One CenTeam Culture Drives Impact

At Centene, our One CenTeam culture is guided by our mission and grounded in our core values of accountability, courage, curiosity, trust and service. These values were introduced to the organization in 2024 after a year of gathering feedback from employees. Since then, we have been embedding them into the ways we work in service to our mission, our members, our providers, and our partners. Fast forward to today and we’ve seen this work come to life across the organization and make a real impact.

Building on that foundation, 2025 gave us an opportunity to celebrate how our values translate into action through our One CenTeam behaviors. One of those behaviors, celebrating winning together, was front and center as we recognized the first winners of the Centene Excellence Awards. This new enterprise-wide recognition program honors teammates who truly demonstrate our Centene values. These annual, peer-nominated awards recognize impactful contributions to the organization that drive our business forward and enrich the member experience. This year, employees submitted more than 1,900 nominations to recognize their teammates, sharing stories, experiences, and standout examples of extraordinary impact fueled by our values.

The winners of the 2025 Centene Excellence Awards are remarkable individuals who embody the key aspects of our culture, live our values, and demonstrate our mission in action. We are proud of how they lead with courage, collaboration, and compassion to deliver exceptional outcomes for our members and communities.

Congratulations to the following winners:

Excellence in Accountability

Timicia Swallen, Senior Manager, Maternity & Women's Care; Buckeye Health Plan

Timicia is a model for what accountability for true service excellence looks like. She led a team who helped significantly improve Buckeye’s prenatal and postpartum Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) performance, achieving top quartile results for 2024. This work ensures women access prenatal care sooner and receive preventive care, and their babies get vital support in the first months. Timicia’s work contributes to healthier families, stronger communities, and a culture of excellence while fostering alignment and connection across teams.

Excellence in Courage

Erika Sockaci, Vice President, Provider Relations; Health Net of California

Erika's work supporting providers drove major quality gains across all lines of business. She led executive-level engagement by bringing together leaders across contracting, quality, and physician teams. Erika’s courage and grace in navigating tough conversations have driven measurable results and her leadership has transformed challenges into progress, raising the bar for quality and member care.

Excellence in Curiosity

Tim Donovan, Senior Director, Systems Engineering; Business Technology Solutions

Driven by curiosity and a commitment to excellence, Tim is committed to turning challenges into opportunities for lasting improvement. His relentless pursuit of answers has strengthened our systems and prevented technology disruptions. Tim uncovered an enhancement opportunity in Centene’s web portal, improving system resilience and reducing member disruptions during open enrollment. Tim’s work has been instrumental in creating more reliable systems that deliver better technological experiences for all.

Excellence in Trust

Teresa Blanton, Care Manager (RN); WellCare of KY

Teresa’s tireless advocacy and relationship-driven approach improve the lives of members and empowers them to take control of their health and well-being. Teresa provides whole-person care by not just meeting clinical needs, but by listening deeply and partnering with members to co-create care plans that address both their medical conditions and their drivers of health. Through tireless advocacy and collaboration with community resources, she turned barriers into opportunities – improving health outcomes and strengthening trust.

Excellence in Service

Trent Thibodeau, Senior Care Navigator; Managed Health Services of WI

Trent, a subject matter expert in the drivers of health space, showcases deep empathy and compassionate care to every interaction, showing up in service to members. His culturally responsive, trauma-informed approach has been transformative – particularly for refugee communities – shaping how care teams engage with diverse populations. Whether guiding members through chronic disease programs, overcoming language barriers, or navigating social services, he consistently empowers individuals to take control of their health. As a senior care navigator and peer leader, he advances our drivers of health model and mentors colleagues, proving that trust and respect create lasting impact.  

Excellence in One CenTeam: Arizona Complete Health 

Through strong collaboration, Arizona’s Care Management team doubled enrollment in disease management programs and improved outcomes like lower A1c scores and reduced utilization. In partnership with Centene Pharmacy Services and our Quality experts, the team reduced gaps in care for those managing chronic pain, promoting safer, alternative options than opioid prescriptions.  

The program customizes messaging and outreach strategies to educate members on vaccine access, flu-related complications, and prevention of infection and spread. We believe that providing our members with clear, personalized, actionable information about flu prevention throughout flu season is one of the best ways to influence improved health and better outcomes.    

The winners are:

Gautam Aggarwal, Interim CMO
Brett Armstrong, Senior Manager, Care Management
Yvonne Johnson, Senior Director, Pharmacy Program Manager
Chanchal Yadav, Vice President, Medical Director
Arlene Erran, Supervisor, Care Management (RN)
Chantal Jimenez, Director, Quality Improvement
Danyale Schmidt, Supervisor, Care Management (RN)
Lauren Soulier, Senior Manager, Quality Improvement
Dee Reny, Senior Director, Care Management
Chris Cheesman, Senior Business Tech Analyst  

In 2026, we’ll continue strengthening our culture and celebrating team members who exemplify our values and the impact we create as One CenTeam!