Meet Our Plan President

Wade Rakes is President and Chief Executive Officer of Peach State Health Plan, the Georgia subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that provides a portfolio of services to government sponsored healthcare programs. Wade manages the largest insurer in the state of Georgia serving more than 1.4 million Georgians with high quality Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and Health Insurance Marketplace plans.

Wade joined Centene in 2010 as an intern. Prior to assuming his current position, Wade served as Regional Vice President, Business Development, Growth, and Expansion. In that role, he led Centene’s growth in new markets resulting in over $5 billion in annualized new business and the startup of health plans in California and Pennsylvania. Wade has also played a key role in the integration Centene’s acquisitions of Health Net, Fidelis Care, and WellCare and served as Centene’s first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

Prior to joining Centene, Wade served in the administration of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. He was Senior Advisor to the Governor and Director of Public Liaison, a cabinet position, where he was responsible statewide public and local government affairs as well as management of Veterans Affairs, Faith Based & Community Initiatives, 8 Regional Offices of the Governor, and the Governor’s Constituent Services Call Center. He also served as a member of the Governor’s Senior Executive Staff, responsible for policy formation, budget planning, and legislative relations.

From 2002 to 2006, Wade served in roles of increasing responsibility at Showtime Networks in New York including Manager for On Demand and Spanish Language Marketing, Business Analyst to the Chief Financial Officer, and Special Assistant to the Chairman and CEO.

Wade serves as Chair of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to increasing representation of LGBTQ individuals in elected and appointed office. He also serves as Chair of Board of Beyond Differences, a California based non-profit that engages over 1 million middle and high school students in over 9,000 schools annually to reduce social isolation and exclusion.  Wade serves on the Alumni Board of the Westminster Schools of Atlanta and the President’s Advisory Council at Princeton University, two of his alma maters. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Baker Institute at Rice University, and the High Museum in Atlanta. In 2016, Wade was elected a delegate to Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Wade earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Princeton University with a Certificate in Political Economy in 2002 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan with a concentration in Strategy in 2011.

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