The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation has named Luz Maria Frias to its 13-member board of directors. The board directs the state’s largest grantmaking foundation dedicated exclusively to improving health in Minnesota, and includes five community representatives.

“Luz’s well-rounded experience in areas where the Blue Cross Foundation is currently working, including education, housing, and social connectedness, will be invaluable to us. Our work cuts across these areas to improve health upstream, understanding that health is more than just the absence of disease, but is also a product of the conditions in which we live and work,” said Marsha Shotley, Foundation president.

“With her impressive record of community service and numerous leadership awards, Luz has also shown herself to be a powerful advocate for people who may otherwise face poorer health and quality of life.”

Frias is a licensed attorney with a distinguished 20-year career in the nonprofit sector, law and government. Currently, she serves as External Affairs Director for Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. Earlier in her career, she served as a Magistrate for the second and fourth judicial districts, a Hearing Examiner for the Shakopee Mdewankanton Sioux Community and a family court public defender. For eight years, she was Chief Legal Officer for Centro Legal, a St. Paul-based nonprofit community law office.

She has received numerous awards for her legal and leadership service to the community, and has served on the boards of the Urban Coalition, The Saint Paul Foundation, Minnesota Mental Health Association, Immigrants’ Rights Task Force and the Minnesota Women Lawyers Association. Frias holds a master’s degree in political science and a juris doctorate from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Frias replaces outgoing board member, Dick Niemiec, who retired from the board in 2006 after 12 years of service.

For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, visit us on the Web at http://www.bluecrossmn.com/foundation or call (651) 662-3950 or toll free 1-866- 812-1593.

The Blue Cross Foundation’s purpose is to look beyond health care today for ideas that create healthier communities tomorrow. By addressing key social, economic and environmental factors that determine health — beyond genes, lifestyle and access to health care — the Foundation’s work extends beyond the traditional reach of the health care system to improve community health long-term and close the health gap that affects many Minnesotans. Since it was established 20 years ago, the Foundation has become the state’s largest grantmaking foundation to exclusively dedicate its assets to improving health in Minnesota, awarding $20 million since 1986.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota’s first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A not-for-profit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.7 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago. Go to http://www.bluecrossmn.com/ to learn more about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.

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