Gail Koziara Boudreaux can list numerous times her experience as a two-sport athlete at Dartmouth has helped her succeed as a business professional. This includes navigating the COVID-19 pandemic as the president and CEO of Anthem, one of the nation's largest health insurance providers.
"In sports you learn every game plan is fantastic until someone's defense is better than your offense," she said. "With the pandemic, there's no playbook. It's been a series of challenges like none of us have seen in our lifetimes."
The 2022 NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award recipient, Boudreaux has led Anthem through these unchartered waters with an approach similar to that of her playing days. The results just look a little different now for Boudreaux, who was an All-American and Ivy League champion in basketball and track and field (shot put and discus). In 2020, Boudreaux's leadership was recognized as Anthem was named to Forbes and JUST Capital's COVID-19 corporate leadership list, which assessed how well the nation's largest employers mobilized against the pandemic.
"Everything starts with identifying your purpose. At Anthem, ours is improving the health of humanity, and we align our work to achieve that aspiration," she said. "If you translate that to sports, you have a purpose, you set goals and you work towards achieving them by building skills. There's lots of similarities."
Boudreaux said Anthem's purpose centers on "making a positive difference" with its 90,000 employees, 45 million consumers and the broader communities it serves.
Anthem committed $2.6 billion in financial assistance to ease burdens created by the pandemic for consumers, employers and care providers. The company waived copays, coinsurance and deductibles for the diagnostic test related to COVID-19, as well as for visits associated with COVID-19 testing, regardless of where the care is received.
In addition to treatment and testing, the company is also focused on vaccinations. Anthem covers the COVID-19 vaccine 100% and has been proactive in connecting its members with information on how they can access vaccines in their own communities, including coordinating in-home vaccinations for homebound members.
The Anthem Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, made a $50 million commitment for COVID-19 response and recovery efforts to help in the areas of greatest need including emergency response, food insecurity, mental health and care provider safety resources. Anthem also launched a nationwide partnership with Lyft to support universal access to the vaccine.
"By listening and leading with our values, we're positively impacting the people we serve. That's how we'll get through this together," Boudreaux said of Anthem's approach.
Being recognized with the Theodore Roosevelt Award — the highest honor the NCAA may confer on an individual — is further affirmation of Boudreaux's leadership. It's also fitting, she said, calling sports her "foundation."
"It brings together my passion for what I do in business and my deep-seeded love for athletics," she said of the honor.
Boudreaux said many of her experiences as a standout basketball player and track and field athlete at Dartmouth from 1978-82 have benefited her professional career. Those "core lessons," as she described them, include the "power of teams," goal setting, structure, resilience and leadership.
As a freshman at Dartmouth, Boudreaux suffered a stress fracture on her foot. This abruptly ended her season during her basketball team's pursuit of an Ivy League championship. The following year, she earned the first of three straight Ivy League Player of the Year honors. Dartmouth also lost one of its top players to an ACL injury before her sophomore season and was limited to seven healthy players most of the year. Still, the team found a way to win the league title — the first of four in a row for the program.
"You learn resilience and not to take failure as fatal," she said. "You take it as an opportunity to do more."
After graduating from Dartmouth in 1982, Boudreaux continued to seize every opportunity to do more. She turned a management training program opportunity with Aetna, a health insurance company, into becoming a senior vice president for the company in 2002. Later in her career as an executive vice president for UnitedHealthcare, she helped the company increase its revenue by 50% after the 2008 housing crisis and the passing of the Affordable Care Act. She's repeatedly been listed among Fortune magazine's "50 Most Powerful Women in American Business" and Forbes magazine's "100 Most Powerful Women in the World." Anthem is currently the fourth-largest company in the U.S. with a woman as its CEO.
Throughout her professional journey, Boudreaux has kept in close contact with those who were part of her foundation: the Dartmouth women's basketball program, her former teammates and coaches. In 2015, she made a $2 million donation to endow the head coach's position. Those Ivy League championship teams she helped lead still get together, usually once a year, and many members, like Boudreaux, have served as mentors for players who come through the program decades after them.
"I'm still very close to my college," she said. "And my teammates are still some my closest friends. Together, we put a lot of focus on mentoring the next generation as a way of giving back."
For Boudreaux, her foundation rests on her number one team: Her family. She emphasized the important role hers has played in her success. While her parents did not have a sports background, they instilled the strong work ethic and team-oriented mindset she's carried throughout her life. Boudreaux said her husband, Terry, has been her "cornerstone." The two athletes — Terry played lacrosse at Georgia — met in high school and have been married more than 30 years. Their two sons, Christopher and Evan, played sports growing up. Evan played basketball at Dartmouth and Purdue, while Chris played football at Dartmouth.
"The lessons we've taught the boys are the very same ones we learned through sports, which are the importance of teamwork, resilience and hard work. No matter the goal, you have to have those to succeed," Boudreaux said. "It's been an incredible journey. And I know I wouldn't be where I am without their support."
