Former PepsiCo VP of Global Benefits and Wellness Erik Sossa Joins Castlight Health as Strategic Advisor
May 6, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO – May 6, 2021 – Castlight Health, Inc. (NYSE: CSLT), a leader in healthcare navigation, announced today the addition of Erik Sossa, former vice president of Global Benefits and Wellness at PepsiCo, as a strategic advisor. Sossa brings decades of HR benefits and industry experience to Castlight’s market-leading health navigation solution that helps power America’s largest employers.
In his 24 years at PepsiCo and its affiliate The Pepsi Bottling Group, Sossa served in multiple leadership roles spanning benefits, executive compensation, global mobility, and HR operations. For the past 12 years, he led the strategy, design, and financial optimization of health and insurance, retirement, and wellness programs for PepsiCo, and was responsible for the company’s 267,000 employees around the world.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Erik, a highly respected and innovative HR benefits leader, who has dedicated his career to the continuous pursuit of expanding access to quality, effective, and affordable healthcare for employees,” said Maeve O’Meara, chief executive officer of Castlight Health. “Erik is a strategic partner who values the powerful impact an agile and responsive health navigation platform can have in enabling employers to meet people where they are.”
Sossa will advise Castlight on product and market strategy as well as help shape new solutions for the direct employer market as the industry moves towards a digital plus high-touch care navigation model to meet an increasingly distributed, diverse, and remote workforce.
“I’ve always been inspired by the great product Castlight has today, but I’m excited to collaborate on the vision they have for the future,” says Sossa. “Castlight is actively thinking about tomorrow — not just today — and I want to help solve tomorrow’s problems. I want to go on that journey, and I believe Castlight is on the right journey.”
About Erik Sossa
Erik Sossa retired from PepsiCo, Inc. in December of 2020 as Vice President, Global Benefits and Wellness, where he led the strategy, design, and financial optimization of health & insurance, retirement, and wellness programs around the world. In his 24 years at PepsiCo and its affiliate The Pepsi Bottling Group, he served in various roles in benefits, executive compensation, global mobility, and HR operations.
Prior to joining PepsiCo, Sossa was a consultant with Mercer Human Resource Consulting where he provided actuarial and consulting services on pension, savings, and retiree medical plans.
Sossa was formerly an enrolled actuary under the Joint Board of Enrolled Actuaries and was a former member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He was and remains active in the benefits industry as a former board member of the Business Group on Health and a board member of the Health Innovation Forum. He was the board chair and is currently chair emeritus of the ERISA Industry Committee and is the current co-chair of the National Drug Performance Collaborative. Sossa was also an Executive Council member of the Employer Benefits Research Institute at The Conference Board, former chair of the Global Benefits Forum, and a member of the Employer Health Innovation Roundtable.
About Castlight Health
Castlight is on a mission to make it as easy as humanly possible for people to navigate the healthcare system and live happier, healthier, more productive lives. As a leader in healthcare navigation, we provide a world-class digital platform with a team of clinical and benefits experts to help members easily connect and engage with the right programs and care, at the right time. Castlight partners with Fortune 500 companies and health plans to transform employee and member benefits into one comprehensive health and wellbeing experience to deliver better health outcomes and maximize returns on healthcare investments.
For more information visit www.castlighthealth.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and like us on Facebook.
Media Contacts
Caroline Kawashima
Director, Corporate Marketing
Castlight Health