Broadway House for Continuing Care is proud to announce that Jennifer Velez, Executive Vice President of Health & Network Solutions at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ), will be honored with The Humanitarian Award at Gala 2023 on April 27. Prior to joining Horizon BCBSNJ, Ms. Velez served as the Chief Impact Officer of Shatterproof, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to transforming addiction treatment and reversing stigma.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Velez was an Executive Vice President of RWJBarnabas Health with responsibility for community and behavioral health, leading the health system’s interdisciplinary response to the opioid epidemic. In the public sector, Ms. Velez served for eight years under Governors Chris Christie and Jon Corzine as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services—the longest serving Human Services Commissioner in state history. She was also in the Office of Governor’s Counsel for Governors Christine Todd Whitman, Donald DiFrancesco, and James McGreevey.

Ms. Velez earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Drew University and a Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law, Newark. She was named one of the Top 25 Innovators in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare in 2019 and was the number one recipient on the 2014 NJBIZ Power 50 Healthcare list.