Tonya Copeland

A proud Nashville native, after graduating with my bachelor’s in social work I worked in various fields, such as children services, home health, hospice and social services for special populations, such as elderly and intellectually disabled. Growing up in a family with two family members with special needs drove my desire to learn how they and others could be better supported to live life to its fullest. While in undergraduate I expanded this interest not just on how I could make sustainable changes, but how I could influence others from a policy standpoint as well, tackling complex issues which faced those with special needs as well as the elderly and physically disabled. Shortly after graduation, I moved into leadership roles, growing the footprint of the non-profit from 50 employees to more than 600, expanding services across two states. Some of my proudest moments have been tackling complex challenges as a member of the statewide provider association. Tackling those challenges resulted in working with state departments and the TN Legislature to increase pay rates for direct support workers as well as improve the rates paid to providers who provided the direct support to people with intellectual disabilities.  Additionally, lead the full implementation of the first electronic health record at the non-profit I was leading at the time. During this same time successfully partnered with local physician to launch an innovative yoga program for people with disabilities. Described as an “out of the box” leader, I thrive on addressing and solving some of society’s biggest health and social challenges by developing relationships, identifying strategies, technologies, and programs to improve outcomes. In 2016, I was hand-picked to join the UnitedHealthcare team, to lead and implement the Employment and Community First CHOICES (ECF CHOICES) program, serving people with an intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.  After spending five years leading the ECF CHOICES program I was promoted to the Vice President, Solutions role where I lead a team of talented Directors who create forward-thinking solutions for our state partners, that translate to a winning RFP strategy for Medicaid/Medicare markets. On a personal level, I have been married to my loving husband for 26 years and am the mother to two beautiful daughters and one scrappy dog.