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HERO Celebrates Three Decades of Bringing Well-Being Leaders Together
Since 1996, HERO has pursued a simple idea: workplace well-being advances faster when the people doing the work connect with and learn from one another. If research is our middle name, that idea is the heart of the organization.
HERO’s bylaws call for creating forums that bring corporate executives and provider thought leaders together; for networking and educational opportunities for professionals at every level; and for national leadership in employee health management policy, strategy and infrastructure. Each HERO convening has reflected those commitments.
From its earliest gatherings, HERO has brought together employers, researchers, providers and practitioners, all with an equal seat at the table. The annual HERO Forum grew into one of the country’s largest professional gatherings on workplace well-being, drawing hundreds of attendees to cities from coast to coast. Forum22 on Amelia Island, Florida, marked a joyful return to in-person learning after the pandemic years.
Think Tanks have offered HERO members a more intimate setting to grapple with the field’s biggest questions together, establishing HERO as a trend-setter and trend-spotter. Tackling topics from opioids and psychological safety to brain health and GLP-1s, HERO Think Tanks endeavor to identify what employers can do now based on what we know about a subject, as well as where more research is needed to fill the gaps.
HERO’s Summits have added focus for specific audiences: the University Summit for faculty and staff well-being in higher education; the Healthcare Summit to address the unique pressures on those who care for others; and the CMO Summit for chief medical officers and corporate medical directors around the trends shaping their roles.
The HERO Awards honor leadership, research, executive commitment and personal transformation. Beginning with the Bill Whitmer Leadership Award and the Mark Dundon Research Award in 2011, followed by the Jerry Noyce Executive Health Champion Award in 2021, and the Heart of HERO Award in 2014, HERO has recognized individuals leading in the field. And in 2017, the Healthy HERO Award was launched to celebrate individuals whose participation in a workplace well-being program changed their health. Together, the awards remind us that well-being is both a science and a human story.
HERO’s 30th year will culminate with three convenings, November 8th-10th, in Florida:
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CMO Summit (Orlando): Chief medical and health officers will explore lifestyle medicine as a strategic lever for better brain health.
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Fall Think Tank (Winter Park): Members consider whether nature is the missing ingredient in workforce well-being strategy.
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Healthcare Summit (Winter Park): Healthcare leaders look at moving from burnout to belonging, from both an individual and an organizational lens.
The week will also include the presentation of the Healthy HERO Award at the Awards Reception sponsored by Workpartners on Monday, November 9th.
HERO’s founders could not have predicted every topic these gatherings would take on. But they understood that the answers to workplace health challenges are found in conversation, evidence and community. That belief has guided HERO for 30 years.
We hope you’ll join us in Florida. What better way to celebrate three decades of collaboration!
Together,
Karen
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