Dr. Nicole M. Cooper currently serves as a Senior Vice President at UnitedHealth Group. She formerly served as Head of Healthcare Policy at Lyft. In this role, she developed and managed Lyft's federal and state healthcare policy agenda, working to expand Lyft's presence in the healthcare sector. She also led Lyft’s healthcare-related strategic partnerships and alliances supporting the company’s social impact strategy and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives.
She previously served as Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at UnitedHealthcare, where she led national signature partnerships and local and state social investment strategies, under the UHC Empowering Health commitment, to bolster UHC’s social impact across the US. Reporting to the UnitedHealthcare Chief Communications Officer, among other responsibilities, Dr. Cooper spearheaded national corporate philanthropic grant-making efforts and employee volunteerism and community engagement programs that were focused on addressing basic access to care and the social determinants of health for underserved communities. She was also a member of the executive UnitedHealthcare Culture, Inclusion and Diversity Council.
Prior to joining UnitedHealthcare, Dr. Cooper was an Obama administration political appointee, and part of the US Department of Health and Human Services team responsible for implementation of the Affordable Care Act. At HHS, Dr. Cooper served as a policy advisor to key leaders in the agency, including the Chief of Staff at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health.
In 2019, she received both the Modern Healthcare “Top 25 Emerging Leaders (Under 40)” award and Business Insider's "DC Healthcare Power List" recognition, and in 2020 she received the National Minority Quality Forum’s “40 Under 40 Leaders in Health” award.
Dr. Cooper holds a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College, a master of public health (MPH) degree in Health Management and Policy from the University of Michigan, and a doctor of public health (DrPH) degree in Health Policy from Harvard University. She lives in Washington, DC with her family.