Deborah Lewis, M.A., Founder and President of the Bredeson Group LLC, is a nationally known workplace health promotion, employee assistance and human resources executive. Deborah has over 25 years internal corporate and external consulting experience encompassing all the content areas of the Bredeson Group portfolio. She works with employers/unions and consultants/vendors to prevent and manage health, behavioral health, and human resources problems, and to promote energized, healthy workforces. The Bredeson Group’s and Deborah’s personal mission is to enhance individual and organizational effectiveness by:

• Helping organizations to implement effective people practices

• Working with individuals and work teams to develop employee people- and self-management competencies.

In addition to her skills as a consultant, she is a talented writer, and motivating presenter and facilitator.
All projects are conducted under the leadership of this seasoned consultant.

The Bredeson Group also draws on the services of other employee assistance, health promotion and human resources professionals, all of whom have at least 15 years experience and possess relevant graduate degrees. Additionally, the Bredeson Group has relationships with architects and graphic designers.

Prior to founding the Bredeson Group, Deborah served as a senior managed care and employee assistance consultant for Kwasha Lipton, and originated behavioral health care and employee assistance services practices at Ernst & Young and The Alexander & Alexander Consulting Group. She also served as managing director of client management at Corporate Health Strategies. Prior to that, she was the corporate manager of health promotion at Union Carbide Corporation where she designed and directed a comprehensive, on-site health promotion program and health learning center focusing on rehabilitation and demand management. She is the recipient of the Union Carbide Special Recognition Award and the Alexander & Alexander Technical Excellence Award.

Her particular areas of expertise are employee assistance, work/life, health promotion/demand management, flexible work arrangements, managed behavioral health care, patient advocate, people management competencies, customer service and action learning initiatives/issues. Deborah has provided services to a range of clients, including corporations of all sizes, hospitals, managed care companies, vendors, consulting firms, government entities, not-for-profit foundations, professional associations and social service agencies. Some of the organizations for whom she has completed assignments include Avon Products, UFCW Local 1262, American Express Travel Related Services, American Stores, Managed Health Network, Outward Bound Professional, Shephard Pratt Hospital, Saint Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center of New York, Sears, Fairfax County and the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children. She is also an adjunct professor at the Workforce Education Institute of Norwalk Community College.

Ms. Lewis is a magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University where she majored in foreign languages, has her M.A. in health/physical education from New York University and has completed graduate studies in social work and counseling. She received extensive management training while with Union Carbide Corporation. She is fluent in German, proficient in French and has beginning knowledge of Spanish. Ms. Lewis has received Critical Incident Stress Management training at Yale University, Department of Emergency Medicine, at a course registered with International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). Ms. Lewis is active in a number of professional associations, presents at national conferences, and has published extensively on the subject of the relationship between employer human practices and organizational effectiveness. Additionally, is an active volunteer in her community. Some of her published articles cover the following topics:

• Work/life newsletter articles
• Provider guidelines for obtaining reimbursement for smoking cessation counseling
• Child welfare and managed care
• Integrating substance abuse and mental health
• Health promotion and the Internet
• Alternatives for employee assistance program (EAP) accreditation
• How flexible work arrangements can become a tool for EAPs
• The business benefits of flexible work schedules