Monthly Newsletter

2026 South Carolina Healthy Business Fellowship

The South Carolina Healthy Business Fellowship is a selective, interdisciplinary network of workplace leaders from across South Carolina. Fellows bring diverse perspectives and shared commitment to learning from one another, collaborating across sectors, and advancing practical solutions that support a healthier future for people, workplaces, and communities.


What Makes This Fellowship Distinct

  • A leadership development experience grounded in practical, real‑world workplace challenges
  • A statewide cohort of peers who share a commitment to healthier business practices
  • High‑quality facilitation and structured peer learning
  • Access to SCHBC’s statewide insights, resources, and network

 

Commitment

Fellows participate in four half-day, in-person sessions held throughout the year. Sessions take place across South Carolina, including the Lowcountry, Midlands, and Upstate regions, and are designed to support shared learning, relationship-building, and meaningful engagement throughout the Fellowship experience.

Apply

If you're exploring ways to enhance retention, elevate organizational culture, or strengthen your benefits and wellbeing strategy, this program provides actionable tools and a statewide network of peers doing similar work. Applications for the 2026 cohort are now open through February 6.

2026 Fellowship Application » 


Alumni Reflections from the 2025 South Carolina Healthy Business Fellowship

"Participating in the South Carolina Healthy Business Fellowship reinforced how powerful it is to get more focused in the workplace wellbeing space. As I transitioned from WellRight to Hinge Health, the Fellowship helped me sharpen my perspective on what truly drives impact—intentional strategy, aligned leadership, and programs that meet employees where they are. The conversations, peer learning, and expert insights directly influenced how I approach my work and advocate for sustainable, human-centered health solutions." 

 

Bree Slauscius, CWWS, Customer Success Manager

Hinge Health

“The SC Healthy Business Fellowship was a great professional development experience and really reinforced a wellbeing mindset for me. It strengthened my commitment to bringing wellbeing into the workplace and reminded me that meaningful results take time—and don’t always look the way you expect. If I can be a resource for my teammates and help connect them to the health and wellbeing support we offer, then our program is doing exactly what it’s meant to do.”



Christa Porth, Human Resources Business Partner

Landmark Construction

“I was honored to participate in the 2025 fellowship. It reinforced that wellness looks different for everyone and is a marathon, not a sprint. While my primary focus is supporting our employees, it’s just as important to reflect on our own wellness so we can lead our teams toward lasting health.”

 

Dave D’Alessio, Sr. Vice President

Spero Financial

Sponsor Spotlight: Rippling

Workforce Technology Sponsor


As the South Carolina Healthy Business Coalition continues to grow, we’re excited to welcome Rippling as our newest sponsor and the Coalition’s first Workforce Technology Sponsor. This category recognizes the important role technology plays in reducing friction, improving access to benefits and resources, and supporting healthier, more human-centered workplace cultures.


As part of their sponsorship, Carolyn Hendricks will serve as Rippling’s Advisory Member, sharing perspective on how smart systems and thoughtful design can support both organizational effectiveness and employee wellbeing.


Q&A with Carolyn Hendricks

Advisory Member | Rippling


What inspired Rippling to support the launch of the South Carolina Healthy Business Coalition?

Rippling is built on the idea that administrative hurdles—managing payroll, benefits, and HR—are some of the biggest stressors for both business owners and employees. Our mission is to free smart people to work on hard problems and reduce those everyday stressors.


By supporting this Coalition, I’m excited to help South Carolina businesses move away from manual busywork and toward a culture where leaders have the time and tools to focus on their people’s health. The Coalition’s collaborative, statewide approach to making wellbeing a standard—not a perk—is what really inspired our involvement.


How do you see workforce technology supporting employee wellbeing and healthier workplace cultures?

Workforce technology is foundational to employee wellbeing. When technology works the way it should, it eliminates frustrations like broken onboarding processes, missing benefits information, or delayed payroll—all of which can significantly contribute to workplace stress and anxiety.


Modern systems make it easier for employees to access health benefits and wellbeing resources quickly, without having to dig through emails or paperwork. They also give employees more autonomy over their information and schedules, which helps build trust and transparency—two key pillars of a healthy workplace culture.


For leadership teams, automation means spending less time in spreadsheets and more time designing programs that genuinely support mental and physical health.


What does a “healthy workplace” mean to you personally?

To me, a healthy workplace is one where employees can do their best work without sacrificing their personal lives. It’s an environment that recognizes people as whole individuals, not just job titles.


A healthy workplace provides the mental bandwidth to be creative and productive because the logistical side of work—pay, benefits, systems, and tools—is seamless and reliable. It’s not just about offering wellness perks; it’s about creating a culture of respect, clarity, and support that allows people to unplug, recharge, and sustain their wellbeing over time.


What excites you most about being part of the Coalition as it launches?

What excites me most is the opportunity to learn alongside South Carolina’s diverse business community. Seeing organizations from the Upstate, Midlands, and Lowcountry come together around a shared commitment to health is powerful.


Being part of the Coalition’s launch allows Rippling to help shape how technology and health policy can work together—positioning South Carolina as a national leader in workforce wellbeing. This feels like the beginning of a movement to redefine what it means to work and live well in our state.

Save the date for our Spring Seminar Series: Nature at Work — a three-part series exploring the connection between nature, health, and business.


Each seminar will feature practical insights, real-world examples, and conversation around the role of the built environment, outdoor spaces, and nature-based strategies in workplace wellbeing. Together, we’ll look at how connecting people to nature at work can drive engagement, support mental and physical health, and strengthen organizational culture.


Join us this spring as we gather across the Midlands, Upstate, and Lowcountry to learn, connect, and share ideas on what it looks like to put nature to work.


Spring Seminar Series dates and locations:


March 24 – Midlands

Senate’s End, Columbia


March 25 – Upstate

City Club, Greenville


March 31 – Lowcountry

Alhambra Hall, Mount Pleasant


Additional details and registration information coming soon.

South Carolina Healthy Business Coalition



We’re excited to share that the South Carolina Healthy Business Challenge is evolving into the South Carolina Healthy Business Coalition—a next chapter that reflects the growth of our work, our partners, and our impact across the state.


Building on more than a decade of trusted leadership in workplace wellbeing, the Coalition expands our role as a statewide network that brings employers, sponsors, practitioners, and leaders together to support healthy people and healthy workplaces across South Carolina.


The official public launch of the South Carolina Healthy Business Coalition will take place this spring, beginning with press moments at each regional seminar as part of our March Seminar Series, held prior to the start of each luncheon.


Beginning in February, you’ll start to see updates across our social media channels, newsletters, and materials as we prepare to go live with a new Coalition website in early March, ahead of the public launch.

We’re proud to celebrate several Founding Members of the South Carolina Nature, Health & Business Group and SCHBC Founder Susan Johnson, who have been named to the inaugural South Carolina 500 by SCBIZ — a statewide list recognizing the most influential leaders shaping South Carolina’s economy, communities, and future.


Congratulations to Wes Carter (Atlantic Packaging and A New Earth Project), Allan Clum (Mount Pleasant Waterworks), Grady Johnson (The Harbor Entrepreneur Center), Susan Johnson (South Carolina Healthy Business Challenge and Nature at Work), Michelle McCollum (South Carolina National Heritage Corridor), Leslie Skardon (Sustain SC) and Mike Mizeur (BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina).


Congratulations to all those named to the South Carolina 500, and thank you to SCBiz for spotlighting leadership that strengthens South Carolina!

View the full South Carolina 500 list » 

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