Wellhub and Fast Company Honor 2025 Corporate Wellness Innovators

NEW YORK CITY — A new class of corporate leaders is redefining the role of wellness in the workplace. Last week, Wellhub and Fast Company hosted the first-ever Corporate Wellness Innovators Dinner to recognize 20 standout companies across 11 industries that are treating wellness as performance infrastructure.

"The companies on the 2025 Corporate Wellness Innovators list, many of whom also appear on our Most Innovative Companies and Inc. 5000 lists, are a clear indication that a new era of employee wellness has arrived," said Ben Baer, Vice President and Executive Editor at Fast Company. "They are using intentional, impactful wellness programs to foster innovation and create a thriving business ecosystem."

The awards dinner, held September 17 at The Library at the Public in Manhattan, brought together more than 30 HR executives, founders, and business leaders.  The winners are building programs that go well beyond gym stipends. They’re investing in physical, emotional, nutritional, and financial health—and seeing measurable returns in productivity, retention, and innovation.

Creating a New Standard of Business

The Corporate Wellness Innovators list is designed to spotlight what works. “These companies are proving that a deep commitment to the whole person — their health, their happiness, and their potential — is the ultimate competitive advantage,” says Wellhub CEO and co-founder Cesar Carvalho. 

This is because the case wellness is no longer soft: Companies that neglect wellness are missing out on growth and engaging in unnecessary spending. The Work Wellbeing 100 Index has outperformed the S&P 500 by 11% over the past three years. Meanwhile, healthcare costs are climbing 8 to 10% a year. It’s estimated that 75% of those costs are preventable, yet only 4% of spend goes toward prevention.  

At the same time, employees are demanding better. Research shows that 88% of employees view wellbeing as important as salary, and 83% would consider leaving a company that doesn't focus on wellbeing.

“The cost of doing nothing is becoming unsustainable,” said Mike Daoust, SVP of Wellhub. “The companies who get this right aren’t just supporting employees—they’re building a strategic advantage.

The Power of Engagement

If wellness is performance infrastructure, engagement is the power source that makes it work. Programs succeed when leaders set the tone. As Mita Mallick, Wellhub advisor and author of the upcoming The Devil Emails at Midnight, told attendees: “Leadership behavior sets the tone. If leaders don’t prioritize their own wellbeing, they can’t model it for their teams.” Nobody, she puts it, should lead like a “white rabbit,” sprinting from meeting to meeting, eroding wellness culture before it can take root.

The data backs her up. Wellhub research shows that when the C-suite engages in a wellness program, employee engagement rates rise dramatically. Higher engagement translates into better outcomes: Employees who consistently use Wellhub, for example, lower company healthcare spending and turnover rates. 

Event moderator and business psychologist Rachana Bhide sent attendees off with food for thought on how to make that level of involvement a reality: “What would it look like in your organization if wellbeing was treated as essential performance infrastructure—as fundamental as your IT systems?” 

The Innovators: 20 Companies Leading the Way

The highlight of the evening was celebrating the 20 winners of the 2025 Corporate Wellness Innovators list. Selected in partnership with Fast Company’s editorial team, these organizations demonstrate that investing in wellbeing delivers measurable business and cultural impact.

Business Services

• Covington and Burling – Supporting long-hour professionals with holistic mental health, ergonomic, and family-focused benefits.
   
• EY – Led by a Chief Wellbeing Officer and dedicated team, EY uses data to continually refine offerings and measure wellbeing.

Consumer Products

• SharkNinja – Treating wellness holistically — from physical and mental health to financial resilience — with family-focused benefits and employee share options.

Energy

• Avangrid – Building inclusion and engagement with mindfulness programs, chronic condition support, and preventative care.
   
• Intersect Power – Blending flexibility with quarterly in-person gatherings to balance work-life integration and team cohesion.

Financial Services

• Aflac – Prioritizing early detection with cancer checks and accessible on-site/virtual clinics.
   
• Fitch Group – Pairing wellness programs with vibrant ERGs that foster culture and community.
   
• Morgan Stanley – Continuously monitoring utilization and outcomes to ensure wellness investments drive ROI.

🦆 Aflac case study: From Medications to Movement: How Aflac Sparked A Culture Shift with Wellhub

Food & Beverage

• Kraft Heinz – Combining fitness stipends, meditation rooms, and nutrition programs with financial education.
   
• Land O’ Lakes – Innovating frontline wellness with “build your own schedule” flexibility for manufacturing employees.
   
• PepsiCo – Anchoring global wellbeing in three pillars: physical, emotional, and social health.

Healthcare

• Arthrex – Offering complimentary on-site medical care and state-of-the-art wellness centers.
   
• Quest Diagnostics –Empowering preventative care with Blueprint for Wellness, adopted by 80% of employees.
   
• Lifepoint Health – Training leaders to spot overwork and embed wellness into cultural norms.

Gaming

• FanDuel – Supporting employees with childcare, family planning, and fitness access for holistic wellbeing.

Retail

• REI Co-op – Supporting employees with wellbeing benefits, professional growth programs, and community engagement.

Technology

• Ai2 – Designing workplaces to encourage movement and fresh air while investing in career growth.
   
• Pattern – Offering flexible benefits like unlimited PTO alongside wellness perks such as yoga and fitness centers.

Social Media

• Bytedance – Delivering flexible, global wellness offerings that achieve high engagement across diverse regions.
   
• Pinterest – Scaling its PinFlex flexible work model to fuel 30% global headcount growth since 2022.

Why Wellness Leaders Matter

What unites these innovators is a simple truth: wellness is not a cost center — it’s a growth engine.

• They’re countering rising healthcare costs with preventive, proactive strategies.
   
• They’re reducing absenteeism and mental health leave by offering accessible, stigma-free support.
   
• They’re boosting engagement and retention by making wellness a cultural norm.

They prove what Wellhub has always believed: every company can be a wellness company.

The Future of Wellness

At Wellhub, we believe this is just the beginning.

The companies honored as 2025 Corporate Wellness Innovators are proof that investing in wellness is not only possible — it’s transformational. By making wellness part of performance infrastructure, these organizations are reducing costs, improving retention, and unlocking the full potential of their people.

As Cesar Carvalho often says: “Healthier employees lead to stronger companies.”

In 2026, we invite every organization to take the next step — to reimagine wellness not as a perk, but as the very foundation of performance.

Because when employees thrive, businesses thrive. And that is the Wellhub effect.