Women Worth Watching 2015

Megan Gomez, Esq.

This Sr. Legal Counsel Helps Create a Truly Inclusive Workplace at Excellus BCBS

web excellus_gomezMegan Gomez is senior legal counsel for Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Since joining the company in 2007, Megan has supported many departments within the health plan, including Utilization Management, Credentialing, and Analysis and Recovery. Currently, she works with the company’s medical group and long-term care insurance company. She also serves as attorney for Human Resources across the enterprise, which includes about 6,000 employees, handling issues raised by the HR team, as well as external inquiries from oversight agencies.

In her work with Human Resources, Megan has focused on diversity and inclusion, challenging management to embrace the idea that diversity is broader than skin color or ethnic background. One recent project she worked on with the Employee Resource Groups, sponsored by Excellus BCBS’ Office of Inclusion, sought to achieve greater inclusion of employees experiencing gender transition. The team-based project aims at ensuring company-wide support for those individuals.

“…opportunity presents itself in unusual ways.”

“I have to say that my biggest career leap was switching practice areas seven years into my career and taking on the labor and employment legal work in our organization,” says Megan. “I learned to listen more, assume nothing, and that opportunity presents itself in unusual ways.”

After realizing the tremendous benefit of having wonderful mentors throughout her career, Megan is proud to serve as a mentor to other attorneys and people within the organization.

“Being a woman in my profession has been made easier by the women who came before me,” she says. “We still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality in the professions, and my predecessors inspire me to continue to fight for it.”

Megan earned her law degree from the University at Buffalo in 2005 and began her career as an attorney in 2006 at Brown & Kelly, LLP, in Buffalo, New York. She completed her undergraduate studies at Binghamton University in just three years and graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 1999.

Education: JD, University at Buffalo School of Law; BA English Literature, Binghamton University

First Job: Pharmaceutical Sales Representative, Eli Lilly

What I’m Reading: “The Goldfinch: A Novel” by Donna Tartt

Words I live by: “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The most important quality a woman leader should have is…

…being calm in the chaos.

The career advice I’d give my former self:

Don’t let the limitations others impose on you change how you see yourself.

The one thing I’d do differently in my career, knowing what I know now, is…

…absolutely nothing. Every place I’ve been has brought me here.

When I really need to focus on a project, I…

…close my office door, block time in my calendar, and dig in.

My biggest career leap (and what I learned from it) was…

…taking on the labor and employment legal work in our organization, switching practice areas 7 years into my career. I learned to listen more, assume nothing, and that opportunity presents itself in unusual ways.

Being a woman in my profession has been…

…made easier by the women who came before me. We still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality in the professions, and my predecessors inspire me to continue to fight for it.

I’ve learned that failure is…

…a bruise, not a tattoo. It is never the end of the story.

I maintain a healthy personal life by…

…doing my best to put my kids and husband first. And trying to squeeze in a run every once in a while!

 

I knew my present career was what I wanted to do when…

…I looked forward to Monday mornings. Every day is an adventure. I’m proud of my colleagues and my leader, and I enjoy the people I work with. What more could I ask for?