Sara Mulder says the simplest explanation of her role in public relations is that she works in the “department of why” at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. As the public relations manager, she is a storyteller — proactively sharing Blue Cross initiatives and member experiences that educate, engage and ultimately help Blue Cross to better serve its members. She also works with media professionals when they have questions about the business.
thrive.: Tell us a little more about how you work with the media.
Sara Mulder: When questions get directed to us, we coordinate the response with the right business partners and executives to provide timely, accurate information with the appropriate context. One of the reasons why I really enjoy working for Blue Cross is that we’re a mission-driven organization. Our members are our number one stakeholder.
thrive.: Can you talk about some of those efforts and how your team is involved?
Sara: Last year we conducted a poll among Minnesota’s seniors to see how they were doing during the pandemic. We learned how they were acclimating and rejoining their communities at different paces, and about their positive outlooks despite a lot of isolation. We worked with former radio personality John Hines, along with Dr. Mark Steffen, our senior vice president and chief medical officer, to share the poll with news media and engage with members through social media. That type of work has been a great link between what Public Relations does and touching our members.
thrive.: What are some other ways members might see your work?
Sara: We are always looking for ways to help our members with challenges they are facing. For example, we recently saw data about a rise in fractures, which are primarily caused by falls. So we started producing content for our blog (blog.bluecrossmn.com) to help raise awareness and prevent falls. And of course, we’re always looking to share the health and wellness stories of our inspiring members.