Leyla Kokmen is Executive Director, Communications, for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the national federation of 34 independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies across the country. Today, one in three Americans is covered by the Blue System.
Leyla has more than 20 years of experience in journalism, academia and corporate and public-sector communications. She has a proven record of creating communications programs to engage and influence varied audiences–spanning public relations, corporate storytelling, executive visibility and internal communications. At BCBSA, she leads key communications functions that drive executive voice and visibility, engage employees and support the Association’s member companies. She leads a team of professionals who develop and implement multimedia communications campaigns through internal and external channels, to help enhance and amplify the mission and impact of the Blues.
Prior to joining the Association in 2014, Leyla was associate director of corporate communications for Optum, the health services arm of UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune 10 diversified health care company, and her previous experience includes health reform communications at the Minnesota Department of Health. She also managed a health communications graduate program and taught journalism and public health courses at the University of Minnesota.
Leyla began her career as a journalist, working as a staff writer at daily and weekly publications including The Seattle Times, the Denver Post and City Pages, the weekly newspaper in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Her reporting instinct and storytelling skills led to numerous professional honors during this time, including The Denver Post’s Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Columbine High School massacre, a CASE Media Fellowship on new media at San Francisco State University and a Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers.
Leyla earned a bachelor’s degree in German Studies from Columbia University and a master’s degree in health journalism from the University of Minnesota in a joint public health and journalism graduate program. She lives with her husband, two daughters and dog in Evanston, Ill.