Lauren Winans

With 20 years of human resources and employee benefits experience at global, multi-generational, geographically dispersed organizations, Lauren possesses a deep expertise of HR and employee benefits best practices and what resonates with employees. She founded Next Level Benefits in 2019, offering HR teams access to former corporate HR professionals on-demand when they need them most.

Prior to becoming CEO of Next Level Benefits, Lauren responsibly managed all aspects of health, welfare, absence management, and retirement at General Nutrition Centers, American Eagle Outfitters, and CONSOL Energy. While working for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Lauren acquired an extensive knowledge of the health insurance industry.

Throughout her career, Lauren has focused on HR/Benefits compliance, enhanced existing plans, streamlined plan design to decrease expense, and created new benefits programs, both domestically and abroad. She has led and managed more than 20 vendor implementations, successfully orchestrated over 15 annual open enrollments, and has generated millions of dollars in cost savings. Lauren has experience with various federal, state, and local regulatory requirements that affect employment and benefits practices for small to large businesses alike. She has served many different employee populations ranging in size from 1,700 to 35,000 employees. Lauren has experience in developing benefits plans that meet the needs of a varied workforce.