2024 ACI Breakfast Forum

Shannon Fuller

Vice President of Talent, Health Care Service Corporation

A leader and innovator in linking business decisions with people strategies, Shannon
Fuller has built a career exemplified by excellence in partnering with all business areas
to bring about effective change. He considers himself a fully immersed business partner
but also someone who understands HR exceptionally well. Shannon’s HR career commenced after a chance meeting and unexpected opportunity.

After being offered the chance to shadow a mentor in HR, he was hooked. This led to a
highly successful 15-year tenure at Pepsico’s Yum Brands division, where he was
promoted multiple times to drive major HR initiatives and business strategies.
And he hasn’t looked back! In fact, in every leadership position he’s held over the past
20+ years, Shannon has championed HR innovation. At Pepsico, he was one of the
leaders who launched a new business training model that still prospers today. At
BestBuy, Shannon spearheaded the revitalization of Sup University – a learning and
development program for frontline leaders – which eventually brought him to Chicago
to oversee a $600M division where his staffing strategy resulted in a 30% spike in sales.
Additional HR leadership successes include re-shaping an HR business partner model for Walgreens, which redefined how HR walked alongside the business. Similarly, for BlueCross Blue Shield of Illinois, Shannon reshaped the enterprise’s HR business partner model as a senior HR leader while fostering relationships with colleges across Illinois to establish a new internship program.

Known for his energy, enthusiasm, and forward-thinking strategies, Shannon’s HR
career has advanced him into roles at large, global brands across various industries. He
has worked for major Fortune 50 and Fortune 250 companies and directed large-scale
HR initiatives spanning succession planning, leadership training, organizational design,
and workforce planning for companies with 200k+ employees.

Over the years, Shannon’s passion for HR, business strategy, and employees has never
wavered. He thrives at orchestrating successes ‘behind the scenes,’ deftly supporting
and enabling critical business decisions. In addition, Shannon is an executive coach with
Lee Hecht Harrison executive coaching firm and sits on several boards including Girls
Scouts for Chicagoland and NW Indiana and Utmost U. Shannon holds both an
undergrad and graduate degree in Business Administration.

Beyond his talent for sitting with all aspects of business and innovating HR offerings,
Shannon is immensely proud of his people-centric efforts. He strives to transform
cultures through corporate-wide people strategies and employee engagement.
Ultimately, Shannon feels that employees make business possible, so integrating people
strategies into business strategies is critical to helping companies grow and develop.
In his recent work as an HR executive for Centene, the largest Medicaid insurer in the
US, Shannon has overseen the Midwest’s complete HR strategy while guiding business
leaders through the pandemic. Now back at HCSC (Blue Cross Blue Shield) Shannon is
navigating the organization through ambiguity, challenge, and change, he also leads the
company’s enterprise talent and workforce strategy end to end.

Shannon’s affinity for identifying barriers, stretching ideas into new concepts, and
fostering partnerships in business has grown him a reputation for being strategic and
forward-thinking. His goal as an executive leader is to equip both organizations and
people with tactics that bring about effective change.