Nakesha Lopez

Nakesha Lopez is Senior Executive Vice President and Chief People & Culture Officer for Advocate Health— the country’s third largest nonprofit integrated health care system. She is a strategic and transformational leader who brings more than two decades of human resources experience, building strategies for growth, change, and organizational culture in healthcare and other industries. 

Nakesha joined Advocate Health in March 2024 to lead the People & Culture function for the enterprise, where she leads a team dedicated to attracting, developing, and activating the organization’s more than 170,000 talented teammates. She oversees the strategy and execution of all enterprise-wide people systems, talent initiatives, learning and development, change communication and activation events, among others, designed to foster high-performing teams and inclusive environments where all teammates can reach their full potential. 

Most recently, Nakesha served as the Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Diversity Officer for Baylor, Scott, & White. In this role she provided strategic oversight of human capital planning, talent management, total rewards, DE&I strategies and culture. Prior to her time at Baylor, Scott, & White, she served as vice president of human resources for Barclays Capital. She joined the organization as an assistant vice president of human resources from Lehman Brothers during their acquisition. 

In 2024, Nakesha was awarded 2024 CHRO of the Year from HRO Today, and landed on Becker Healthcare’s list of top CHROs and Chief People Officers to know two years in a row.