Speakers
Mary O’Hara is the chief human resources officer and senior vice president of Internal Communications and External Affairs at Blue Shield of California, a 4-million-member nonprofit health plan that serves the state’s commercial, individual and government markets. She brings more than 25 years of experience leading award-winning talent and development strategies across large enterprises in many sectors.
Before joining Blue Shield in 2013, O’Hara spent seven years as senior vice president of Human Resources for the Toronto-based TD Bank Financial Group. Previously, she served as a vice president for Bell Canada Enterprises. She was also a guest lecturer at the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University in Ontario.
Since joining Blue Shield, O’Hara has been recognized as a San Francisco Bay Area Most Influential Woman in 2015 and 2016, and Forever Influential in 2017 by the San Francisco Business Times and a 2016 Most Powerful & Influential Woman by the Northern California Diversity Council. She received the Legal Momentum’s 2017 Women of Achievement Award for Distinction in Business and the 2015 Brandon Hall Gold Medal for Best Advancement in Leadership Development. She also serves on the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business Corporate Advisory Board.
O’Hara earned a Master of Arts in organization and leadership studies at Royal Roads University in Victoria, Canada, where she also completed her major research in diversity and minority inclusion. She holds a certified human resources professional designation and studied at the University of Southern California, Queen’s University in Canada, and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.