Jennifer Elkins
Scottsdale
Summary
Strategic healthcare and operations executive with senior leadership experience spanning executive outreach and development, payer organization training strategy, and multi-unit operations management. Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional teams, build senior-level relationships across health plans, providers, and enterprise partners, and translate strategy into consistent, high-impact execution. Currently serving as Director, Executive Outreach & Development Administrator, partnering with healthcare and payer stakeholders to advance access, engagement, and organizational priorities. Previously served as Vice President of Training for Health Choice Arizona, where I led enterprise-wide training transformation within a health insurance environment—centralizing training, implementing a learning management system, and designing frontline and leadership development programs. As Vice President of Operations at Kona Grill, led large, geographically dispersed teams with full P&L accountability, drove scalable execution models, and delivered consistent outcomes across complex operating environments.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Director, Executive Outreach & Development Administrator
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
07.2021 - Current
- Led Special Enrollment Operations Team, coordinating multiple cross-functional teams across Operations, Member Services, IT, Compliance, Member Experience, and Clinical to strategically enhance enrollment and member satisfaction.
- Designed and executed an integrated enrollment strategy, aligning operational workflows, and communications to ensure regulatory compliance while improving speed-to-enrollment and accuracy.
- Built and deepened executive-level relationships across health systems, advocacy organizations, and regional partners, expanding strategic collaborations and access initiatives.
- Led cross-functional collaboration with Outreach, Clinical, and Quality Informatics and Marketing teams to identify, prioritize, and address member health gaps across targeted populations.
- Partnered with clinical leaders and quality informatics to interpret population-level data and quality measures, translating insights into actionable outreach and education strategies.
- Aligned member-centric outreach campaigns with marketing and community engagement teams to improve awareness, engagement, and follow-through on preventive care and quality initiatives.
- Supported the development of integrated, data-informed interventions designed to improve care continuity, quality performance, and member experience while remaining compliant with regulatory requirements.
- Served as a connector across disciplines, ensuring outreach, messaging, clinical priorities, and operational execution were aligned to drive measurable improvements in health outcomes and care gap closure.
- Administration
Vice President of Training
Health Choice Arizona
05.2018 - 07.2021
- Led a cross-functional enterprise initiative to centralize training, unifying historically decentralized programs across departments to drive consistency, scale, and operational excellence.
- Designed and executed the end-to-end training strategy for frontline staff, ensuring readiness, compliance, and high-quality member and provider interactions within a regulated health insurance environment.
- Created and led leadership development programs for managers and senior leaders, building leadership capability, strengthening succession pipelines, and improving performance outcomes.
- Partnered closely with Operations, Compliance, Clinical, Provider Relations, and IT to align training with organizational priorities, regulatory requirements, and evolving business needs.
- Successfully selected, implemented, and rolled out a Learning Management System (LMS), enabling standardized onboarding, continuing education, certification tracking, and performance analytics.
- Established governance, metrics, and feedback loops to measure training effectiveness, adoption, and impact—using data to continuously refine curriculum and delivery.
- Served as an executive advisor on workforce readiness and capability-building strategy, translating organizational goals into scalable training solutions.
- Led and developed high-performing training and enablement teams, fostering collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Vice President of Operations
Kona Grill
04.2012 - 12.2017
- Directed multi-unit operations and P&L, leading field and corporate teams across 45 locations; improved execution consistency, reduced variability, and drove growth through disciplined operating mechanisms.
- Built a scalable leadership bench (hiring, coaching, succession), lifted frontline engagement/retention, and embedded a culture of accountability and guest-centric service.
- Led high-impact transformations (menu, pricing, throughput, labor model, training) to enhance margins and customer experience—experience directly transferable to orchestrating complex, cross-functional rare disease initiatives.
- Negotiated partnerships and vendor programs, aligning incentives and improving unit economics; instituted performance dashboards and weekly business reviews to focus teams on the right levers.
Senior Director of Training
Kona Grill
05.2011 - 04.2012
- Designed and led the enterprise-wide training strategy for management and frontline staff across a multi-unit national footprint, ensuring consistent execution, compliance, and performance outcomes.
- Served as executive lead for all new restaurant openings, directing end-to-end readiness including leadership staffing, onboarding, training deployment, operational playbooks, and go-live execution.
- Built and scaled leadership development programs for general managers and regional leaders, strengthening bench depth, accelerating readiness, and improving retention and performance.
- Led cross-functional collaboration with Operations, HR, Marketing, Finance, and Supply Chain, aligning training strategy with broader business goals—mirroring ecosystem-based execution models used in healthcare markets.
- Developed standardized training curricula, certification pathways, and performance benchmarks, enabling rapid, high-quality replication across markets.
- Deployed field training teams to support pre-opening and post-opening execution, coaching leaders and staff to achieve operational excellence during critical launch windows.
- Utilized data and field feedback to continuously refine onboarding, training effectiveness, and readiness metrics, ensuring teams were prepared to perform in high-complexity, fast-paced environments.
- Acted as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, translating training performance and field execution insights into actionable business recommendations.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Business & Communication
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ12-1998
Skills
- Business Development & Partnerships
- Payer & Market Access
- Cross-Functional Leadership
- Team Building & Coaching
- Account Planning & Stakeholder Engagement
- Program/Project Management
- Regulatory & Compliance
- Learning & Development
Target Role
Director, Healthcare Market – Rare Disease, West Region
Timeline
Director, Executive Outreach & Development Administrator
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
07.2021 - Current
Vice President of Training
Health Choice Arizona
05.2018 - 07.2021
Vice President of Operations
Kona Grill
04.2012 - 12.2017
Senior Director of Training
Kona Grill
05.2011 - 04.2012
Bachelor of Science - Business & Communication
Arizona State University