With more than 27 years of progressive experience in inclusion and diversity, health equity, community relations, and corporate social responsibility, Bridget Hurd has worked in the health care industry helping to facilitate stronger linkages among the community and health care institutions, addressing health and health care disparities and promoting a culture of inclusion. 
   
Ms. Hurd is the vice president, Inclusion and Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan where she is responsible for leading and executing the corporate inclusion and diversity strategy for Blue Cross and its subsidiaries and shaping a culture of inclusion where all perspectives are valued.  She also leads the Office of Health and Health Care Disparities with a vision of Better Health for All where she developed a framework for advancing health equity and focuses on achieving health equity in the delivery of, quality and access to care. Ms. Hurd leads the enterprise’s Diversity Leadership Councils, Physician Diversity Council and oversees cultural competency learning opportunities for employees where employees learn about different cultures, communities, generations, workstyles and perspectives; coaching programs through its Employee Resource Networks, 14 employee resource networks and the integration of an inclusion lens in providing service to members and customers.

She currently represents Blue Cross on the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in April 2020.  She serves on the BCBS Health Equity Champions Committee and is a co-chair for the national Health Care Transformation Task Force Health Equity Advisory Group. Hurd is a recipient of the national DentaQuest 2020 Health Equity Heroes award which recognizes individuals working to achieve equity during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, she was also recognized as a Top 100 Diversity Officer by the National Diversity Council.

Prior to that, Ms. Hurd was the director of Community Responsibility at BCBSM.  In this role, she developed and led strategic community partnerships to encourage healthy, active lifestyles at every age and advanced the Blues brand in local communities.  She oversaw corporate giving, stakeholder relationships, the employee and executive volunteer programs, and corporate internal and special events.  

Before joining BCBSM, Ms. Hurd worked for eight years at the Greater Detroit Area Health Council (a non-profit, regional coalition).  As part of the organization’s executive team, she played a significant role in branding and building its regional and national image, organizational capacity building and directing strategic planning and sharpening its focus on health policy initiatives.  She managed strategic partnerships and led internal and external communications, including media relations achieving recurring visibility in print and other media.  Ms. Hurd was also responsible for member recruitment and retention, governance and board relations, stakeholder communications, sponsorships, and planning educational and fundraising events. Through these efforts she strengthened the organization’s focus, visibility, and influence, both nationally and regionally.

Ms. Hurd has also worked at the Detroit Medical Center where she was press secretary and has conducted community relations for St. John Providence Health System helping to increase access to health services through community engagement.  She has provided communications leadership and community outreach for other health care entities including the Voices of Detroit Initiative, the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority and the Michigan Cover the Uninsured Network.

A community steward serving on numerous advisory committees and boards in the Metropolitan Detroit community, Ms. Hurd is a board member of Detroit Equity, Inc, LAHC – Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities, the Michigan Diversity Council and a past advisory board member of the Council of Asian Pacific Americans. She has served as a member of the President’s National Advisory Council for Henry Ford College and the President’s Community Advisory Group for Wayne State University. Ms. Hurd is a former board member of One Detroit Credit Union that focuses on providing access to financial resources to underserved communities, Special Olympics of Michigan, the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Southfield Community Foundation where she also served as interim executive director.  

She is a graduate of Wayne State University where she obtained a Master of Business Administration degree and the University of Michigan where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications.  She is a Certified Diversity Professional, a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory and has a certificate for Corporate Citizenship Leadership from the Boston College Carroll School of Management Center for Corporate Citizenship and is a graduate of Leadership Detroit XXXI. Hurd also participated in the Disparities Leadership Program of the Disparities Solution Center at Boston Massachusetts General Hospital.