Public Pension Communicator of the Year Award Judging Criteria
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 over the past 12 months.
The nomination period for the 2024 Public Pension Communicator of the Year Awards has closed. Winner(s) will be notified by December 23, 2024 and will be honored in person at NCPERS Pension Communications Summit in Washington, DC.
New this year: Is there a junior staff person or a new team member who has gone above and beyond? Nominate your organization’s Rising Star! This separate award category is meant to honor staff who have been at their organization (or within the industry) for 5 years or less and have demonstrated exceptional potential and growth in their role.
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.
2024 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; 5=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:
-
Resources available (i.e. size of team and/or budget available)
-
Relevant organizational challenges (i.e. staff turnover)
-
Experience levels (i.e. a junior vs. senior staff member)
Please be sure to review our FAQs here before submitting your nomination. Please direct any questions to communications@ncpers.org.