About Independence Blue Cross
About us
Our company Executive team
Gregory E. Deavens
Sushma Akunuru
Crystal E. Ashby
Rodrigo Cerdá, M.D.
Donna Crilley Farrell
Kortney Cruz
Stephen P. Fera
Thomas A. Hutton
Paul J. Kane
Kimberly J. Kockler
Susan Larkin
Juan Lopez
Anthony J. Maleno
Brett Mayfield
Peter Panageas
Richard L. Snyder, M.D.
Paul Staudenmeier
Mike Sullivan
Michael R. Vennera
Koleen Cavanaugh
Emily Zitser
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Sushma AkunuruSenior Vice President, Business Technology Services

Sushma Akunuru is senior vice president of Business Technology Services at Independence Blue Cross (Independence). She is responsible for solutions that meet emerging market demands, improve efficiencies, and strengthen the company’s security posture as well as aligning the company’s technology, application, and security teams.

Ms. Akunuru is a champion of women in leadership and technology and brings more than a decade of experience in financial services and IT-related functions. She spearheads Independence’s Women in Technology and Analytics event that is designed to encourage careers in technology at Independence. She also shares her expertise by engaging with the Asian American Chamber of Commerce, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association CIO Roundtable, the Wharton Health Care Business Conference, and as a member of the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies digital transformation advisory board. She is a strong proponent of instilling STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in young minds. She supports this by mentoring and tutoring robotics to children in her community.

Ms. Akunuru received her MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She received a master’s degree in computer applications from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India.