Paula Shepherd is the Executive Vice President, Health Plan Operations and Technology, of Louisiana Blue and a member of the company’s senior leadership team.
Shepherd has been with the company for 23 years, starting as a hospital, dental and Medicare claims manager. She worked her way up through membership and billing and was selected by senior leadership to start and lead Louisiana Blue’s Medicare Part D enrollment team.
Shepherd put her strong process improvement skills to work as Director of Appeals, Grievances and Provider Disputes. After earning her law degree, she worked in the Legal Department, eventually serving as senior legal counsel and corporate remediation officer. She then took on the role of Vice President, Claims Operations, before stepping up to Senior Vice President of Benefit Operations.
In July of 2024, Paula was promoted to Executive Vice President, Health Plan Operations and Technology. In this position, Shepherd has oversight and provides strategic leadership for Information Technology, Customer Experience (CX), Digital Experience (DX), Enterprise Project Management, Monroe Operations, Enrollment and Billing, Customer Service, the Federal Employee Program and Divisional Initiatives.
Active with Louisiana Blue’s employee INclusion Networks and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, Shepherd has lent her voice to both internal and external conversations on diversity and social justice and their campaign to ensure underserved populations are aware of the COVID-19 vaccine.


Shepherd earned her J.D. at Southern University Law Center and her MBA from the University of Phoenix. She has a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree from Southern University and a Diversity and Inclusion certificate from Cornell University. She is also a co-pastor of Philadelphia Christian Ministries and a passionate community advocate, having served as a board member of Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights and currently serving on the board of the Capital Area United Way.