZ, the board for the Phoenix Police Foundation, and as a past-chairman and board member for the Children’s Action Alliance and Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center.

Greg received a bachelor’s degree in human resources from the University of Arizona and served more than eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.