Sarah Chavarria to Lead 45M Member Dental Carrier

By Allison Bell

Career Moves August 03, 2023 at 11:02 AM

Share & Print

Delta Dental of California has named Sarah Chavarria to succeed Mike Castro as its CEO Jan. 1, 2024.

Castro, who has been the CEO of the San Francisco-based nonprofit since 2019, will become the chairman of its board.

Delta Dental of California provides or administers dental coverage for 45 million U.S. residents, or about 14% of all Americans, both through its California plan and through affiliates in New York, Pennsylvania and other states.

Chavarria has been the organization's president since 2022. Before that, she was its chief people officer.

The organization generated about $4.5 billion in revenue in 2021 and had $4.3 billion in assets, according to the most recent available annual report.

Symetra

In related news, Symetra Financial said Thomas Marra has resigned as chairman of its board to pursue other opportunities.

Marra has been the chairman of Symetra, a Bellevue, Washington-based company that's now a subsidiary of Sumitomo Life, since 2017. He was the company's CEO from 2010 through 2018.

Earlier in his career, he was the chief operating officer at Hartford Life. He is past chairman of the board of the American Council of Life Insurers and of the Insured Retirement Institute.

Pictured: Sarah Chavarria. Credit: Delta Dental of California

NOT FOR REPRINT