Leadership is key to every workplace and industry and the employee benefits space has a number of individuals and organizations driving it forward. While there are many ways to lead effectively, progress can't be made without those who are willing to take the first steps.

The 2022 LUMINARIES honorees in Leadership stepped outside of their roles to grow their companies' in this area. These individuals and companies are being recognized for the dynamic and inclusive ways they are leading the benefits and health care industries. Each was selected by a distinguished and diverse team of industry leaders with input from our editorial team.

We hope you enjoy getting to know this year's honorees!

Individual

Lauren Cheek

Lauren Cheek, area vice president, Gallagher Benefits Services

Lauren Cheek has a long history of work in the insurance industry, including time at Prudential as well as Mercer, where she held senior consulting roles.

At Gallagher, she has served as a mentor for new brokers and consultants, and has also led efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

She has recently taken on a role with the Gallagher Better Works Insights Report Steering Committee, representing the Health & Benefits/Physical & Emotional Wellbeing Practice. On a quarterly basis, the team produces and publishes articles intended to respond quickly and proactively to immediate organizational and employee concerns.

Cheek has also been featured as a Gallagher Town Hall Series speaker on finding a balance between controlling health care costs and increasing benefit value. In May of 2022, she was a member of a roundtable with the Retail Business Group, exploring the benefit implications of the elimination of Roe v. Wade. https://www.ajg.com/

Patricia "Trish" Freeman

Trish Freeman, owner, Trish Freeman Insurance Services

Trish Freeman has been known as "The Insurance Lady" in Louisiana since 1996 and opened Trish Freeman Insurance Services in 1999. Since then, she has become a leader in the industry, acting as a founding member of the Board for Health Agents for America (HAFA) and serving as the chairwoman of the Board. Under her leadership, the group has grown to include agents in all 50 states.

Freeman serves the Louisiana Department of Insurance as an esteemed member of the Agent Advisory Committee. She has also held leadership roles at the Baton Rouge Association of Health Underwriters and the Louisiana Association of Health Underwriters.

Freeman is also credited with representing agents and brokers on committees with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she successfully advocated for regulatory changes that improved CMS rules for an estimated 700,000 brokers nationwide. https://www.insurancelady.com/

Peter Freska

Peter Freska, partner/advisor, The LBL Group

Peter Freska is praised by his peers for his sense of service and his collaborative nature. He is helping with the professional growth of more than 50 other insurance professionals through leadership development programs, including one he created for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

Freska stepped up his game further during the pandemic. With his help, the LBL Group navigated remote work and the complications that came with it. The firm thrived during the pandemic, acquiring two agencies and hiring new employees while navigating the new complexities.

As a natural leader, Freska has helped with the education and growth of more than 50 professionals, in part through his company's leadership development group, the Acrisure Partner Development Academy.

At the LBL group, Freska's work includes overseeing M&A activities, working with vendors, team management, and direct work with clients. https://www.lblgroup.com/

Amy Friedrich

Amy Friedrich, president, U.S. Insurance Solutions, Principal Financial Group

Amy Friedrich is a longtime advocate for paid income protection and DEI issues that received far less attention in the years before 2020.

Friedrich has advocated for paid income protection — a concept that includes disability insurance and paid family leave — at industry events and on the national stage, speaking about the need for paid family leave at the White House in 2021.

Her focus on issues around disability in the workplace has helped make Principal a leader in this area. Company officials note that in 2021, under Friedrich's leadership, Principal helped 45,000 more people access disability insurance and paid $465 million in disability claims. Within the industry, Principal ranks first in overhead expense disability solutions and disability buyout, while the company is ranked fourth in total individual disability sales and in-force premiums.

In addition, Friedrich worked with other innovators on a new system of benefits enrollment, and her name is on the patent for the system, the first patent awarded to Principal since 2005. https://www.principal.com/

Sommer Mason

Sommer Mason, regional area vice president, Human Resources & Compensation Consulting Practice, Gallagher Benefits Services

Sommer Mason's role is to communicate the HR and compensation resources offered by her firm to prospective clients, and her team has sparked strong sales growth over three years. She has worked to educate and support other consultants and has been a project manager for 260 consultants across different branches of the company.

Mason has built the HR Compensation Consulting Practice (HRCC) at Gallagher into a three-person team that supports six branch locations across three states. She also supports producer growth by participating in multiple branch and producer meetings as a HRCC representative. In addition, she serves on the steering committee for the Gallagher Better Works Insights Report, which publishes quarterly articles.

Gallagher officials say that during the pandemic, Mason made it a priority to support her clients and prospects, making herself available 24/7 to ensure clients had the support needed to navigate their organizations through unprecedented times. https://www.ajg.com/

Lester J. Morales

Lester J. Morales, CEO & founder, Next Impact

After years of being a top producer at a major international brokerage, Lester J. Morales founded Next Impact, with a mission to innovate and challenge the status quo of the insurance brokerage industry.

Morales was a top broker at Willis Human Capital Practice, where he served more than three years as executive vice president and chief growth officer and led over 200 producers/consultants in 40+ offices as part of Willis' single largest practice in North America.

He launched Next Impact in 2018 with a vision of a business centered around collaboration with advisors. The company has grown quickly, with over 20 employees working for the company in Puerto Rico.

Morales recently launched the Impact Care Podcast, "an inquisitive, solution-driven interview series that connects real people to the strategies and innovators driving American health care change." He also has published articles in Forbes, Employee Benefits News, and BenefitsPRO. https://www.nextimpactllc.com/

Megan Schmidt

Megan Schmidt, senior vice president, Employer Solutions, Priority Health

Megan Schmidt has 21 years of experience in the industry. She became a senior vice president at Priority Health last year and is credited with immediately impacting market growth, team growth, team empowerment, product innovation, and use of technology.

Schmidt began her leadership role at the Employer Solutions division after the launch of a transformative Strategic Alliance between Priority Health and Cigna, which increased the visibility of Priority Health, and led to growth in all commercial group business segments.

Schmidt has overseen the development of new partnerships and products, including helping expand Beaumont Health and Spectrum Health into one of the largest integrated health systems in the nation. With her team, Schmidt will help launch three new health navigation products. Company officials say the new products will play a pivotal role in Priority Health's work in the self-funded employer space, on national accounts, and with employers looking for innovative ways to save on health care costs while meeting the changing needs of their workforce. https://www.priorityhealth.com/

Organization

Brighton Health Plan Solutions

This TPA has a 30-year history of working with self-funded health insurance plans to create innovative solutions. In the past year, Brighton Health Plan Solutions has begun implementing a direct contracting model with employees.

Some of the first organizations to adopt direct contracting are health systems, and Brighton has pioneered this area with some prominent systems, including Northwell Direct and Quartz Health. By early 2023, these two organizations will have a direct-contracting model available to more than 100,000 employees.

Another innovation Brighton has pioneered is an alternative dispute resolution program to help injured workers quickly and fairly settle a claim outside the traditional workers compensation system. Brighton's ADR program is part of the $9.5 billion JFK International Airport Terminal One project. This program is designed to expedite both the workers' return to health and work and the resolution of any grievance with lower costs and in a less adversarial manner.

Finally, Brighton has encouraged employees to pursue career development through a variety of channels and works to identify top-performing employees and develop talent through its recognition program and annual Raising the Bar program. https://brightonhps.com/

Drexi, an AMPS Company

Drexi seeks to bring a new level of transparency and affordability to the PBM space. The company sees itself as a fiduciary PBM, stepping outside the normal approach to pharmacy benefits and aligning the company's financial interests with those of the plan sponsors and members.

The approach has resulted in strong growth: The company started with two clients and fewer than 1,000 members in 2018, but now has more than 350 clients with 350,000 members. The company estimates it has saved tens of millions of dollars for clients through its concierge service model.

"The fact is that the prescription drug sector is one of the most opaque industries in the world, which means they are able to get away with a lot," the company says in a statement. "Drexi is changing all of that by empowering its members through honesty and integrity, a trait that has been lacking in this industry for far too long." https://drexi.com/welcome

EmpiRx Health

EmpiRx Health is a pharmacy benefit manager dedicated to delivering value and innovation in a space that is often dominated by traditional, retail-centric models.

The company's pay-for-performance model provides a measure of accountability not found in other PBMs, company officials say. Value-based health care also requires managers to recognize that every population is unique, and therefore requires attention to analytics. The company's Complex Care Management strategy brings a personal level of attention to members, including those who have been traditionally underserved.

The company was named a Certified Great Place to Work in April 2022, the third consecutive year EmpiRx has won that honor. Creating an engaged workforce is another area where EmpiRx has innovated, with an emphasis on mental health, inclusion, employee coaching, and input.

The company notes that its approach has produced good results: 25% YOY growth, 99% client retention, 100% organized labor client retention, a 93.5% prescription adherence rate; a 88% physician engagement rate; and a 97% member satisfaction rate. https://www.empirxhealth.com/

EmsanaRx

EmsanaRx was founded and is led by Greg Baker, a pharmacist by training. The company puts a premium on training and collaboration, with a remote workforce that partners with mentors in order to build greater connection and knowledge within the company.

Baker puts a premium on support and input from employees and fostering employee coaching, with meetings led by employees rather than executives. To empower team members, the company asks employees to submit agenda items or to request additional development opportunities at their team meetings. The company also does community service on a regular basis and includes community service work as part of their quarterly meetings.

The emphasis on a people-focused approach with internal HR policies has had a positive outcome: In the last six months, the EmsanaRx team has grown by 40% and has 100% retention. https://emsanarx.com/