Why Cornerstone OnDemand keeps expanding their women's health benefits

For Cornerstone OnDemand, a gap in fertility care six years ago led to a Maven partnership that now spans maternity through menopause and covers a global workforce. Positive employee feedback and utilization data has proved Maven is a worthy investment, and multiple program expansions over two renewal cycles show its staying power.

Hector Cotto, Senior Benefits Manager at Cornerstone OnDemand, has been at the center of these expansions into the full spectrum of women's and family health support. His team's benefits philosophy is straightforward: comprehensive health and wellbeing support that makes people feel seen, not just covered.

"We weren't interested in another benefit program that checked the box," he says. "We were looking for a benefits program that offered quality care for our people."

Responding to the ask for more support

When Cornerstone launched Maven in January 2020, they started with a full family-building stack — fertility, maternity, egg freezing, adoption, surrogacy, preconception, and lactation support. In January 2025, Cornerstone added Maven's menopause program. The decision reflected both a listening culture and a demographic reality: a meaningful share of their workforce was navigating menopause without support, across geographies where employer menopause benefits are virtually nonexistent.

The response was immediate: interest and engagement in menopause accelerated through 2025 and 2026, and has since become Cornerstone's most-activated Maven program, outpacing other programs like pregnancy support.

Cornerstone also ensured that employees globally would benefit from this support — menopause support is available for employees outside of the US, and their program includes all Maven products except parenting and pediatrics. While 72% are US-based, they've seen meaningful representation across the UK, India, Canada, and beyond.

"It's nice to have a comprehensive benefits program," he adds. "But you also want to make sure that you're working with a great partner that's able to deliver and show results."

Cornerstone relies on employee testimonials and ongoing feedback to demonstrate those results — making the business case to leadership with firsthand accounts rather than utilization data alone.

"That's where we really drive the value and ROI for our leadership team," Cotto says. "It has been really fun to hear the stories from our people on how Maven has helped them feel seen and heard."

Those stories span six years and every stage of the journey. One Cornerstone member recently enrolled in the menopause program shared that access to Maven was "a miracle," while another reflected on a clinician relationship with a lactation consultant that has spanned over five years and the birth of her three children.

"She has been meeting with me for almost 5 years now, through all 3 of my sons and breastfeeding journeys. She is so incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and always has something to offer…" the member shared anonymously. "She has made such a difference in my ability to keep nursing the way that I have wanted to."

The numbers behind those stories share a compelling story, too: 94% of Maven maternity members return to work after leave, and 70% report being more productive on the job. For menopause — historically one of the most underserved life stages in employer benefits — 47% of Maven members with severe symptoms say the program helped them plan to stay in the workforce longer, and with their current employer specifically. Menopause-related productivity losses top $150 billion annually worldwide, yet most benefits portfolios offer nothing for this population outside the US.

For Cotto, the stakes are personal. With Maven's support, Hector and his wife are expanding their family. Having access to Maven has provided Cornerstone and his team with something that goes beyond a budget line item, he says.

"We all have to show up to work — but feeling like you belong somewhere because you feel seen and supported makes a real difference," he says. "And Maven does just that."

Build your own women's health strategy: a 30/60/90-day framework

Cornerstone didn't overhaul their benefits overnight. They started with one documented gap and built from there — letting clinical outcomes and employee feedback make the case to leadership. Here's the playbook, regardless of where you're starting.

Days 1–30: Audit your benefits and know your gaps

Employers often don't realize which life stages their benefits are missing — until someone needs care and finds nothing. 27% of female employees delayed or skipped routine women's healthcare last year. To get a better picture of why, use the first 30 days to:

Map your current coverage against the full spectrum of women's and family health needs: fertility, maternity, pediatric support, parenting, and menopause. Note where employees are left to navigate these life stages alone — and where international employees fall outside your coverage entirely.

Pull claims data to identify where costs are concentrated and where early clinical intervention could make an impact. Unmanaged pregnancies run $50,000 or more; a single NICU admission averages $58,100 for a week-long stay.

If you have a global workforce, document which benefits actually apply internationally. Cornerstone's Maven membership spans 13+ countries — and their fastest-growing program is menopause, driven largely by international demand.

What success looks like: You know which life stages your benefits aren't covering, which ones are costing you the most, and you have at least one number to bring to Finance.

Days 31–60: Make the internal business case

Not every gap is worth solving at the same time. Focus on where employee need, claims cost, and missing support overlap — that's where you'll find the fastest ROI and the clearest story for leadership. Armed with knowledge, build your case by:

Looking for programs where clinical support changes outcomes. Unmanaged pregnancies and high-risk births are among the most controllable cost drivers in a benefits portfolio — Maven saves employers $9,600 per birth, and 88% of fertility members report staying productive at work during treatment.

When evaluating vendors, ask for outcomes data: peer-reviewed research, claims-based analyses, and sustained utilization rates tell you whether a program actually works. Enrollment numbers alone don't.

Before your next leadership conversation, translate the program into Finance's language. Maven's up to 27% lower NICU admission rate and up to 15% lower C-section rate are the kinds of numbers that make a benefits investment defensible.

What success looks like: You have a short list of programs, a clear rationale for each, and a one-page summary that answers the CFO's first three questions before they ask them. Download Maven's buyer's guide to help you make more informed decisions about women's and family health benefits vendors.

Days 61–90: Roll out, track what's working, and build your renewal case

A benefit employees don't know about — or can't easily access — won't move the needle on cost or retention. Before and after launch:

Meet employees where they are in their lives, not where your benefits calendar says they should be. Outreach tied to life stage drives engagement: 93% of Maven members complete an onboarding health assessment, which means care gets personalized early.

Brief your managers. A manager who knows how to refer — not just announce the benefit exists — makes a real difference in whether people actually use it.

Check in with your benefits partner quarterly, not just at renewal. Utilization trends, member feedback, and emerging gaps are easier to address early. It's also how you build the employee stories that make the program defensible when Finance asks whether it's worth keeping.

What success looks like: You set utilization targets before launch, not after. And within the first quarter, you have at least one employee story you can bring to leadership — something real that shows the benefit is landing the way you intended.

We're proud to partner with Cornerstone OnDemand and to be part of the benefits experience their people count on — whether they're navigating fertility, pregnancy, or menopause. If you're a benefits leader thinking about how to close similar gaps for your workforce, request a demo here.