EVP, CVS Health and President, Aetna

Karen S. Lynch is Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President of the Aetna Business Unit. She is responsible for driving the CVS Health strategy to deliver consumer-focused, high-value healthcare to the nearly 45 million people that Aetna serves.

Ms. Lynch has nearly three decades of experience in the health care industry. Prior to joining CVS Health, she held executive positions at Cigna and Magellan Health Services, where she served as president. Ms. Lynch began her career with Ernst & Young as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

In 2019, Ms. Lynch was named to Business Insider’s Top 100 People Transforming Business, highlighting the significant role she plays in the transformation happening throughout the healthcare industry. For the last four years (2016 – 2019), she was named to Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business. She was also recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the 2017 Top 25 Women in Healthcare.

Ms. Lynch serves on the board of U.S. Bancorp and is also serving as Chair of their Audit Committee, is a trustee of The Bushnell Performing Arts Center, and is a member of the Global 50 and the Boston College Women’s Council. She is also an advisory board member of IBM Watson Health and NEADS/Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans, a nonprofit organization that provides independence to people through canine assistance. Ms. Lynch served for three consecutive years as Honorary Chair of the Komen Connecticut Race for the Cure, and she is a past advisory board member for the Boston office of Ernst & Young.

Ms. Lynch has been recognized for her leadership by numerous organizations and publications, including the National Association for Specialty Health Organizations, Business Insurance, the Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, and Insurance Networking News. She has also co-chaired the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Task Force for the Wall Street Journal Women in the Economy Conference.

Ms. Lynch earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Boston College and an MBA from Boston University. In 2015, she was presented with an honorary doctorate degree of humane letters from Becker College in Worcester, MA.