Visionary

Mike Connly has broad career experience as an IT executive, board member, and advisor. After receiving a degree in Mechanical Engineering with High Distinction from the University of Minnesota, Mike started his career at Hewlett-Packard in a variety of sales and marketing roles over 14 years. In 1997, one of his customers, The Saint Paul Companies, recruited Mike for an IT executive position. At The Saint Paul, Mike worked through a variety of expanding roles, ultimately being named Chief Information Officer in 2002. Following the acquisition of The Saint Paul by The Travelers Companies, Mike joined UnitedHealth Group. During the next 15 years, he held several positions, including Chief Technology Officer and CIO of Optum. This included responsibilities for enterprise infrastructure, enterprise architecture, software engineering methods, quality, information security, UnitedHealth Group’s India and Philippines operations, and the Innovation, Research and Development team. In late 2013, Mike led the Optum infrastructure team that helped stabilize the healthcare.gov website. He retired from UnitedHeath Group in 2019 and formed Connly Solutions, LLC. Mike was approached to join the Board of HealthEast in 2013. He was appointed chair in 2017, and led the Board through the merger with Fairview Heath Services. Mike currently serves on the Fairview Board, the board of Village Bank, the advisory board of Digineer, and is an advisor and consultant to a number of startup and established technology companies. Previously, he was a member of the Board of Common Bond Committees, and was chair of the Minnesota High Technology Association.