ROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Jen received her bachelor’s degree in General Science, with two concentrations in Biology & Chemistry, from the University of Oregon in 2009.  She also holds an A.S. in Math & Science.  After graduating with her Bachelor's Degree, Jen focused her career on the health and wellness of Deschutes Brewery co-owners.
 
At Deschutes, we organically flourish with a family-first focus that permeates our culture.  Jen’s passion and heart for her Deschutes Brewery family drives her to create diverse programming by implementing fun, fresh, and innovative wellness ideas that strive to offer an overall wellbeing program.
Jen has completed WELCOA’s Seven Benchmarks: Beginner Course (2015) and finished the 18-week Wellcoaches Core Coach Certification Program (2015).  Additionally, she has completed 8 hours of Motivational Interview Training (2016). Jen’s goal is to earn the WELCOA Facility Status by end of 2016.
Outside of the office, Jen is a two-time marathon finisher and has competed in the NPC as a Figure Bodybuilder.  A competitive athlete throughout her life, she brings forth that same determination for health and wellness in the workplace.
Jen is most proud of her Bachelor’s Degree; however, the WELCOA certifications, resources, and tools have set the solid foundation for her wellness career. 

DEMONSTRATES SUCCESS
Deschutes Brewery is a manufacturing environment operating 24/7.  In addition to the production facility, there are two Pubs(restaurants), and a remote sales team in 28 states.  Developing a wellness program that engages our geographically diverse population is a constant challenge.  Deschutes is proud to be a family and employee owned small business.
When Jen began managing the wellness program three years ago, the current state of this program included a few events throughout the year, including a modest benefits and wellness fair during open enrollment.  Jen took the time to understand the company culture and started developing programs that supported the entire employee base.
 
Unbeknownst to her, she was already working within some of the guidelines of WELCOA’s 7 Benchmarks.  Within 3 months of managing the wellness program, Jen put together a cross-departmental Wellness Committee, TEAM MALTY (Maximize Activity & Life Techniques, Yeah!), that continues to meet once a month.  Additionally, she created a basic operating plan with quarterly events.  These quarterly events have grown into year-long wellness categories; bimonthly education forums, monthly wellness events, a competitive sports program, hiking club, robust annual benefits and wellness fair, cash incentive wellness rewards program, and developed an internal wellness brand.  The year-long wellness programs have a wide range of interest to include nutrition education, family emergency preparedness, wilderness survival, an annual bike tune-up, a full moon snowshoe/cross country ski night, softball, soccer, and disc golf teams, stand-up paddle boarding classes, gardening class…just to name a few.
 
Additionally, Jen created a wellness steering team to garner additional support and cohesive alignment with Deschutes Brewery’s strategic goals.  The wellness steering team built a framework to gauge success of the wellness programs by using several matrixes to create a wellness index slated to go live January 1, 2017.
 
She also expanded the benefits and wellness fair by organizing the inaugural benefits and wellness fair to our Portland, OR co-owners.  2015 was the most successful event to date with an overall participation of 96% in only its second year.  Additional, the annual biometric screening and onsite flu shot clinics saw an average participation of 38%.  Jen also created the 24 Hours of Fitness Challenge where co-owners were encouraged to take part in any type of physical activity for 30 minutes a day/4 days a week/for 12 weeks (30x4x12/60=24). Incentives were handed out bi-weekly and increased in monetary value as the weeks went on.  At the end of the 12 weeks, (4) overall winners were chosen from the participants who completed all 12 weeks, and each received at $250 wellness focused gift of their choice. The second year of the 24 Hours of Fitness Challenge saw a 20% increase over the previous year and co-owners still talk about how much fun they had during the 12-week challenge.
 
Jen also continues to expand on current programs.  One of our most popular races, the Twilight 5K, saw a 17.5% increase over the previous year.  The Twilight 5k is an opportunity to bring our teams together by including our Portland based co-owners and immediate family in this event.  Not only does the wellness program cover the race entries but also decks out the participants in fun swag!
Deschutes Brewery has a participatory wellness program.  By working with her wellness team, TEAM MALTY, and her wellness steering team, Jen’s primary focus in 2017 is creating a culture of health within the organization that mirrors that of our brand.  Jen’s passion is to create family friendly, fun, exciting, and intrinsically motivating lifestyle programs.
LEADERSHIP
In alignment with her personal aspirations for health and wellness, Jen realizes everyone has a different foundation.  There isn’t one single recipe or the mythical long sought-after “magic pill” that invokes change.  Jen understands that a lifestyle change takes discipline, consistency, patience, empathetic understanding, and time.  It starts will a very small change that builds on a persons’ foundation.  Over time, this small change becomes habit and then this habit becomes a lifestyle. 
Jen experienced this first hand when she trained for her first and then her second marathon.  And again, when she competed in her first bodybuilding competition.  The most important take-away for Jen, was finding the right balance with training, work, family, and living life to the fullest.  This balance resonates throughout Jen’s wellness programs. Balance absolutely includes a delicious pint…or two…of Deschutes Brewery’s finest! 
Jen “does her best and next time does it better “, understanding along the way that working together as a team is key to the wellness programs’ success.
INNOVATION
During Jen’s bodybuilding training, she was introduced to Jim Miller, Founder & CEO of KrowdFit.  KrowdFit is a social driven, cash incentive wellness rewards program that combines state-of-the-art biometric devices and mobile app technology for its’ members.  As stated by Jim and his team, “there is no silver bullet, change occurs over time, step by step which is why we build KrowdFit…to reward the “EFFORT” members make to consistently engage in healthy activities related to Sleep, Diet, and Exercise.  We are not rewarding the person who loses the most weight or the fittest person...if you reward the effort the results will follow.” 
KrowdFit fell right in line with Jen’s philosophy around her wellness programs. Create a habit; develop a daily routine; have fun; share your successes! Jen brought KrowdFit to Deschutes Brewery in April of 2015.  Since the launch, 69 Deschutes Brewery co-owners have joined KrowdFit.  The total YTD earning paid to Deschutes Brewery participation is over $25k with 74 winners from the entire KrowdFit pool.  It’s amazing when Deschutes Brewery co-owners earn $250 for tracking their sleep!  KrowdFit has brought a healthy dose of friendly competition to Deschutes Brewery and has made a financial impact as well.  #yousweatwepay
COMPELLING VISION
One the greatest challenges for Deschutes Brewery’s wellness program has been measurement to justify wellness initiatives for our company.  Jen believes that the opportunity is in shifting this measurement from assessments and biometrics to focusing on happy, healthy co-owners, putting more emphasis on individual participation by creating a culture of health.
By leveraging wearable technology and platforms, like KrowdFit, that enables this technology, we have an opportunity to more accurately measure the impact and effectiveness of our wellness initiatives at an individual, geographical, and company level.  These measurements are key components of Deschutes Brewery’s overall Wellness Index that includes other key components of our wellness program.  Jen plans to use these tools to more effectively communicate the value of our wellness program to our co-owners and leadership teams.
Here at Deschutes, we live and breathe our Core Values; Honor Our Customers, Deliver Quality, Works As A Team, Do Our Best And Next Time Do It Better, Build A Healthier Society, Celebrate The Culture of Beer, Own It!  Our Core Values are the integral thread in everything we do.  As Deschutes Brewery continues to grow, so will our wellness program. 
Jen’s passion and genuine spirit moves our wellness program forward.  We know we have a long way to go...we also know we need to take a moment to pause and celebrate how far we have come under Jen’s leadership.