2026 Advisor of the Year Finalist: Kristine Scheer

"Partnering with Health Rosetta and those I've met through their events has been game-changing for our client and plan participant work," she says. "The most rewarding part of my work is helping employers make better decisions that genuinely improve people's lives while strengthening the business. When benefits are designed and governed well, organizations are stronger and employees feel safer."

Leaning into complexity

K2 Strategic operates as a business consultant specializing in benefits and governance.

"Many health and welfare programs evolve over time into fragmented, inconsistently administered systems that are lightly governed, while representing one of an employer's largest financial and human investments," she says. "We lean into that complexity rather than avoiding it. Senior experts with deep operational and financial experience lead and conduct our work."

A key part of this approach is that it translates into real-world solutions.

"Our recommendations are grounded in lived experience, underwriting and financial fluency, and operational reality — not theory or templates," Scheer says. "We help leadership teams clearly see what is occurring financially and operationally and then add governance and execution discipline around change."

Scheer began her career as a group insurance underwriter. This experience provided a deep understanding of risk and how to price it, as well as the hidden revenue streams often included in premiums. When Prudential exited the group health insurance business in 1999, she transitioned into consulting, supporting large employers at a global consulting firm.

"This shift changed everything for me," she says. "I realized that my strengths and my interests were not in selling products, but in helping employers understand trade-offs, consequences and long-term impact. Over time, this clarity became conviction. K2 Strategic was founded to fully align with our employer clients, not global brokerage or vendor financial incentives."

As a result, Scheer's clients consider her much more than simply a benefits vendor.

"Kristine isn't a 'broker' in the conventional sense; she is a true consultant and a transformational force in the employee benefits landscape," says Jennifer Rendfrey, global head of benefits for Paychex in Rochester, N.Y. "She doesn't simply navigate the industry; she actively reshapes it. What distinguishes Kristine is her extraordinary ability to rapidly evaluate the status quo, identify where it fails employers and employees alike, and then challenge those limitations with solutions that are practical, deeply considered and genuinely innovative."

The Consolidated Appropriations Act has had a significant impact on K2 Strategic's work, because it formalized fiduciary expectations around transparency, documentation and vendor accountability.

"In many ways, the CAA reflects how we have operated for years," Scheer says. "K2 Strategic was formed around the belief that employers deserve full visibility into compensation and data, along with clearly aligned contract terms. The legislation improved those principles and elevated them from aspirational to regulatory expectation."

According to Shceer, some of the most meaningful provisions of the Act include:

• Compensation disclosure, which reinforces the importance of transparent and aligned advisor relationships.
• Gag clause prohibitions, which affirm employers' rights to access and use their own plan data.
• No Surprises Act implementation, including the independent dispute resolution process, which increases visibility into out-of-network pricing and dispute dynamics.
• Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act enforcement, which makes mental health parity an operational responsibility, not just a policy statement.
• RxDC prescription drug and data collection, as well as cost transparency reporting, which underscores the need for accurate, usable data.

"One of our clients was a large employer that was technically compliant, yet vendor contracts limited access to meaningful claims and behavioral health data," she says. "Leadership believed oversight was sufficient until enforcement risk exposed operational gaps. The solution was not another report, but stronger contract terms, clearer governance and defined accountability. The CAA shifted expectations from checking compliance boxes to exercising disciplined governance."

Beyond the numbers

Although technology has become an important tool in addressing these and other issues, it is just that — a tool.

"Used well, technology strengthens judgment and efficiency," Scheer says. "Used poorly, it dilutes judgment and humanity. It enables scale and insight but also can distance us from the people we serve. We've seen both sides in our own work and in our clients' organizations. I often reference the importance of balancing tech and touch, because health care and other benefits are individually experienced. While data inform decisions, empathy and connectedness ensure they're the right ones."

This is especially true when it comes to implementing artificial intelligence.

"We use AI thoughtfully to improve efficiency, recognize patterns and outliers, and provide analysis," she says. "But AI is never a substitute for judgment, empathy or authenticity. We are clear that AI supports the work; it doesn't replace responsibility and human-centric work. Safe, ethical, aligned use and individuality matter as much as efficiency."

K2 Strategic intentionally maintains a personal touch by assigning dedicated team members so that clients collaborate with the same people throughout the relationship, speaking directly to people within the organization, especially when there is a clear educational opportunity; and requesting vendor partner account management and service team continuity. Staying connected to each client partner's culture, priorities and people builds trust and enables better decisions. And Rendfrey has seen these results firsthand during the time that Paychex has worked with Scheer.

"The true measure of her impact goes beyond the numbers," she says. "Kristine didn't just improve our benefits; she elevated our entire organization. She has shifted our thinking, our expectations and our understanding of what's possible. In an era when meaningful change in health care feels almost unattainable, Kristine is proving, day after day, that transformative, ethical, people-first progress is still achievable.

"She isn't simply guiding us through a better path — she is forging one. And in doing so, she is helping move the entire industry toward a higher, more responsible standard."

A key part of this approach is Scheer decision to position her team members as business consultants, rather thantransactional advisors.

"Benefits are not a checkbox; they're a strategic lever that supports workforce stability, productivity and trust," she says. "Cost shifting has long been treated as a default affordability lever, but we disagree with that approach. It often leads to delayed care, higher-severity claims and worse outcomes. Instead, we focus on fiduciary discipline and contract-forward governance."

In practice, this means an ongoing focus on claims transparency and contract rigor so employers understand true cost drivers, behavioral trends, program performance, PBM economics, IDR exposure and percentage-based fee misalignment. The entire ecosystem is aligned so that vendor partners operate as one team, rather than in silos. As a result, the participant's experience is simplified, and integrated high-value programs are normalized to improve care quality and navigation.

"Success is seeing the participant and business results of helping clients make informed, fiduciary-aligned and human-centered decisions," Scheer says. "I love lightbulb moments when a client partner or employee recognizes how our implemented programs work and benefit them."

Building momentum

Scheer attributes her personal success to curiosity, discipline and a willingness to ask uncomfortable questions. "I've been fortunate to learn from excellent mentors and I pride myself in remaining relentless, long after most give in," she says.

Scheer is also committed to developing and encouraging the next generation of benefits professionals.

"The pool of deeply knowledgeable advisors is shrinking, as is the number of industry professionals with end-to-end expertise," she says. "I've been fortunate to benefit from strong mentors, rigorous training and a deep curiosity that's stayed with me throughout my career. Advisors who feel constrained by misalignment or limited scope should seek out firms and communities that value learning, accountability and transparency. Organizations such as Health Rosetta play a key role in supporting independent, fiduciary-aligned advisors."

Scheer also credits her can-do attitude to being raised by a single mother who emphasized education and independence. "I learned the values of resilience, empathy and hard work," she says. "These qualities continue to shape how I relate to clients, plan participants and colleagues."

Scheer, in turn, shares these core values with her three daughters, grandson and the lives she touches at Humble Design, a community service organization in Chicago. And she believes these strong interpersonal relationships have also made her business stronger.

"These missions resonate personally and reinforce my belief that stability and dignity matter for all," she says. "Starting and building a firm requires conviction, and the encouragement of family and friends has helped sustain that commitment."

Scheer also enjoys the opportunity to get off the map and onto the compass. "I love meandering travel and nature — no itinerary; small towns; diners and family-owned restaurants; walking on beaches, mountains or woods; local art and engaging with regular people enjoying regular lives," she says.

Her best advice to her colleagues for the coming year is to act with clear discipline under the CAA.

"This means transparent and aligned compensation, documented decision-making and helping employers understand and oversee their benefit programs, not just manage renewals," she says. "Stay true to your `why;' surround yourself with the right people, those whose work you admire that have similar core values; and do the work. It's your responsibility to learn and lead."

Scheer doesn't take her Advisors of the Year nomination for granted.

"It's deeply meaningful," she says. "I cofounded K2 Strategic to build a client-aligned, people-first firm. I'm grateful to work alongside thoughtful, rigorous peers who care deeply about doing this work well and raising our profession's standards. I also recognize that many leaders before us did the hard work of pushing for greater transparency and accountability and we continue to build on that foundation. Being recognized by peers affirms that our purpose, our results and the care behind the work truly matter."

Ultimately, the benefits industry provides the help that people need when they need it most. "Employee benefits work carries real responsibility," Scheer says. "Our decisions affect people at moments that matter most in their lives. Approaching this work with respect, discipline, transparency and humanity for employers and participants is what continues to guide my work."

Rendfrey wholeheartedly agrees.

"Kristen expands the boundaries of what the rest of us believe is possible. She is, without question, the kind of leader this industry needs, and the kind of leader others will look to when they dare to imagine a better path forward."