By Alan King
AFRO Staff Writer
(January 28, 2009) - Recently named to Black Enterprise’s 100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America, Dr. Reed Tuckson joins a list of what the magazine calls “the best and brightest leaders in business and industry” in America that are “positioned to lead the way” and shape new models for success in these challenging times.
The men and women listed are heads of major divisions have had significant influence on both their company and industry and are among the highest ranking executives at the top 1,000 U.S. publicly traded companies (or at international corporations with gross revenues of at least $1 billion).
As executive vice president of UnitedHealth Group, Tuckson directs and oversees the clinically-related programs of the company’s six operating businesses and has oversight for the work of more than 10,000 clinical personnel.
“Our customers range from huge global conglomerates among the Fortune 500, to major corporations with the brand names we all know, through mid-size and small employers – the retailers and regional suppliers, the mom-and-pop grocery stores and independent service professionals who keep local economies moving in this nation,” the executive vice president told the United States Senate Committee on Finance at a Health Reform Summit last June.
His organization, which serves more than 70 million individuals nationwide , is a self-proclaimed diversified health and well-being company. “In other words, we have an extraordinary breadth of experience working on behalf of the people who purchase health care benefits, the people who provide health care and the people who are health care customers.”
Tuckson, who has been a leader in health care organizations for more than 25 years, has also served as a member of several bi-partisan federal senior cabinet-level advisory committees on genetics, health reform, infant mortality, children’s health, violence and radiation testing.
Prior to joining UnitedHealth Croup in 2000, he was senior vice president for professional standards at the American Medical Association, and in the late 1980s he was one of the youngest-ever Commissioners of Public Health for Washington, D.C.
“Reed’s recognition by Black Enterprise points toward not only his ability to translate ideas into cost-effective health solutions that will improve the quality and efficiency of health services, but also his unwavering, physician-first commitment to helping people live healthier, more productive lives,” Stephen Hemsley, UnitedHealth Group’s chief executive officer and president, said in a statement.
Tuckson also served as the president of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, senior physician leader of the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the medical director of a skilled nursing home.
About the collaborative efforts of the UnitedHealth Group, he said, “We must bring all our strength and resources to bear for the American people, working diligently for a more reliable, modern health care system.”
Advancing changes that improve, enhance, simplify and inform is part of what his organization is doing to help participants in the health care market.
“All of us,” he added, “intend to continue to pursue an agenda for positive change across our enterprise and across this nation.”
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Kimberly Holland: Behind The Gold
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Being described as the devil who wears Prada is not an insult but a compliment for Kimberly Holland who, as an African-American woman and one of the youngest sports agents in the industry, learned first hand about the challenges of the business.
“I don’t believe that the male agents took me seriously,” the Washington, D.C. native said Behind the Gold, a documentary on runnerspace.com. “I don’t think the meeting directors took me seriously.”
That was in 2000, when track and field star Terrence Trammell sought her eye for detail and expertise with contracts to help him find an agent.
At the time, Holland was enrolled at Regent University Law School in her pursuit of a career in entertainment law and worked part-time as a paralegal at LaFace Records.
When the two agents she turned up for Trammell didn’t pan out, the track and field star suggested she represent him. Two years later, just months before her law school graduation, she set up Icon Management.
“I got started with Icon Management, with Kimberly just being my liaison,” Trammell said in the documentary. “She pretty much knew the ropes.”
Icon’s lineup grew from Trammell to more than a dozen athletes from word of mouth.
“When I came, it was only two of us,” Me’Lisa Barber, a client, said in the film. “Now, it’s 13; it’s still growing.”
Holland’s prospect of becoming a formidable player on and off the field was amplified at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, when five of her athletes brought home eight medals in track and field (double what she amassed at the 2004 Olympics in Athens).
Now, the male agents and meeting directors knew she was about her business.
“They realized that this young lady has staying power, that she can defend herself, that she’s articulate and at the end of the day she really cares about her clients,” Holland said.
And that’s not all. The medals also increased her negotiation power. Before the 2008 Olympic Games, an athlete appearance may have netted a $5,000-$10,000 fee, according to blackenterprise.com. Now, she can command between $30,000 and $40,000 for an Olympic athlete.
Holland also negotiated a multimillion-dollar deal with Nike for Olympian Walter Dix – an endorsement deal that’s the first and largest in track-and-field history for a collegiate athlete making the transition into professional competition.
Her other clients say they are convinced they’re in good hands.
“I respect Ms. Kim and what she’s doing, and I trust her,” Lashawn Merritt said.
And for Bolota Asmerom, there’s no price tag for what Holland offers.
“That’s big to an athlete when someone’s with you,” Asmerom said. “That’s why our relationship is strong and it is what it is.”
Holland agreed that the respect is mutual.
“I believe they respect me for what I have done, what I’m doing and what I’m going to continue to do,” she said. Describing her work as a higher calling, Holland added, “It’s become a passion. I’m here until God says, ‘I don’t want you here anymore.’”