Emily Piper, JD

As Chief Legal, Advocacy & Compliance Officer at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Emily Piper leads a diverse array of functions at the nation’s largest nonprofit system of substance use disorder treatment, mental health care, recovery resources and related prevention and education services.

Piper is a member of Hazelden Betty Ford’s Executive Leadership Team, with responsibilities that include law, compliance, government relations, advocacy, media relations and communications. She also leads several organization-wide initiatives, serves as corporate secretary, and is the executive liaison to multiple Hazelden Betty Ford board committees.

Prior to joining Hazelden Betty Ford, Piper served as commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Human Services under former Governor Mark Dayton from 2015-2019. Before being appointed commissioner, she served as general counsel and deputy chief of staff in the Office of Governor Dayton and Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith. She previously worked at the Minnesota Department of Commerce, first as general counsel focusing on insurance regulation and health reform implementation and then as chief of staff and deputy commissioner. Piper began her career as an attorney at McGrann Shea Carnival Straughn & Lamb, Chtd. in Minneapolis.

In addition to her role on the Blue Cross board of trustees, Piper is a member of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation board of directors. Piper has participated in numerous efforts to influence federal policy to support state innovation, including through the National Governor's Association's Bipartisan Health Reform Learning Network. She has been recognized multiple times by Minnesota Physician magazine as one of the 100 most influential health care leaders in the state.

Piper holds a Bachelor of Arts in biology from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. and a J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. She is also an alumna of the Minnesota Young American Leaders Program, which began in 2019 through a partnership between the Itasca Project, the University of Minnesota's Center for Integrative Leadership and the Harvard Business School.

Committees: Audit, Governance (chair)