Erin Weenum

Erin Weenum never planned on a career in employee benefits.

She wanted to be an astronaut.

Instead, she found herself fascinated by a different kind of complex system: healthcare. More than 20 years later, she still enjoys asking the questions many people accept as fixed: Why do we buy healthcare this way? Is there a better way? And what happens when employers are willing to challenge the status quo?

Those questions have shaped Erin's career from the beginning. Her career began at Cleveland Clinic, where she helped manage one of the nation's largest self-funded employee health plans before joining the leadership team of a large third-party administrator. Today, she works with employers across the country to build smarter health plans that improve outcomes, create greater transparency, and give organizations more control over one of their largest and fastest-growing expenses.

What sets Erin apart is her belief that employers have far more influence over healthcare than they've been led to believe. Rather than accepting rising costs as inevitable, she helps organizations rethink traditional approaches to healthcare purchasing, improve transparency, and create benefit programs that deliver better outcomes for both employees and employers.

Her passion is helping employers move beyond annual renewals and vendor pitches to create meaningful, long-term solutions. She believes the best results happen when organizations stop asking, "Which carrier should we choose?" and start asking, "Why are we buying healthcare this way in the first place?"

Erin joined Leavitt in 2015 because of the organization's reputation for integrity and commitment to doing what's right for clients. In an industry that has experienced significant consolidation, she values Leavitt's independence, entrepreneurial spirit, and relationship-driven culture. The people feel more like family than colleagues, and she has never had to choose between what is best for a client and what is best for the business. At Leavitt, those things are expected to be the same.

A published author and national speaker, Erin is recognized as a leading voice in employee benefits strategy, self-funding, and healthcare innovation. Her contributions to the industry and community earned her recognition as one of Billings' 40 Under 40, and she has served on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, including Make-A-Wish Montana, Dress for Success, Youth Dynamics, Rimrock Figure Skating Club, Rebuilding Together Cleveland, and Project Love.

Outside of work, Erin is passionate about community involvement, mentoring, leadership development, and creating opportunities for others to succeed. She and her husband, Jarrod, are raising two daughters with the belief that character matters, integrity matters, and how you treat people matters. Her hope is that they grow up with the confidence to lead, the humility to keep learning, and the conviction to leave things better than they found them.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in organizational leadership from Cleveland State University

Erin helps businesses retain employees