Executive Biographies:
Elease E. Wright

Senior Vice President
Human Resources

Photograph of Elease E. Wright Elease Wright is the Senior Vice President, Human Resources (HR) for Aetna. In this role, she is a member of Aetna’s highest level management team and reports to Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini. Ms Wright is responsible for the development of HR strategies and the delivery of HR services and programs for Aetna.

Ms. Wright has been an HR professional and a thought leader for more than 30 years.  An expert in staffing, employee relations, re-engineering, organizational and leadership development, she is a vocal advocate for Aetna’s ongoing emphasis on innovation, risk-taking, customer focus and simplicity. Ms. Wright has also been at the forefront of changing how Aetna develops employees, including the introduction of a company-wide talent management system that helps employees and managers create and track performance, skills and development plans.

In 2011, she was an author featured in The Chief HR Officer: Defining the New Role of Human Resource Leaders, a book published by the National Academy of Human Resources.

Ms. Wright is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, was named one of Savoy Professional magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America,” one of the Top 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business, and one of Black Enterprise's Top 50 Blacks in Corporate America. She was also installed in the National Academy of Human Resources (NAHR) 2007 Class of Fellows and inducted into the UConn School of Business Hall of Fame in 2008.  In 2009, she was named to the HR Honor Roll of Human Resource Executive magazine.

Community involvement has played a strong role in Ms. Wright’s career. She has held leadership roles for her alma mater, the University of Connecticut, for which she serves on the Board of Directors for the UConn Foundation. She also serves on the Board of Directors for HR Policy Association, Advisory Board for Cornell University's Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies and the National Academy of Human Resources. In addition, she serves on the Board of Trustees for the Foundation Board of the National Academy of Human Resources.

Ms. Wright holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education from the University of Connecticut. She resides in Hartford, CT, with her husband, Dana.