COO Carolina Araya Honored by SIA: Building Stronger Rural Healthcare Teams with Integrity
Turning vision into value and strategy into stories. Frankie Farrar-Helm is our Director of Enterprise Marketing with 13 years of experience in marketing communications, advertising, website development, and campaign management. She has worked in the healthcare staffing space for six years. When Frankie isn’t working, you can find her hosting events with her golden retriever Luka, baking dog treats, or binge-watching X-Files.
Learn About the Impact Carolina Has Made Behind Her Recognition
Elite365 Family of Brands is proud to celebrate an important milestone for our organization and one of our most influential leaders. Our Chief Operating Officer, Carolina Araya, has been named a 2026 Staffing 100 North America honoree by Staffing Industry Analysts – a prestigious recognition awarded to executives shaping the future of the workforce ecosystem across the continent.
Each year, the Staffing 100 list honors industry trailblazers whose work drives innovation, transformation, and measurable impact. With hundreds of nominations submitted from all over North America, being selected reflects a leader’s strategic influence, commitment to excellence, and dedication to elevating the staffing profession. Carolina embodies these qualities wholeheartedly.
Tracy Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Elite365 Family of Brands, says:
“Carolina has been a breath of fresh air, not only turning around slow-moving segments, but leading with operational efficiency implementation that has fueled Elite365 growth beyond the industry averages. Carolina has played an integral role in expanding our capabilities and enhancing our client-first culture. A mentality driven by honesty, mutual accountability, and a pure will to win make her a dynamic leader here at Elite365.”
A Growth Management Leader with 25 Years of Experience
With nearly 25 years of experience in healthcare workforce solutions, Carolina brings a rare blend of strategic vision, operational excellence, and people-first leadership. Before joining Elite365, she served as Senior Vice President of Revenue Operations at AMN Healthcare, where she led major initiatives to modernize sales technology, deliver real-time client dashboards, and expand revenue through effective cross-selling and organic growth. Carolina’s proven track record in acquisitions – an essential pillar of Elite365’s long-term strategy – reflects her ability not only to evaluate high-value opportunities, but also to identify, integrate, and retain top talent from acquired organizations.
Since stepping into her role at Elite365 in March 2025, Carolina has reenergized critical business segments across the Elite365 Family of Brands. Under her leadership, both the locums and allied staffing divisions have achieved more than 20% growth, reinforcing her reputation as a transformative, forward-thinking staffing executive.
For Carolina, Transparency Isn’t Just a Practice – It’s a Philosophy.
Under Carolina’s leadership, Elite365 has elevated the healthcare staffing experience through a service model grounded in partnership, performance, and accountability. For her, transparency isn’t just a practice – it’s a philosophy. She believes clients deserve clear insight, ethical alignment, and staffing strategies that deliver real value. Some of the key areas Carolina has established within the sales and recruiting framework that ultimately strengthens both clinical outcomes and operational performance includes:
- Clinical collaboration to align on protocols, patient populations, and care standards
- Being intentionally focused on achieving client goals related to cost, quality, and continuity
- Transparent reporting for fill rates, starts, cancellations, and costs
- Regular check-ins and performance reviews
- Scorecard KPIs and real-time dashboards
- No sugarcoating a candidate or contract
Elite365 also operates with a true client-first culture by embracing a vendor collaboration model, eliminating internal placement priorities, and working at the pace each organization requires. Through Carolina’s direction, Elite365 brings clarity, collaboration, and measurable results to the industry.
How Carolina and her Team Elevate the Client Experience
Carolina sets a clear vision for how Elite365 can better support healthcare organizations, aligning strategy and operational excellence to deliver measurable value. Her people-centered leadership strengthens every point of the client journey, empowering teams to communicate proactively, solve problems quickly, and consistently deliver high-quality staffing solutions. Carolina uses data-driven decision-making to enhance transparency, streamline processes, and ensure clients receive measurable outcomes.
What sets Carolina apart is that these strengths reflect who she is both professionally and personally. The same empathy, integrity, and dedication she brings to her leadership shape the way she builds relationships – with clients, partners, and her own teams. She believes in making every interaction meaningful and every solution thoughtful, ensuring clients feel supported, understood, and prioritized. By blending personal authenticity with professional rigor, Carolina elevates not only internal performance but the entire client experience that leads to long-term success.
Impact Beyond our Organization
Carolina’s commitment to service extends throughout the healthcare community. She serves as a board member for Make-A-Wish® San Diego, supporting transformative experiences for children with critical illnesses. Each year, Make-A-Wish San Diego grants approximately 200 wishes, ranging from travel experiences and meeting favorite heroes to unique personal dreams. The organization’s mission is to uplift emotional and physical well-being by bringing magical moments to those who need them most. The chapter relies on community support to help fund and grant wishes. Both volunteers and board members play meaningful roles such as helping families determine a child’s heartfelt wish or welcoming wish families when they arrive in San Diego for their experience.
Carolina is also a past president of the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO), where she advocated for transparency and ethical best practices across the industry.
A Well-Deserved Honor
Carolina’s recognition as part of the 2026 Staffing 100 North America underscores her vision, strategic leadership, and contributions to improving healthcare staffing nationwide.
We are honored to celebrate Carolina and deeply grateful for the impact she brings to our organization and the industry. Her work continues to strengthen Elite365 Family of Brands and advance our mission to deliver honest, transparent, and high-performing staffing solutions.
Please join us in congratulating Carolina on this outstanding achievement!
