Sandra Clarke

Sandra Clarke is executive vice president and chief operating officer at Blue Shield of California, a tax-paying nonprofit health plan with over $20 billion in annual revenue serving more than 4 million members in the state’s commercial, individual, and government markets. She oversees the company’s financial strategy, actuarial functions, and financial operations in addition to leading enterprise process transformation, focused on transforming the member experience while reducing administrative expense. Clarke is also responsible for corporate development, where she plays a senior role in devising and enacting Blue Shield’s strategies to support growth and realize the company’s mission to transform health care.

Clarke has demonstrated her ability to improve operations in global businesses with over 25 years of experience directing worldwide financial organizations spanning an array of critical industries. Prior to joining Blue Shield in 2018, she served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., the United States subsidiary of Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., which develops and markets a range of pharmaceuticals. Clarke also held executive finance roles at Philips Healthcare as chief financial officer of its North and South America commercial group and at Siemens Water Technologies Group, where she was vice president of finance and controller.

She actively serves as board member at Altais (a subsidiary of Blue Shield of California) and the Plan Investment Fund (a money market mutual fund for Blue Cross Blue Shield companies and affiliates). Clarke also serves the San Francisco chapter of the CFO Leadership Council (steering committee) and Financial Women of San Francisco (scholarship committee). She is active with the Financial Executives Institute and the CCI Healthcare CFO Executive Roundtable. Clarke was published in CFO Tech Outlook with her article, “Upcoming Trends and Technological Advancements in the Accounts Payable space” and will be speaking at the U.S. CFO Network.

Clarke has a Master of Science in health law from Seton Hall University School of Law, a Master of Science in accounting from Bentley University, and a Bachelor of Science in finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was named by San Francisco Business Times as one of “The Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business 2019.”