About Geneva Garske

Built to diagnose what others mistake for execution.

25 years inside the most complex health system in the country. Founder of Garske Associates. Fluent in the language of broken systems — and in how to redesign them.

Geneva Garske
geneva@garskeassociates.com
linkedin.com/in/geneva-garske
San Francisco Bay Area · Nationwide
Geneva Garske
Founder, Garske Associates

Geneva Garske founded Garske Associates after 25 years at Kaiser Permanente, where she most recently served as Executive Director of Business Optimization & Redesign — the enterprise transformation and strategic consulting function spanning Kaiser's national program offices. In that role she directed cross-functional initiatives across talent acquisition, hospital and medical office operations, data and IT, finance, HR, and health plan.

Before leading enterprise transformation, Geneva held executive roles in staffing strategy — overseeing the consolidation of 40+ local hospital staffing operations into a single high-performing service center — and in care delivery IT, where she led the redesign of the organization's largest Technology Business Information Office and steered its transition from platform-based waterfall cycles to product-focused delivery teams.

Her work spans the full breadth of healthcare operations: from health plan membership, benefits, and claims to hospital capacity planning, pandemic surge response, enterprise AI program design, and nine-figure cost structure redesign. She has been at the front of transformation initiatives that others had already declared too complex to move.

Geneva holds an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business (Beta Gamma Sigma honors) and a certification in Agentic AI from Johns Hopkins University. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and works with clients nationwide.

Executive MBA · Pepperdine University Beta Gamma Sigma Agentic AI Certification · Johns Hopkins BS Psychology · Louisiana State University Kaiser Permanente · 1998–2025

How I work

The plan isn't failing. The structure behind it is.

"Most transformation efforts aren't failing because of poor execution or lack of commitment. They're failing because the architecture of the problem was never correctly identified. The plan is solving the wrong problem."
Diagnosis before prescription
The first 90 days of an engagement determine almost everything. That's where I'm most valuable — getting the diagnosis right before recommending a path. Most organizations arrive with a solution already in motion. The harder and more valuable work is stepping back to ask whether that solution is addressing the actual problem.
Architecture, then activation
Once the problem is correctly defined, the work is designing the operating model, governance structure, or change system that gives the execution team something worth building. The design layer is where most transformations are won or lost — and where most outside support arrives too late.
One senior advisor, every engagement
You work directly with me on every engagement — not a junior team with periodic senior review. For projects requiring additional capacity, I source and manage qualified associates. The accountability stays in one place.

Career at Kaiser Permanente

27 years building, breaking, and rebuilding complex systems.

2022 – 2025
Executive Director, Business Optimization & Redesign
Kaiser Permanente Program Offices · Oakland, CA
  • Co-led enterprise-wide AI business readiness program across business, IT, and applied intelligence functions.
  • Deployed agentic AI and predictive analytics to unify cross-functional workforce data and eliminate labor cost blind spots.
  • Directed recruitment of 3,000+ nurses in 90 days, reducing travel nurse costs ~$20M/month.
2020 – 2022
Executive Director, Staffing Systems & Strategy
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Oakland, CA
  • Consolidated 40+ local hospital staffing operations into a single high-performing service center — reducing costs by more than $200M annually.
  • Executed COVID-19 surge planning: launched KP's first inter-hospital patient transfer service and expanded bed capacity from 2,700 to 5,800.
  • Implemented the first non-IT use of ServiceNow at Kaiser Permanente to manage central work intake and resolution.
2017 – 2020
Senior Director, Chief of Staff — Care Delivery IT
Kaiser Permanente · Oakland, CA
  • Led redesign of the largest Technology Business Information Office to align the technology organization with strategic business objectives.
  • Drove transition from waterfall-based delivery cycles to product teams focused on end users and measurable outcomes across Epic, Oracle, and ServiceNow platforms.
2014 – 2017
Senior Product Manager, Health Plan Systems & Operations
Kaiser Permanente · Burbank, CA
  • Built business product team for health plan marketing operations and consumer digital platforms.
  • Delivered enterprise marketing technology stack redesign — Adobe AEM, Teradata, and consumer data and analytics — resulting in significantly improved sales performance.
2008 – 2014
Portfolio and Program Manager, Change Management Leader
Kaiser Permanente · Burbank, CA
  • Directed ACA implementation for the most-affected commercial line of business — achieving full compliance and capturing market disruption as revenue opportunity.
  • Created and led a high-performing Business-IT team delivering integrated solutions for complex Benefits Administration during growth from HMO to full insurance product portfolio.
2000 – 2007
Environmental Stewardship Manager
Kaiser Permanente · Oakland, CA
  • Drove award-winning sustainability program — mercury elimination, green building programs, and climate action plan — resulting in more than $700M in cumulative cost structure reduction.
  • Led development of KP's first Platinum LEED hospital and sustained $7.8M annual savings per capital project.
Education
Executive MBA
Pepperdine University · Graziadio School of Business · Beta Gamma Sigma · August 2017
BS Psychology / BS Criminal Justice
Louisiana State University · Shreveport, LA
Certifications
Agentic AI Certification
Johns Hopkins University · 2026
Enterprise Technology
Epic · ServiceNow · Oracle · Adobe AEM · Workday · UKG · Teradata · Microsoft 365
Domains
Healthcare Operations
Health plan · Hospital & clinical · Staffing systems · Value-based care · Regulatory compliance
Enterprise Transformation
AI strategy · PMO design · Cost redesign · Change management · Operational excellence

Ready to get the diagnosis right?

Most engagements start with a focused conversation — no pitch, no proposal. Just a direct look at what's driving the problem and what it would take to fix it.

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