2024 Mentor of the Year – Colleen Rogers
Join us in congratulating our newest Mentor of the Year, Colleen Rogers!
Colleen Rogers is a strategic and purpose-driven healthcare executive known for exceptional leadership in business transformation, AI-driven innovation and operational excellence. With deep industry expertise developed over 20 years at UnitedHealth Group, Colleen served in influential roles within the Office of the CEO, leading major initiatives including enterprise-wide digital product launches, innovative AI-driven healthcare platforms and significant optimizations of Optum’s call center operations. She also played a pivotal role in the turnaround of the Affordable Care Act’s Healthcare.gov, working closely with CMS and senior White House leadership.
Currently, as a fractional COO at two companies, Firefly Immersive and Adaptive Product, Colleen partners closely with executive leadership teams to execute effective go-to-market strategies, develop robust financial models and value propositions, and build scalable operating plans and disciplined operational workflows. Her international education in Paris and London has informed a global and innovative approach to leadership, enabling her to navigate complex challenges with agility, resilience, and analytical rigor. Colleen received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota, inclusive of a year at both Sorbonne IV in Paris and Middlesex University in London. She has completed certification training in Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), earned UHG’s Collaboration Engineer Certification, and is a graduate of UHG’s Data Science University and Management Development Program. Committed to community involvement, Colleen volunteers on two committees each for the Girl Scouts of River Valley and the Women’s Health Leadership Trust (WHLT). She actively mentors professional women through Women’s Health Leadership TRUST, Menttium, as well as Minnetonka high school students at Vantage, and serves in business advisory role with the University of Minnesota Ventures Advisory Group.American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) of Minnesota. She is an active member of the Women’s Health Leadership TRUST, where she was named one of the top 35 emerging leaders in 2015 and has served numerous times as a mentor in the TRUST’s Mentoring Program.
About Mentor of the Year
Any TRUST member who demonstrates mentor attributes including: being a connector; strong communicator; sharing wisdom; modeling or supporting work/life integration; having integrity/authenticity; and being accessible/ approachable.
- Attributes should be demonstrated, exhibited, taught, confirmed, visible, “lived”
- Recognized as being an inspiration, and positively impacting the professional development and career trajectory of others.
This award is based on the experiences of the nominee’s formal and informal mentees, not the mentor’s personal career achievements. Anyone (member or not) may nominate someone for the award, but each nominee should be a current TRUST member.
Why Reward Mentors?
Mentorship, both formal and informal, can be an important ingredient to work/life integration, career success and trajectory — yet it is often something that, while prized by recipients, is rarely rewarded. In 2016, the TRUST established the Mentor of the Year Award to highlight the importance and skill of mentorship and the powerful impact a single person can have on the lives of many. The award is presented to a TRUST member who positively affects others via the demonstrated mentorship qualities.
Other Mentor of the Year Award Winners by Year:
2023: Bobbi Kochevar, MBA, MLS(ASCP)CM
2022: Diane Nanstad
2021: Colleen Askvig
2020: Jeannine Rivet
2019: Pamela Stegora Axberg
2018: Danielle Hansen
2017: Samantha Hanson
2016: Jill Johnson