Vanessa Pawlak
Cognizant
Excellence in Healthcare
Vanessa Pawlak is the Regulatory Compliance and Government Programs Practice Leader in Cognizant Consulting's Global Healthcare Practice. She has over 16 years of consulting experience. Over the course of her career, she has worked in 41 U.S. states and territories with nearly 80 healthcare organizations nationally including the 10 largest U.S. health payers, many providers, 17 Blues plans, and directly for state health commissioners managing multi-million dollar budgets.
But ask her about her greatest professional achievements/accomplishments over the course of her career and she says clearly the Top 25 Consultants award takes the cake. "I suppose I could also say professionally I've been a Big 4 partner, a VP, a leader, a follower, a Chairman's winner…. and yet, a mom, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a colleague, and a companion," Pawlak says. "I'm most proud that I've been able to do life's great balancing act without being knocked down, because it's not easy! Even if it looks graceful, I'm sure I spilled the coffee at some point that morning."
Pawlack is board certified in health compliance and health data privacy. She specializes in government-sponsored health programs, with experience directing large-scale transformation and turnarounds across governance, administration, operational, financial and clinical domains. She is also published regularly in leading healthcare industry literature and speaks frequently at industry conferences.
What's been the biggest factor to her success? "Sheer grit. If you don't know what that is, there's no point in explaining," she says. "Glass ceilings aren't shattered because someone hands you a hammer and says smash here."
Having extreme purpose combined with an attitude of dedication, commitment, and drive to make a difference in consulting, she says. "It's one's attitude that can change everything, regardless of how brilliant or networked an individual is," Pawlak says. "My grandmother survived the Great Depression and she always taught me: Determination + Attitude = Perseverance."
When it comes to loving her job, Pawlak says, for her, it's about the people, the people, the people! "I enjoy helping people the most, meeting new people, introducing connections, celebrating others' accomplishments, laughing at team dinners, and overall, whether it's my role to lead or follow, being a dependable team member for others," she says.
And facing the uncertain times were in are not easy, but Pawlak says she tends to be quite resilient. "You learn very quickly in consulting that circumstances can change in an instant," she says. "More often than not, having that adaptability has served me well, and the folks who depend on me, very well. At a time when we all need to bounce back from COVID-19, it's more important than ever to have enough resilience for yourself and others. I'm looking forward to all of us being back in the game and helping the world over level-up."
Q&A: What does winning Consulting's Top 25 Award mean to you?
Pawlack: It means that I work with a phenomenal practice of people and have an incredible team. I'm pleased that Cognizant Consulting has been recognized in this way and I'm able to represent all of our high performing staff and leaders. And, no, that's not a humblebrag—it's a fact. Nobody achieves an award on his or her own.
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