Annual Sparking Academic Excellence Breakfast 

Speaker Spotlight:

Rona Berinobis

East High '79 

Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Development – Athene USA

In her current role, Rona leads Athene’s foundation, community relations, talent development, and employee engagement initiatives. Prior to joining Athene, she worked at Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. At Wellmark, Rona developed and executed an award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion movement to maximize organizational effectiveness. She also had accountability for Talent Acquisition and Organizational Development. Prior to moving to Human Resources, Rona was the Director of National Accounts for Wellmark. She has extensive experience in health insurance sales, account management, and marketing. Rona’s expertise is in strategic development, coaching and consulting, and crafting innovative solutions to align with a client’s cultural and environmental needs. Prior to joining Wellmark, she held sales and marketing leadership roles with United Health Care and Mercy Health Services.

Education

Rona holds a Master of Arts degree in Leadership from Bellevue University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Upper Iowa University. She has received Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certification from Rutgers University and has secured designations as a Certified Health Consultant and Professional of the Academy of Health Management. 

Community

Rona is the Board Secretary for Urban Dreams. She is past chair of the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s Diversity Council, past Chair for the Iowa Asian Alliance Board of Directors, past member for the Board of Directors for the Young Women’s Resource Center and Girl Scouts. Rona also serves on multiple community advisory committees.