Public Pension Communicator of the Year Award
NCPERS celebrates excellence in pension communications and member engagement.
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 nomination period has closed, and award recipients will be notified by the end of January 2026. The winner(s) will be honored in person at NCPERS 2026 Communications & Member Services Summit, held in San Diego on March 2-4. Winner(s) will receive complimentary registration to the Summit and will be recognized in a press release following the awards ceremony.
Frequently asked questions
You can either self-nominate or nominate someone else. We strongly recommend reviewing the scoring rubric and FAQs below before beginning your submission.
Yes! Nominees are reviewed against their peers in three categories based on the fund’s AUM (less than $10 billion, between $10-50 billion, and more than $50 billion) to account for varying resources. Nominees with less than five years of experience at their organization may also be considered for the Rising Star Award.
At their discretion, judges will select a winner in each category. Judges may also award an honorable mention.
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2024 Winner, less than $10 billion AUM category: Mehrin Rahman, Communications Director, City of Austin Employees' Retirement System (COAERS)
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2024 Winner, $10-50 Billion AUM category: Candy Albers Smith, Chief Communications Officer, Missouri State Employees' Retirement System (MOSERS)
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2024 Winner, Greater than $50 Billion AUM category: Jonathan Yost, Senior Marketing and Communications Specialist, Oregon Public Employees Retirement System
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2024 Winner, Rising Star category: Mary-Joy Coburn, Director of Communications, Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS)
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2023 Winner, less than $10 billion AUM category: Alison Taylor-Thévenin, Deputy Director, Member Communications for the New York City Board of Education Retirement System
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2023 Winner, $10-50 billion AUM category: Taneda Larios, Chief Benefits Analyst for the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System
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2023 Winner, greater than $50 billion AUM category: Patrick von Keyserling, Senior Director of Communications for Colorado PERA
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2023 Honorable Mention: Michelle Holleman, Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations for the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund
Tips for your nomination
- Please keep the criteria outlined below in mind when completing the nomination form.
- We strongly suggest including metrics to clearly demonstrate the impact of your work to the judges. As an example, this might include year-over-year web traffic or email open rates.
- Where possible, please specify how the individual has met strategic targets or how the work has contributed to meeting organizational goals.
- When referring to visual communications (i.e. rebrand, website redesign, social media campaign, educational video, etc.), please include graphics and/or screenshots if possible.
- For larger documents or reports, please limit attachments to the most relevant sections (ideally 10 pages or less).
- Testimonials or letters of recommendations from peers or fund leadership are strongly encouraged.
- As a reminder, nominees are judged based on work completed in the past 12 months.
- For the Rising Star award, however, judges can consider work performed during the 5-year or less the individual has been with their organization.
Public Pension Communicator of the Year Awards: Judging Criteria
| Core Criteria | Example | Score (1=low; 10=high) |
|---|---|---|
| Demonstrated exceptional leadership skills | Nominee has provided mentorship and/or served as an excellent team player; successfully works with staff to meet organization’s mission and better serve its members through its communications strategies and initiatives; Nominee collaborates externally to advance communications in the public pension community. | |
| Superior creativity and innovation; strategic communications | Individual successfully implemented creative solutions to improve organization’s communications or address a problem/gap; demonstrates creative skills and innovation with ongoing communications, continually striving to improve communications and the member experience in order to meet organizational objectives. | |
| Positive impact on the pension & its members (and/or the public pension community) | Individual’s communications or strategies have had a demonstrably positive impact on the public pension community (members, public perception, internal communications, etc.). |
| Supporting Criteria (Optional) | Example | Score (1=low; 10=high) |
|---|---|---|
| Going above and beyond given the individual’s role at the organization | Nominee has exceeded expectations of their role, demonstrating a drive to push their organization’s communications to a new level. They may have taken on new responsibilities or shown initiative to continue to improve communications efforts. | |
| Progression of skills, professional development | Individual has learned new skills to elevate the organization’s capabilities, demonstrated a progression of skills, and/or sought out professional development opportunities. | |
| Support or recognition from peers and/or leaders | Individual has earned recognition from peers, fund leadership, and/or external organizations. |
Other factors considered by judges may include:
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Resources available (i.e. size of team and/or budget available)
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Relevant organizational challenges (i.e. staff turnover)
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Experience levels (i.e. a junior vs. senior staff member)
Please direct any questions to communications@ncpers.org.