Four Kaiser Permanente Leaders Listed Among Diversity MBA Magazine's Top 100 Under 50 List

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Four Kaiser Permanente leaders have been named to Diversity MBA Magazine's Top 100 Under 50 Diverse Executive and Emerging Leaders list.

Nicole Barnett, assistant medical group administrator, and Anthony Barrueta, senior vice president of government relations, were recognized as Executive Leaders. L. Robert Garcia, director of finance communications and Sally Saba, MD, executive director of National Supplier Diversity, placed in the Emerging Leader category.

Diversity MBA Magazine, a quarterly publication that aims to serve the needs of multicultural professionals in corporate America, business students and entrepreneurs, will honor the Top 100 leaders in the publication's summer 2012 edition. 

"We're pleased these four leaders have been recognized for their achievements and leadership within the organization and their communities," said George Halvorson, chairman and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente. "We're more successful as an organization when we leverage and learn from the different backgrounds and unique perspectives of our diverse workforce. We truly believe that diversity within our organization helps us better understand and meet the needs of our members."

"We are humbled by the success of our Top 100 Under 50 recognition program," says Pam McElvane, publisher and CEO of Diversity MBA Magazine. "We aspired to recognize high potential and seasoned executives for their outstanding leadership within their companies and communities. We believe that celebrating individuals that value higher education is a unique recognition in aligning leadership and education."

Awardees will be honored at Diversity MBA Magazine's sixth annual Business Leaders Forum and Awards Gala. The gala will be held Sept. 20-21 at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago.

More information about Kaiser Permanente's honorees can be found below:

• Nicole Barnett, Executive Leader

Nicole Barnett is assistant medical group administrator for Kaiser Permanente's East Bay Area, where she provides leadership to the departments of medical secretaries, medical legal, health education, eye care services, and clinic operations in Richmond, Pinole and Alameda, Calif.

Barnett participates in Kaiser Permanente's volunteer program, often facilitating local outreach efforts and recruiting volunteers from her facilities and departments.  Under her leadership, the Kaiser Permanente Pinole (Calif.) Medical Office received the distinction of Business of the Year in 2011 for outreach efforts. Barnett serves as the leader of the Mount Calvary Baptist Church Health Ministry, which seeks to improve the health of members and the community through health education, screenings and connections to local health care resources.

Barnett earned her doctorate in health sciences from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She currently is an adjunct professor of nursing at Dominican University in San Rafael, Calif. and has taught masters-level courses on Transitions in Nursing, Healthcare Policy and Healthcare Economics.

• Anthony Barrueta, Executive Leader

Anthony Barrueta is senior vice president of Government Relations at Kaiser Permanente, responsible for developing positions on public policy matters of importance to the organization and its members, and leading the advocacy team representing Kaiser Permanente before state and federal governments. He served as legal and government relations counsel and vice president for the organization from 1994-2010.

Barrueta is a member of Kaiser Permanente's National Leadership Team and chairs its national Health Policy Committee. He serves on the board of directors of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, Enroll America and the East Bay Agency for Children. Barrueta also is a trustee with the Committee for Economic Development, serving on its Policy and Impact Committee. Previously, he served for five years as general counsel to the Hispanic College Fund.

Barrueta received his bachelor's degree in history from Boston College and his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

• L. Robert Garcia, Emerging Leader

L. Robert Garcia is director of finance communications at Kaiser Permanente, supporting Chief Financial Officer Kathy Lancaster's communications needs, and leading communications for multiple internal initiatives. He serves on Kaiser Permanente's National Diversity Council and has co-led the Diversity Leadership Program, focused on developing leaders from within.

A retired Navy commander, Garcia has been deployed throughout the world as a crisis communications expert on a variety of contingencies. He is also a board member for USNA Out, the LGBT alumni association of the U.S. Naval Academy, working to promote cultural change after the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. 

Prior to his current role, Garcia was a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, organization design and selection, change management and strategic communications.

• Sally Saba, MD, Emerging Leader

Sally Saba, MD, is executive director of National Supplier Diversity at Kaiser Permanente. She leads the organization's execution against its goal to reach $1 billion of spend with diverse suppliers, which will ultimately double Kaiser Permanente's current spend with minority- and women-owned businesses.

Under Dr. Saba's leadership, Kaiser Permanente has received numerous awards, honors and acknowledgements, including the Northern California National Minority Development Council's Corporation of the Year Award for three consecutive years. Kaiser Permanente has also joined the Million Dollar Club with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Saba is the recipient of the 2011 Northern California National Minority Development Council's Supplier Diversity Leader of the Year Award. She is also a Board Member of the National Minority Development Council.

Dr. Saba holds both a medical degree from Cairo University and a master's degree in Business Administration from Eslsca Business School in France. She joined Kaiser Permanente three years ago as the Director of National Recall.

For more information about these awards, please visit DiversityMBA's website www.diversitymbamagazine.com.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

For more information:
Amy Wang, [email protected], 510-267-2872

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente