Summary

What if the real job of benefits is to remove stress—and create relief—when life happens?

Serena Filson, Vice President of Global Total Rewards and HR Operations at Certara, shares how she architects compensation, benefits, wellness, and HR tech to be both fair and deeply human.

With 25+ years in HR, including taking Certara public in 2020 and leading M&A integrations, Serena explains why structure is an expression of empathy: it enables equity, signals culture, and helps people navigate hard moments with confidence.

She opens up about her own parenting journey—from stepping out of corporate to consulting, to a pivotal missed-Halloween moment stuck overseas—and how modeling flexibility out loud changed how her team shows up.

Expect concrete strategies: upgrading parental leave in the U.S., adding global EAP with childcare concierge, treating “supplemental” benefits as standard, and evaluating programs market-by-market through real parent scenarios.

Serena closes with a practical challenge to leaders: build your “kitchen table” of diverse voices and design systems that truly care.

Timestamps

[00:45] – Guest intro: Serena’s remit at Certara and the architecture of HR

[02:52] – Designing for relief: structure as equity, process, and culture

[06:25] – Global lens: supporting employees through disasters and rapid change

[08:13] – Serena’s parenting journey and identity as a working mom

[11:08] – The missed-Halloween moment in China—and why openness matters

[13:02] – Modeling flexibility out loud to normalize being human at work

[14:33] – Upgrading benefits: parental leave, EAP concierge, and “supplemental” as standard

[27:49] – One piece of advice: build a diverse “kitchen table” for benefit design

Takeaways

- Design for worst-case moments to reduce stress—structure is empathy in action.

- Treat supplemental benefits (legal, pet, critical illness/accident) as standard to compete for talent.

- Elevate parental support: strengthen leave where state protections lag and add global EAP with childcare concierge.

- Evaluate benefits locally and annually for major markets; map scenarios for birth, adoption, and different caregiver paths.

- Model transparency: state needs (“I’m at a PT appointment”) and pair with clear commitments to outcomes.

- Build a diverse internal sounding board so programs reflect real lives—not assumptions.

Sponsor

Parenting at Work is brought to you by Juno — the modern financial safety net for working families. 

Juno helps employers offer affordable, impactful long-term financial coverage for children diagnosed with a severe illness or disability, giving parents peace of mind and flexibility when it matters most. 

You can learn more about how Juno is helping companies build family-first benefits that truly make a difference at ⁠junokids.com⁠.