Sandra Best Bailly
Associate Director for Student Support and Alumni Networks, Simmons University
Sandra is an educator, thought partner, and facilitator. With 30 years of practice and leadership in public health, healthcare (bedside to business), and higher education, Sandra has built, led, and promoted diverse teams with cultural humility and long-lasting organizational value. Sandra is a clinically trained, licensed social worker in Massachusetts and a trained Co-Active TM coach.
Sandra is an executive coach for Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership and other organizations. In addition, Sandra currently holds an academic position overseeing implicit curriculum and facilitating career and professional development for graduates at Simmons University’s School of Social Work.
Sandra’s coaching is centered on deep values of authenticity, a growth mindset, and interdisciplinary collaboration for optimal creativity and innovation.
A first generation Boston native, Sandra is the daughter of proud Afro-Caribbean parents reigning from Panama, Canal Zone and Barbados, West Indies. She is the mother of an adult son and raised a blended family of Cote D’Ivoire, West Africa.
Professional Experience
Before to joining Simmons University, Sandra served seven years as a Director in Healthcare Services, leading the business Project Management Office and its staff’s oversight of strategic cost management initiatives at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Sandra honed her skills in strategic planning, strategy development and execution, and talent development in this role. She credits these mid-career years for introducing the significance of philanthropy and nonprofit board service, leadership, and governance.
Prior to that, over a span of nine years, Sandra held corporate social work roles in medical management and project leadership positions for commercial products, in the Care Facilitation and Health Care Services divisions, at Premera Blue Cross and Regence Blue Shield respectively in Seattle, Washington.
Earlier in her career, Sandra served as a Medical Social Worker in hospitals and kidney centers and Infectious Disease Counselor in blood banking in Boston, MA and Seattle, WA. These formative professional years are the foundation for Sandra’s commitment to health equity and ongoing interest in global health priorities.