Bio
As Hazelden Betty Ford's chief legal, advocacy and compliance officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team, Emily Piper leads a diverse array of functions, including law, compliance, government relations, advocacy, media relations and communications. She also leads several organization-wide initiatives, serves as corporate secretary, and is the executive liaison to multiple Hazelden Betty Ford board committees.
In addition to her role at Hazelden Betty Ford, Piper is a trustee and chairs the governance committee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Board of Trustees, as well as that of its affiliate organization, Stella. She also is a trustee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation Board.
Prior to joining Hazelden Betty Ford in 2019, Piper spent eight years in service to the state of Minnesota, including three years leading the Department of Human Services (DHS), Minnesota's largest state agency. Under her leadership, DHS implemented Medicaid expansion and payment reform—including the most extensive redesign of the state's substance use disorder treatment system in memory. Prior to her DHS appointment by Governor Mark Dayton, Piper served as Dayton's general counsel and deputy chief of staff. Before that, she was deputy commissioner and chief of staff for the Minnesota Department of Commerce, where she also served as general counsel, focusing extensive efforts on insurance regulation and health reform implementation.
Piper's leadership in health care has been recognized and sought in Minnesota and nationally. She has been named one of Minnesota's 100 most influential health care leaders by Minnesota Physician multiple times and is among 50 rising leaders selected in 2019 to participate in the Minnesota Young American Leaders Program, a partnership of the Itasca Project, the University of Minnesota's Center for Integrative Leadership and the Harvard Business School. Piper also has been commissioned to lead multiple state and federal reform efforts in partnership with payers, providers and patients. In addition, she has been called upon to advise the nation's governors on how federal policy can support state innovation, including through participation in the National Governor's Association's Bipartisan Health Reform Learning Network.
A graduate of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Piper speaks frequently at events and in the media and is especially passionate about advancing the important role of women in leading and shaping health care policy. When not working, she can be found in gyms and hockey rinks across Minnesota, serving as #1 fan to her five children.