OSU-CHS Wellness Innovator award recipients championing health
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Media Contact: Kayley Spielbusch | Digital Communications Specialist | 918-561-5759 | kspielb@okstate.edu
At Oklahoma State University, it’s not just about America’s Brightest Orange — it’s also about being America’s Healthiest Campus.
Like every OSU campus, the OSU Center for Health Sciences participates in the Wellness Innovators initiative, which is led by the Department of Wellness.
Kelsey Ashwood, employee wellness coordinator at OSU-CHS, said the program lets employees take on a wellness leadership role in their own departments.
“As the Department of Wellness, we cannot tailor wellness efforts for a specific group of people the way somebody working in the department could. An Innovator knows their colleagues and what areas of wellness would be the most impactful within their department,” Ashwood said. “This is an opportunity for us to support those who want to promote health and wellness in their workspace.”
Any employee, with their supervisor’s approval, can become a Wellness Innovator. Once accepted, the role becomes a part of their job description and includes a two-to-three-hour time commitment per month, plus a one-hour training session.
Every year, the OSU-CHS Department of Wellness recognizes two Innovators for their efforts within their departments. Recently, Jessica Johnson and Sarah Vizza were named the 2025 Wellness Innovator Award recipients.
Johnson, the psychiatry and behavioral sciences projects director at OSU-CHS, received the Outstanding Impact award. This award is presented to an Innovator who promotes well-being across all dimensions of wellness, utilizing the three pillars of the program: healthy behavior modeling, encouraging healthy behaviors and collaborating with other Innovators.
“It’s an honor to receive this award. I’m amazed with the Department of Wellness and what they’ve been able to accomplish, so being recognized as an extension of such a great department is a privilege,” she said.
Johnson takes a collaborative approach to wellness, encouraging her coworkers to become Innovators as well, and working alongside other Innovators to make employee well-being a key component of her department’s culture.
Vizza, graduate programs manager at OSU-CHS, received the Innovation and Creativity award, which is given to an Innovator who takes a fresh and creative approach to engaging their department with wellness. “It’s a total honor, especially knowing that someone on my team appreciates the environment we’ve created to support each other,” she said.
"It's an honor to receive this award. I'm amazed with the Department of Wellness and
what they've been able to accomplish, so being recognized as an extension of such
a great department is a privilege."
Vizza promotes wellness through a variety of initiatives. She encourages positivity with her Mindful Monday series, where she shares an uplifting message or wellness tip to start the week, as well as regularly attending TED Talk Tuesdays and other on-campus wellness events with her team to build a sense of community.
Johnson and Vizza were both nominated by colleagues, and the pair is well-known for their efforts in their respective departments; Johnson has received six nominations and Vizza has been an Innovator for more than nine years.
Vizza said she considers her department to be a family and is dedicated to nurturing that dynamic.
“We vibe well together. I do silly things to shift our focus to something fun and explore our personalities. We also become vulnerable together, and this helps us grow stronger in the end,” she said.
Working in the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department, Johnson saw the importance of wellness while caring for others.
“Psychiatry can be a high-burnout position when you’re taking care of others. I want to shift the helping attitude inward and take care of our employees. Not only does it do them a service, but it extends to the patients we serve as well,” she said.
From her perspective in the Department of Wellness, Ashwood agrees that prioritizing employee wellness has a ripple effect.
“In some of the studies the department has done, we’ve seen that healthier employees tend to be more engaged in their work,” she said. “It comes out in the ways we show up — how present we are, how we treat our coworkers and how we interact with students and patients.”
Employees interested in becoming a Wellness Innovator can learn more here or contact Kelsey Ashwood.