NCPERS Awards and Recognition
NCPERS Champions Award
The NCPERS Champions Awards honor NCPERS pension fund members who have demonstrated a commitment to ongoing education for their staff and trustees. Pension funds are evaluated based on attendance of and involvement with NCPERS flagship educational program, the Annual Conference & Exhibition, and NCPERS University spring programs. Recipients are selected in three categories based on assets under management—less than $1 billion, $1 billion to $50 billion, and greater than $50 billion in size.
The inaugural awards were presented during NCPERS 2025 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Denver. Congratulations to the 2025 NCPERS Champions Award winners!
Certificate of Excellence for Public Pension Reporting and Transparency
Since 2011, NCPERS has conducted its annual Public Retirement Systems Study to explore the retirement practices of the public sector. Public retirement plans across North America are invited to provide data on plan design, investment allocation and returns, actuarial assumptions, and plan governance practices.
The plans that participate are recognized with the Certificate of Excellence for Public Pension Reporting and Transparency for furthering open disclosure, increasing the range of data from which to learn from, and contributing to the public’s understanding of public retirement systems. For more information, please contact info@ncpers.org.
NCPERS Pension Partners of the Year Award
The Pension Partners of the Year Awards are presented to NCPERS Service Provider members who have helped make continuing education exciting, valuable, and accessible to public pension staff, trustees, and industry stakeholders. Their contributions have had a lasting impact in advancing industry best practices.
The inaugural awards were presented during NCPERS 2025 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Denver. Congratulations to the 2025 NCPERS Pension Partners of the Year Award winners!
NCPERS Public Pension Communicator of the Year Award
The Public Pension Communicator of the Year Award, presented by NCPERS, honors the communications staff person at a public pension who has demonstrated superior leadership skills; innovation and creativity; and created an impact with their communications endeavors in the preceding year.
The 2024 Public Pension Communicator of the Year Award winners were honored in person at NCPERS Pension Communications Summit in Washington, DC.
To learn more about the judging process, please review the scoring rubric and FAQs. Please note: You do not need to be an NCPERS member to nominate an individual, but the recipient must be a staff person at a member pension fund in good standing. For more information, please contact communications@ncpers.org.
NCPERS Policymaker of the Year Award
Each year, NCPERS honors a policymaker who has had a positive impact on public pensions or whose efforts have contributed to improvements in retirement security more broadly. Policymakers at the federal, state, and local level are eligible for the Policymaker of the Year Award.
The award is presented during NCPERS Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. Learn more and view the recent list of winners.
Public Pension Coordinating Council (PPCC) Standards Awards
The Public Pension Coordinating Council (PPCC) is a coalition of three national associations that represent public retirement systems and administrators: National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS).
The Public Pension Standards are intended reflect minimum expectations for public retirement system management and administration, as well as serve as a benchmark by which all defined benefit public plans should be measured. The retirement systems and the state and local governments that sponsor them are encouraged to meet these standards.
The Standards are separated into the Administrative Standard and the Funding Standard. A system may qualify and receive a Recognition Certificate for either the Administrative or Funding Standard. A system that qualifies for both certificates will be awarded the Public Pension Coordinating Council Standards Award. For more information, please contact info@ncpers.org.