Jo Abernathy

Appointed to the Information Technology Strategy Board by Gov. Roy Cooper, Jo Abernathy is chief information officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, responsible for technology strategy and operations.

Her 30 years of leadership experience cover various technology areas, including service and support, infrastructure management, data center operations, data warehousing and application development. She has led many large, complex initiatives under challenging circumstances in highly regulated environments.

Under Abernathy’s leadership, the IT organization at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina has received numerous awards for innovative uses of technology, along with the prestigious ComputerWorld’s 100 Best Places to Work in IT award in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Abernathy has been featured in CIO magazine on IT transformation and employee engagement. She has spoken at various technology events, including those sponsored by the CIO Executive Council, N.C. Technology Association, Triangle Technology Executives Council and Women in Technology International.

Abernathy holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a board member for the N.C. Coalition for Fiscal Health and Child Care Services Association.