Congratulations to the 2026 Art Caple President’s Award winners! Announced today during the opening session of the NAGDCA Annual Conference, this year’s awards recognize two public-sector retirement plans for innovative approaches that have strengthened their programs and improved outcomes for participants.
Established in 2019 in honor of former NAGDCA President Art Caple, the Art Caple President’s Award recognizes government member plans for outstanding leadership and impact. Each year, NAGDCA’s Awards Committee reviews nominations and selects finalists and winners in two categories: Standard Plans with less than $500 million in assets and Large Plans with $500 million or more in assets.
Standard Plan Winner: UMC Health System
UMC Health System transformed its retirement program from a fragmented structure into a more consolidated, participant-centered program. Through a multi-year modernization effort, UMC strengthened governance, simplified administration, improved fee transparency, integrated its plans with Workday, expanded its employer match to include Roth contributions, and invested in participant education and support.
The results have been measurable. Over a 15-month period, participants with balances increased 60%, active deferrals increased 52%, participant accounts increased 71%, and Roth utilization increased 634%.
Large Plan Winner: City of Milwaukee
The City of Milwaukee Deferred Compensation Plan has made financial wellness an integral part of its employee benefits strategy by incorporating financial education and personalized guidance into its Healthy Rewards incentive program. Employees and their spouses can earn incentives for completing financial wellness activities, creating an accessible and ongoing approach to retirement readiness.
Since the program was introduced in 2018, more than 11,000 financial wellness seminars have been completed, while participation has remained above 90%. Across multiple years of measurement, employees who engaged in financial wellness activities consistently demonstrated higher participation and savings rates than those who did not.
Congratulations to All of Our Finalists
NAGDCA also congratulates Cherry Creek School District, CSD Retirement Trust, California Savings Plus, and City of Sacramentofor being selected as 2026 Art Caple President’s Award finalists. Each organization demonstrated leadership and innovation in strengthening its retirement program and serving its participants.
Congratulations to all of this year’s finalists, and to UMC Health System and the City of Milwaukee Deferred Compensation Plan on being named our 2026 winners!
Click below to learn more about the award and this year’s winning initiatives.