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 staff members at public pensions who have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills; shown superior innovation and creativity; and created a positive impact with their communications work in the preceding year.
The nomination deadline is Wednesday, December 16, 2026. Find answers to FAQs, get tips for your nomination, and review the judges' scoring criteria. Nominees with less than five years of experience at their organization may also be considered for the Rising Star Award.
New this year: NCPERS is expanding its award lineup to recognize the innovative work being done at public retirement systems to improve the member experience with the Public Pension Member Impact Award.
Winner(s) will receive complimentary registration to the 2027 Communications & Member Services Summit as we celebrate industry excellence together.
Which Award is Right For You?
The Public Pension Member Impact Award recognizes the best project, while the Public Pension Communicator of the Year Award recognizes the people behind exceptional communications. The nomination deadline for both awards is Wednesday, December 16, 2026. Please contact communications@ncpers.org with any questions.
Public Pension Communicator of the Year
- Recognizes an individual professional for accomplishments over the past 12 months
- Focuses on communications leadership, creativity, and innovation
- Opportunity to nominate Rising Stars (with less than 5 years of experience)
Public Pension Member Impact (New)
- Recognizes a project or initiative that was completed in the past 12 months
- Focuses on member outcomes, including measurable improvements to service
- Open to teams and cross-functional efforts (or teams of one)
Frequently Asked Questions
You can either self-nominate or nominate someone else. We strongly recommend reviewing the scoring rubric and tips for your nomination 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.
- 2026 Winner, less than $10 Billion AUM: Ryan Woodhouse, Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado
- 2026 Winner, $10–50 Billion AUM: Renee Garcia, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board
- 2026 Winner, Greater than $50 Billion AUM: Beth Hallmark, Teacher Retirement System of Texas
- 2026 Winner, Rising Star: Jalel Braden, San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association
- 2026 Winner, Honorable Mention, Member Services: Kate Chandler, Maine Public Employees Retirement System
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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 recommendation 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; 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:
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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.