Professional Development
Abigail joined M3 Insurance in 2006 as the Health Promotions Advisor to counsel clients in developing their health promotion strategies. Abigail holds a B.S. in health promotion and wellness.

Active Board Member:

• Wellness Council of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Physical Activity and Nutrition Program
• Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles
• UW Health and Wellness Management Program

Certifications:

• Faculty member of WELCOA
• Certified Health Education Specialist
• Worksite Wellness Program Manager through National Institute of Wellness
• Smoking Cessation Facilitator through American Lung Association
• Trainer with Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Resource Kit

Demonstrated Success
M3 Wellness Program
Abigail led M3 in designing a results-oriented wellness program based on WELCOA’s 7 C’s. In 2006, she submitted the WELCOA award application and M3 was designated as a Bronze Well Workplace. From 2007-2009, M3 continued to develop a comprehensive participation-based program. In 2010, M3 re-applied and received the Gold Well Workplace award. 

Through Abigail’s leadership, M3 increased overall participation and engagement in the program; however, M3 wanted the program take bigger strides in changing the health of their population. In 2011, M3 turned to a progressive approach by offering an outcomes-based health contingent wellness program. Through this intervention, M3 offered larger incentives tied to premiums and in turn this led to higher engagement and improvement in the average health of participants.

Overall, M3 demonstrated the commitment to improving the health and well-being of their most valuable asset – their employees. 

M3’s Health-Contingent Wellness Program
Based solely on the biometric screening information, M3 saw a 38% increase in their average score between 2009 and 2013.

Not only did M3 see a positive upswing in participation and improvement of their health, wellness has become a part of their overall culture. M3’s employees look forward to the wellness activities and give Abigail grief if they see unhealthy food options at employee meetings or aren’t actively engaged in wellness activities. If you talk to M3 employees, they’ll tell you they expect and look forward to the wellness activities M3 offers.

“Client A”
Abigail has the pleasure of working with both private and public sector employers throughout Wisconsin. “Client A” is a public sector employer with four locations, a union and multiple insurance plans. From 2009 to 2011 “Client A” offered a basic participation based wellness program that was not meeting their goals in engagement and health improvement. Abigail joined forces with this group and developed a four-year strategic plan to transition their basic participation-based program into an outcomes-based program. This concept needed to be sold not only to the executive team, but to the board and union representatives as well. Abigail led presentations and together they received the appropriate approvals to move forward, ultimately leading them into the successful implementation of a health-contingent program. Through Abigail’s guidance, this group followed the strategic plan, followed WELCOA’s 7 C’s, and used Abigail’s tools and resources to successfully work through this tough transition.

Testimonials
“Want to thank you for the time and attention you gave us recently with assistance on our RAS compliance. It is never easy to navigate anything of this degree through a tribal organization….and this has certainly been no exception. Your assistance was critically important in our setting forth with what we feel is a very good approach for compliance.” -- Client

“Thank you very much for spending the hour talking with Julia and me about the Wellness program and RAS.  I believe we have a better handle on it and the regulations are clearer to us at this point.” --Client

Leadership
Walking the Walk:
In her free time, Abigail enjoys sprint triathlons and has participated in over 20 runs and recently completed a 66 mile bike ride, all for local charities. She’s a dedicated volunteer for Niemann Pick, Relay for Life, and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. 

Leadership:
Abigail worked with the State of Wisconsin as an advisor to develop the planning process that led to the development of a worksite wellness action plan for all 70,000+ state employees.

Abigail is an active member in organizations that allow her to connect with health professionals outside of the corporate world.  This offers Abigail different ways to approach corporate wellness. She joined WIPAN, formed to assist Wisconsin in improving the health of residents by decreasing overweight/obesity. As a part of this group, Abigail was instrumental in the development and presentation of the Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Resource Kit.

Advice: 

• Never start a program without a strategic plan.
• Take on less and gain strong engagement.

Innovation
Thought Leader

• Progressive expertise in wellness program regulations and legislation
• Frequent Regional and National speaker on legal issues in wellness
• Assisted 24% of M3’s clients in the development of health-contingent programs

Building Strong Relationships

• Continuous connector to build statewide relationships to advance worksite wellness in the State. 
• In 2006, Abigail introduced the State of Wisconsin and the Wellness Council of Wisconsin and educated them on each other’s mission, resulting in collaboration and support of one another to offer a unified approach to worksite wellness.

Advisor to a  Progressive Approach

• From 2009 to 2014, “Client” saw a 39% increase in low risk participants, 41% decrease in moderate risk participants and 50% decrease in high risk participants.
• Employees expect and look forward to healthy activities including financial wellness, onsite fitness and weight management classes; which was not the case prior to implementation.