Nicole Stelter

Nicole Stelter, Ph.D., is the director of Behavioral Health at Blue Shield of California, a nonprofit health plan with more than $22 billion in annual revenue serving 4.7 million members in the state's commercial, individual, and government markets.

Stelter plays a key role in implementing Blue Shield's Behavioral Health Reimagined strategy. She is also responsible for providing behavioral health and market/provider expertise across Blue Shield of California's behavioral health initiatives, with a focus on commercial lines of business. 

Stelter has more than 30 years of behavioral health experience, most recently serving as Kaiser Permanente's director of National Strategic Customer Engagement, Specialty Consulting for Mental Health, and Health Equity. In this role, she led the company's total workforce health portfolio, including providing internal and external consultation and product development for mental health, occupational health, wellness, Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), and disability management services.

Stelter holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from California State University-Dominguez Hills and she earned a PhD degree from Capella University in Minneapolis.

Stelter is a licensed marriage and family therapist, a clinical trauma professional, and holds certifications in community/organizational disaster mental health. Her clinical focus has been with the first-responder community (police and fire), and she served as a behavioral health officer in the California Army National Guard (State Guard/Reserves) from 2010 to 2015.