(BLACK PR WIRE) – HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aetna (NYSE: AET) announced today that two of its senior executives were included in Savoy Magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America” list. In addition, another Aetna senior executive was recognized by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the “40 rising stars under 40.”

Savoy Magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America” showcases a cross section of business leaders and executives who represent a very diverse range of industries with a national and global focus. Savoy says, “We wanted our list to represent not necessarily those who have the most power, but to have those with the most influence not just within their companies, but also in their surrounding communities.”

Floyd W. Green III, Vice President and head of Community Relations and Urban Marketing for Aetna in Hartford, is one of Savoy’s choices. He is responsible for developing grass roots marketing for new business development, customer retention, health care equity and strategic partnerships in communities where Aetna members and employees live and work.

Green serves on the Centers for Disease Control’s National Partnership Board for HIV/AIDS, the Connecticut Forum Board, Xavier University’s Corporate Advisory Board, and on the inaugural corporate advisory council for the National Parent Teacher Association. In addition, he was appointed to Howard University’s John H. Johnson School of Communications Board of Visitors. Green is a member of the Executive Leadership Council. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in history and public affairs from Lincoln University and an MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management.

Felicia Norwood, president of Aetna’s Mid-America Region based in Chicago, is another of Savoy’s “Top 100” choices. As regional president, Norwood is responsible for a 17-state region, for sales and distribution of all products for small and mid-sized businesses, individuals, Medicare, public sector and labor segments. She is also responsible for network management and medical economics in the region.

Norwood is a member of the Boys and Girls’ Clubs’ Jeremiah Milbank Society, the Executive Leadership Council, and serves on the board of the Yale Law School Fund. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Valdosta State University, a master’s in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a JD from Yale Law School.

Black Enterprise Magazine’s “40 rising stars under 40” is a list of women who have put themselves on the path to power and success in business, all before their 41st birthdays. They write: “These women are innovators and influencers, trailblazers and pioneers, who reshaped and refreshed disciplines with cutting-edge processes, or transformed ideas into tangible, lucrative products or services.” Aetna’s Chekesha Kidd was chosen as one of these rising stars.

Kidd is the president of Aetna Student Health (ASH), based in Cambridge, Mass., where she is focused on delivering a diversified, portfolio of products and services for college and university students.

Before joining Aetna, Chekesha was a financial professional on Wall Street responsible for corporate advisory, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity transactions. She also has diverse health administration experience working in clinical research, state policy and federal government relations over the course of her career. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in health care management from Florida A&M University, and an MBA in finance and a Master of Health Services Administration degree from the University of Michigan. Outside of Aetna, Kidd is involved with the Chaka Chinyelu Foundation, NextGen Network, Charter Oak Cultural Center, FreeArts NYC, and Brooklyn Children’s Museum.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation's leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 36.1 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services and health information technology services. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.