Krista Nelson

Krista Nelson is an accomplished healthcare executive currently serving as Chief Operating Officer at Optum since May 2025. Previously, Nelson held the position of Chief Executive Officer at UnitedHealthcare Community & State from February 2024 to May 2025 and served as Chief Operating Officer at UnitedHealthcare from August 2009 to January 2024. Throughout this tenure, Nelson led strategy and growth initiatives across commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, and global lines of business, with a focus on health equity and social determinants of health. Experience also includes roles as Chief Growth Officer for Government Programs, where responsibilities encompassed driving growth in Medicare and Medicaid, as well as product innovation within individual exchanges. Early career highlights include serving as Co-Founder and VP of Strategy at Harken Health and as a Senior Consultant with Ingenix Consulting, focusing on new product development for healthcare payers. Nelson holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a Bachelor's degree in Finance from the UMN Carlson School of Management.