When Jennifer Spence talks about mental health strategy, she starts with a question many employers are still learning to ask: not whether a program exists, but whether it is accessible, connected, and improving workplace performance.
“Too often, employers measure mental health strategy by whether a program exists,” she says. “The better measure is whether employees can access care when they need it, whether programs are connected, and whether the organization can see the impact across absence, disability, productivity, retention, and employee experience. Mental health is not just a cost to manage—it is a workforce performance strategy.”
That perspective has been the throughline of Jen’s 20+ year career in health and productivity consulting. Since 2018, she has led Alliant’s national Health & Productivity capability, overseeing clinical program design, prevention strategy, and healthcare consumerism initiatives across a national client base. Her work sits at the intersection of clinical rigor, employee experience, and business performance—helping employers connect mental health initiatives to absence, disability, productivity, retention, and overall workforce value.
Jen holds a Master of Science in Management, with an emphasis in Public Health, from the University of Denver. Her approach is grounded in a simple belief: when employees can access the right support at the right time, organizations are better positioned to build healthier, more resilient workforces. That philosophy shapes the scalable, evidence-based strategies she helps employers design—giving leaders greater visibility into outcomes while making it easier for employees to get the care they need.
What makes her voice valuable in this space is this combination: she understands what clinical best practice requires, and she knows how to make the case for it in the language of the CFO. In an industry still debating whether mental health belongs in benefits or in organizational strategy, Jen has already decided—and she is helping her clients treat it as both a business performance lever, as well as a critical, human-centered workforce strategy.