Priya Smith
Chief Employee Human Resources Officer, The Permanente Medical Group
Priya Smith is the Chief Employee Human Resources Officer for The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. In collaboration with her physician partner, she has oversight for the people strategy for 45,000 people, aiming to make TPMG the best place to work and the best place to get care. Prior to this role, she spent 10 years as the Chief Administrative Officer of Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center managing the operations and a multimillion-dollar budget for multiple sites including San Jose, Gilroy, Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Scotts Valley. Partnering with the Physician-in-Chief in overseeing approximately 500 physicians and 2,000 staff, Priya helped ensure that more than 260,000 members receive exceptional care. She has dedicated her entire career to serving TPMG starting as an intern at Kaiser Permanente during her post-graduate studies. She has served in several management roles over the years, including leading the HealthConnect® initiative — the conversion of paper to electronic medical records.
Priya was selected as one of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Women of Influence as well as its 40 Under 40 recognition. She served on the Leadership Morgan Hill Board from 2008 to 2011 and was elected President during her final year. In 2019, Priya joined the city of San Jose Work2Future Board and was recently appointed Chair. She was drawn to Second Harvest because she believes there is a strong connection between food and health and the mission aligns with her own values. She volunteered and donated to Second Harvest for years before joining the board in 2022.
Born in India and raised in Hong Kong, Priya came to the United States and received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University and a master’s in public health from the University of California, Berkeley. She loves to spend time with her family on their ranch with their animals, as well as reading, writing, practicing yoga, and traveling to expose her son to many different cultures around the world.