2015 Game Changer: Ben Jackson

You’d think that managing the daily operations of a Fortune 500 company’s retirement benefit plans would be enough of a challenge for anyone. Ben Jackson met that challenge head-on, implemented a successful communications program boosting the financial skills of AT&T employees and guided the telecom giant to being one of just three companies to present to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability.

A big task, indeed; next challenge. Jackson, 35, now leads a team delivering health care benefits to nearly 1.1 million active and retired employees and their dependents. With an annual budget of $5 billion, Jackson brought in a private health insurance exchange to deliver benefits to 200,000 Medicare-eligible retirees. He came into the transition midstream, but quickly used his background in benefits and personal finances to organize the effort.

Jackson summarized it this way: “As an HR professional, you want to work on projects that impact peoples’ lives for the better while delivering results for the business. This initiative was a massive opportunity to do both by creating a great health care experience for 200,000 people. Through innovation, collaboration and teamwork, we did that.”