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Liz Schmittgens
Strategy, systems, and human-centered design
My career experience combines healthcare, wellbeing, technology, and strategy. I translate complex problems into practical, human-centered solutions. I am always bridging technical teams, business leaders, and the people those systems are meant to serve.
About Me
I'm driven by curiosity, integrity, and the belief that systems can—and should—work better for people. I'm a systems thinker with a human heart, equally comfortable in strategy decks, operational details, and deeply personal conversations.
I've spent my career in healthcare and health technology, helping employers, health plans, and organizations design, evaluate, and implement wellbeing and benefits strategies. Over time, my role evolved from execution into strategy, advisory, and systems-level thinking.
Alongside my corporate work, I've built independent projects in travel advising, writing through my Substack Exploring Well, and early-stage climate and circular-economy innovation with Legacy Biomass. The throughline across everything I do: designing systems that actually work for people.
My Work
Healthcare
Enterprise Healthcare Strategy & Solution Design
Led strategy and solution design for large employers and health plans evaluating wellbeing and benefits platforms. As strategic advisor and solution lead, I helped organizations align benefits spend with measurable outcomes, improving adoption and long-term value.
Women's Health Advocacy
Led internal and external education on menopause and women's health in the workplace as program leader and advocate. Increased awareness, reduced stigma, and influenced more inclusive benefit conversations across organizations.
Wellbeing
Whole-Person Wellbeing Frameworks
Designed wellbeing strategies that integrate mental, physical, and financial health as a strategy lead. Shifted organizations away from fragmented point solutions toward cohesive, human-centered programs that create lasting impact.
Personal Storytelling & Education
Through writing and speaking about miscarriage, menopause, and mental load, I've created space for honest conversations that many people felt seen by but rarely hear articulated publicly.
Technology
Healthcare Technology Implementation & Advisory
Supported complex platform implementations across diverse clients, acting as translator between product, sales, and client teams. Improved adoption, reduced friction, and increased trust through consultative, human-centered approaches.
Legacy Biomass
Designing a modular, community-centered anaerobic digestion and waste-to-energy model as founder and systems designer. Validating a scalable, local solution for food waste, energy resilience, and circular economics that synthesizes everything I've learned about health, systems, technology, community, and long-term thinking.
Recent Writing & Thoughts
Selected posts from LinkedIn and Substack that resonated most.
Healthcare Continuity: The Small Features That Solve Big Problems
When 1 in 4 employers switch health carriers annually, all employee health history disappears every January. For the 6 in 10 Americans with chronic conditions, this lack of continuity is more than frustrating—it's a barrier to good care. The unsexy solutions that provide real continuity? Those are the ones that matter most.
Substack
Navigating the Messy Middle
Every journey worth taking has an exciting beginning and a satisfying end, but the middle is where the real work happens. It's where travel budgets get wrestled with, weight loss plateaus test your resolve, and every dimension of life—physical, professional, relational—feels stuck in uncomfortable progress. The messy middle is where character is built, and it's always hard.
Benefits Trends: What Employers Are Prioritizing in 2026
Over 90% of employers plan to maintain or expand benefits in 2026, even with economic pressures. They're doubling down on MSK, metabolic health, women's health, and virtual-first care—but the real shift is toward clarity. When employees face complex health decisions, the next step should feel obvious, not overwhelming.
Public Speaking: You Don't Have to Be Perfect to Be Effective
Most people fear public speaking more than death, but perfection isn't the goal—clarity is. After thousands of presentations, I've learned that what matters is knowing your topic, keeping your composure, and showing up even when your voice shakes. Every time you step up, you get steadier and better at making your work real for people.