Marlene Pierce Gierbolini
Marlene Pierce Gierbolini is a distinguished healthcare executive with over 30 years of experience transforming healthcare operations, enhancing financial performance, and optimizing organizational efficiency. She began her career with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, graduating in 1990 as the distinguished student of her class and breaking barriers as the first woman president of the Engineering Student Council in a field that was 80% male at the time. Marlene started in the manufacturing and paper industry as a computer engineer before transitioning to healthcare, where she advanced through technical roles into managed care operations. In her twenties, she became Director of Internal Operations for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid 100% managed care program operated by Blue Cross of Puerto Rico, the first state or territory in the United States to adopt this particular model—a transformative experience that launched her career in healthcare insurance. Throughout her career, Marlene has held executive, consulting, and leadership roles across the United States and Puerto Rico, including COO of a behavioral health company, Vice President of Strategic Planning for Blue Cross, and consultant on projects with the National Governors Association. Currently, she serves as Executive Director for UnitedHealthcare, overseeing Medicare Advantage DSNP plans that serve dual-eligible members who are elderly or disabled, and economically disadvantaged. She is certified by AHIP as a managed care professional and completed a healthcare leadership certification from Cornell University. Her work focuses on designing benefits that address social determinants of health, including dental, vision, transportation, food assistance, and utility support, creating managed care savings that translate into tangible outcomes for the most vulnerable populations. Marlene is also deeply committed to community service and professional development. She serves on the boards of the Parkinson’s Foundation and Catholic Charities of Central Florida, supporting educational, fundraising, and healthcare initiatives. A strategic and systems-level thinker, she bridges communication gaps, aligns cross-functional teams, and drives sustainable growth in complex healthcare environments. Across her career, Marlene has consistently combined technological expertise, creative problem-solving, and visionary leadership to transform healthcare operations and improve outcomes for patients, providers, and communities alike.
• Managed Care Professional Certification from AHIP
• Certification, Healthcare Executive Leadership
• Inclusive Mindset
• Confronting Bias: Thriving Across Our Differences
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
• Leading Your Org on a Journey of Allyship
• Equity First: The Path to Inclusion and Belonging
• University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez - BS, Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• ESGR Appreciation Award
• Omega Award
• GPO Systems Award
• Florida Association of Health Plans (FAHP)
• Tau Beta Pi
• American Telemedicine Association
• NEEDS Educational Foundation
• Salón Literario Libroamérica de Puerto Rico
• IEEE
• Catholic Charities of Central Florida
• Parkinson's Foundation
• Needs Educational Foundation
• Libroamerica
What do you attribute your success to?
To be honest, I have to say that just having faith is probably the one thing that has led to success in my whole life overall. I'm a Christian, Catholic, and I think having faith in God that He leads us to where He needs us to be is probably the number one reason of success in my life.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Very early in my career, I was told that you're hired to make intelligent decisions for the company that you're hired for, not just to do a job, but to actually make intelligent decisions for the company. What that encompassed is being able to figure out among all the good things that you can do, which are the ones that are the priority. And the priority is whatever is going to get you closer to your goals. I think that has been super impactful for me to have that kind of advice early on my career. Because at the end of the day, really, you can do a million good things, but if you're not doing things that take you to your goal, you can still miss the goal and you can still not get where you need to get or where you want to get. So that's kind of where my compass is: goals go first. The goals have to create value for your clients, for your team. You need to establish the right goals, and then start making decisions that will get you to meet those goals or exceed those goals.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say that the most important thing is don't fall into all the stereotypes. Everybody wants to tell women what to do. What has changed is what they want us to be. At one point, they just wanted us to be home and take care of children, so that's what they told us to do. Now they want us to lead companies and rule the world. I'd say don't fall into any of those schemes. Just figure out what you want as a human being. That should be what leads you. Don't let it be because you are a woman or because you're a man, because that should not determine what your future should be and what you want to be. That's something that you need to figure out on your own, and then it is really your goal, not the goal of a woman or a man or whatever. We need to get away from this path of letting other people define us by whether it's our gender or any other stickers that they want to put on us. Every person needs to figure out what they really want in life, where they want to go, and just because you're a woman, that doesn't make it different. This is a great time. It's really a time where you can be anything you want, so figure out what you really, really want to be, and there is no barrier out there. You can be anything you want. If what you want is to rule the world, there you go, you can do that. If what you want to do is stay home and take care of your kids, that's fine, you can do that too. You just need to figure out what you want. And if you want to have it all and have a great career and a family, you can do that too. It's just a matter of being able to make the commitments and the decisions to get there. But I think the main thing is don't let people define what you need to do. You need to figure it out on your own, and don't let it be something just because of your gender. Just define what you really want to be. We're at a time in humanity where anybody can be anything choose to be the best version of yourself. Be a version of yourself that you can be happy with, proud of.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think healthcare is changing, and like everything else, I think the biggest challenge is we need to be very innovative because we don't have unlimited resources. There's going to be a lot of policy pressure, there's going to be a lot of financial pressure, and we need to figure out a way, and that's where innovation comes in, to do more with less. That's always been the challenge, right? To be able to do more with less and to be able to provide better services, better benefits with probably less money.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
At work, I think integrity, credibility, and performance are vital, but innovation, relationships, and compassion are what sets you apart. In terms of my personal life, I think my kids are the number one thing. I have two sons. I am married, obviously, and I love my husband, but my children are what I love the most in my life. One of them is a mechanical engineer, and the other one is going to be going to medical school soon. Outside of work, that's my world.