Kelly Calabria

Chief Communications, Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, Blue Cross NC

Kelly Calabria is Chief Communications, Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC). In this role, she leads a team of communicators, marketing strategists, storytellers and corporate social responsibility and philanthropic experts. Kelly focuses on building and protecting Blue Cross NC’s reputation and brand, driving growth and retention for all lines of business and crafting a strategy that ensures Blue Cross NC delivers on its purpose: We won’t stop until healthcare is better for ALL.

Kelly is a tested business and people leader who has spent more than 20 years working to make health care better across North Carolina and beyond. Kelly excels in roles that intersect business, brand strategy, health care, policy, politics, community engagement and government. A North Carolina native, Kelly joined Blue Cross NC from the statewide health equity nonprofit Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation (FHLI), where she was President and CEO. Under her leadership, FHLI worked to advance health equity through community-driven action and systems-level policy advocacy. Prior to that role, Kelly oversaw the North America health practice at Ketchum, a global communications consultancy, where she specialized in reputation building work with health services organizations.

In addition, Kelly serves on the advisory boards for the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is a board member for the North Carolina Healthcare Foundation, the Durham Tech Foundation, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. 

Kelly holds a degree in journalism and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in Raleigh with her husband, Tony, a retired high school English teacher and her two teenage sons.