Lauren is a Senior Director for the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) and works with the large purchaser members of PBGH to facilitate collaboration and to support their purchaser-driven initiatives impacting healthcare delivery. In addition to translating PBGH’s ground-breaking work in transparency and accountability into workable solutions for PBGH member organizations, Lauren identifies opportunities to apply market leverage for improvement, currently focusing on the business model supporting pharmacy benefit management and low value care. Prior to this role, Lauren was the Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Employers Forum (SVEF), a coalition of high tech employers that benchmark benefit designs and collaborate for improvement. SVEF and PBGH maintain a strategic alliance and Ms. Vela works closely with purchaser members of both groups. Prior to the SVEF role, Ms. Vela enjoyed a twelve-year tenure with PBGH serving in three distinct areas; multi-stakeholder health information exchange, provider group organization improvement, and employer value-based purchasing. Prior to her work with SVEF and PBGH, Ms. Vela was employed by organizations in the workers comp, TPA, and mental health fields where she held positions in product development, operations, marketing, and provider relations. Ms. Vela earned an MBA from the University of Houston and has completed all necessary coursework for her Dr.PH. with a focus on managed health care and health economics from the University of Texas.