Technology and Teamwork Help Staff Get Healthier, Step by Step

Mount Sinai’s Reach Your Peak steps challenge runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day and encourages employees systemwide to stay active while learning tips for health and well-being. Staff members and students track their weekly steps, individually or as part of a team, with creative names like the “Pace Makers,” “Queens on the Move,” and the “Brainy Bunch.” 

Since 2018, the popular challenge has been sponsored by Jane Maksoud, RN MPA, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, and coordinated by the Mount Sinai Calm and Fit Wellness Team, which is led by Directors Abby Schwartz, RN, MBA, and Mari Umpierre, PhD, LCSW. As participation in Reach Your Peak grew, the team saw an opportunity to take it to the next level—getting data into the hands of participants so they could more easily track and celebrate their achievements.  

The Challenge: Tracking and celebrating step data

In the challenge, participants count their steps using a wearable device like a smart watch or phone connected to an app, then enter their weekly step counts into an online form. But during the early years of Reach Your Peak, this wealth of information was not easily viewed because it was reported manually across several platforms.

“We needed a way to show participants, in a visually clear and coordinated method, what their step count was for the week and also their totals over the course of the series by location, by team, and by individual participant,” explains Mary Vanderwoude, MA, Administrative Manager for Corporate Human Resources, and a member of the Mount Sinai Calm and Fit Wellness team.  

The Solution: The Reach Your Peak Dashboard 

The solution, which Ms. Vanderwoude called “practically miraculous,” was an interactive portal called the Reach Your Peak Dashboard. To create it, the team partnered with Jefri Mesa, Management Analyst, Health Data Outcomes and Engagement Strategy, in 2024.  

Thanks to Mr. Mesa’s skill set, the portal displays steps from individuals and teams, including the top 10 average team steps per week, top 10 individual steps per week, and a Team Leaderboard, which shows teams with the most steps. Team captains use the dashboard to monitor participation and encourage teammates in real time, and participants actively track their goals and share motivational messages and wellness tips—all with this single, unified dashboard. 

“This is a fun tool,” Mr. Mesa says. “It is very interactive. It is very technical, too. The steps challenge dashboard creates a healthy competition to inspire people to get up and walk.”  

The dashboard had an impact right away: In 2026, 1,400 participants walked 640 million steps, compared with 1,147 participants and 402 million steps in 2024. 

Ms. Schwartz, Director of Mount Sinai Fit and Vice President, Condition Management, Mount Sinai Health System, says the tool has made her team’s job of collecting and showing data to the challenge’s participants much easier. “But more importantly, it provides the employee or the physician who's participating in the step challenge access to really interesting and impactful data about their health and well-being,” she says.

The 2026 theme, “Step Into Health” supports the healthspan by encouraging employees to focus on expanding their years of healthy life.  

Every week, participants receive a nutrition plan with easy-to-prepare recipes, often with seasonal ingredients, to fuel their energy levels during the steps challenge. They also receive core strengthening exercises, a mindfulness activity, advice on how to sleep well, and tips to help them get in steps. For example, participants are encouraged to take a brief walk outside in the morning whenever possible, to walk and take the stairs throughout the day, and to go for a walk after dinner to aid digestion and clear the mind.

Ms. Schwartz says using the tool and participating in the Reach Your Peak challenge gives employees a fun way to get in shape with their colleagues. “It really brings people closer together, and it allows people the opportunity to inspire each other.”

To learn more about Reach Your Peak and Mount Sinai’s other wellness programs, visit the Wellness website. 

We are Mount Sinai, using technology to promote health and bring staff together.