2026 Outstanding Directors: Laura Gillund

For board service to Allina Health (2015–present)

By Gene Rebeck

| October 07, 2026

Laura Gillund calls board service “fun” but takes it very seriously. Directors play a crucial role in the health and the mission of the organizations they oversee. And in recent years, she and other Allina directors have helped lead a complex, years-long dance that will unite Allina with California-based Sutter Health. Gillund “played a thought leadership role regarding that deal—what’s in Allina’s best interest, and what’s in the community’s best interest,” says Elizabeth Smith, Allina’s senior vice president and chief legal officer.

Gillund’s leadership skills are rooted in her career. From 2002 to 2012, she served as vice president of human resources for Eden Prairie-based logistics firm C.H. Robinson Worldwide. She then was chief talent officer at New Brighton-based Cardiovascular Systems for six years until her retirement in 2019. While at Robinson, Gillund was asked to be a non-board member of Allina’s compensation committee. Her impressive work led her to become a director five years later. Upon joining the board, Gillund pushed for incorporating succession, talent planning, and organizational strategy into the work of the human resources and compensation committee; she led this committee from 2016 to 2022 and remains a member. Gillund currently chairs Allina’s governance and nominating committee, and she has served as the board’s vice chair since 2024.

While Gillund brought a tremendous amount of HR insight to the Allina board, she says that “understanding the context in which these groups of physicians work was new to me.” In addition, “when you’re trying to attract executives to join an organization like Allina, you have to learn a lot about the marketplace in which these people work, both locally and nationally. I don’t know that everyone finds executive compensation interesting, but I do!”

While at Robinson, Gillund also gained valuable experience helping manage acquisitions. “The most important thing I’ve seen in my career … is that if you bring two entities together, even if everything looks like it’s going to line up, it’s the things that don’t line up that you’ll have to deal with when you get there,” she says. “I always ask the question, ‘What are we missing?’ What haven’t we asked ourselves that’s going to be a challenge?’ ”

This kind of analysis is why Smith describes Gillund as “an enterprise risk thinker. She can bring to a conversation or challenge perspectives from different risk considerations.” In other words, Gillund looks at all the risks an organization might face, not solely those related to HR. Smith also thinks Gillund’s broad vision combined with her talent-spotting expertise have helped the board attract “interdisciplinary competencies and community-grounded leaders who can help the organization address its biggest challenges by bringing those talents together.”

The Allina-Sutter merger has been one of those major challenges. Smith says that Gillund played a key role on the Allina board’s ad hoc business development committee, a group of directors focused on expanding Allina’s capabilities through partnerships. The committee’s work culminated in the proposed merger. It’s a transaction Gillund thinks will work because Allina and Sutter have similar mission and culture statements.

“Organizations that have mission alignment and which each bring complementary capabilities—those mergers bring value,” Gillund says. That complementarity is evinced in the organizations’ respective strengths—Sutter in digital technology, Allina in its clinical prowess in disciplines including cardiology, neurology, and oncology.

The merger is expected to be finalized by the end of this year, with Allina becoming the Upper Midwest division of Sutter Health in 2027. In the meantime, “our talent is critical to our success,” Gillund says. “Engaging our leaders and caregivers has been a key focus through the transition time and ongoing.” Assuming the merger is completed, it would be Sutter’s first major acquisition outside California. “It’s really important to both parties that we do this well,” Gillund says.

Meanwhile, the hard work—and the fun—continue. “It’s a privilege to be able to learn and continue developing after retiring from my regular career,” Gillund says. “And that’s all about the talented people on this board and leadership team.”