The Wellness Council of Indiana is pleased to welcome Candace Shaffer of Purdue University as our newest board member!
Candace earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Purdue. Now, she’s the senior director of benefits in Human Resources. She’s responsible for overseeing and planning the realm of benefits for Purdue employees. In this role, Shaffer manages the strategic planning and customer service of a strong benefits plan for the employees and their families. This includes medical and dental benefits. As well as retirement, leave, worker compensation, families and the systems and processes in place to help employees engage in those programs.
Her education and previous work experience are in child development and family studies. Her first introduction to benefits from an employer’s perspective, was when she came to work at Purdue in 2014 as the worksite health and childcare specialist. She was impressed to learn Purdue had developed a position within the benefits department. This focuses on family-friendly initiatives, such as on-site childcare options, lactation support and family-friendly practices and guidelines. Once she joined the team, she got more involved in benefit projects. In mid-2016, she was offered the opportunity to serve as interim associate director. This opened more opportunities and ultimately to her position as Director of Benefits. She was awarded with Employee Benefits News ‘Benefits Leadership in Healthcare’ in 2018. Candace’s focuses on overall employee wellness – physical, mental, financial. She continues to bring new opportunities to the table. She will undoubtedly show benefits not only to the employee population but also the financials related to Purdue’s health benefits.
