2025 Leadership Award Nominations

Nominations due Tuesday, April 15

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A NOMINATION CHECKLIST

NAGDCA Leadership Award nominations are open! We need your help identifying NAGDCA members who have done incredible work over the past year to create secure retirement futures for their public sector employees. NAGDCA’s Leadership Awards are given in five categories, and winners are selected by the Awards Committee who review and score each nomination.

Plans of all types and sizes are encouraged to submit nominations. Asset size and plan resources will be taken into consideration during the scoring process. Industry partners may nominate clients or plans may self-nominate. The winners are announced in August and will be recognized at NAGDCA’s Annual Conference in September. Please review the categories and guidelines closely before preparing a nomination.

Please note, NAGDCA-Art Caple President’s Award Nominations Open April 22.

Nomination Information

Details & Eligibility

Nominations are judged on a number of criteria – click here to view the scoring criteria.
Judges will take plan size and available resources into consideration to ensure fair evaluation.
Nominations are accepted for NAGDCA government members only and governmental staff must have played a role in developing and/or implementing the program, project, campaign, or activity.
Nominations may be submitted by the government member or by their industry partners on their behalf. Regardless of the submitter, please collaborate with your partners when writing your nomination.
NAGDCA welcomes nominations from all public sector defined contribution plan types.
Submitting the same nomination in multiple categories is not allowed. If submitting in multiple categories, please ensure that each nomination is unique.
Prior nominations will not be considered for an award.
Awards will be limited to up to five winners in each category to ensure that awards are a testament to offering the best retirement savings plans.

Timeline

April 15 – Award nominations due.
July – Award recipients notified.
September – Awards presented to government members and their industry partners at the 2025 NAGDCA Annual Conference.

Leadership Award Categories

Holistic Financial Wellness

For plans that improved participant results with targeted messaging and/or education that underscores the connection between financial and total health. For example, campaigns that address the impact financial stress has on employee physical health, productivity, and retirement savings AND how such stress often leads to participants prematurely tapping into retirement savings to pay their day-to-day and unforeseen expenses. Campaign/program topics could include college savings, college and credit card debt reduction, balancing work and personal wellbeing, elder care, post-retirement financial and care planning, and planning for future generations.

Plans of all sizes, including those with limited administrative or vendor support, are encouraged to submit. Materials and supporting media used to engage and inform should be included with the submission, if possible.

National Retirement Security Month (NRSM)

For plans that utilized this key NAGDCA platform to promote creative ideas and drive participant and plan results. NRSM is a dedicated time to focus on improving employee retirement outcomes. Plans may have utilized a universal campaign or their own custom campaign to promote NRSM.

Plans of all sizes are encouraged to submit a detailed nomination of the campaign and success metrics.

Communication materials and supporting media used to engage and inform should be included with the submission, if possible.

Participant Education & Communication

For plans that improved participant results with targeted multichannel messaging and/or education focused on topics other than holistic financial wellness. Plans making use of segmented content and research aimed at better serving the needs of diverse employees and participants are highly encouraged to submit a nomination in this category. Common award metrics include improved participation, increased contributions, appropriate asset allocation, successful plan asset retention, survey results, and more. (Both universal and custom campaigns are eligible.)

Multi-vendor plans may consider submitting nominations detailing a creative marketing campaign developed to educate employees about the complexities of the market and raise awareness of the important benefit.

Plans of all sizes, including those with limited administrative or vendor support, are encouraged to submit. Communication materials and supporting media used to engage and inform should be included with the submission, if possible.

Plan Design & Administration

For plans that augmented plan design to positively impact participants or to streamline administrative processes for staff. This category includes investment lineup enhancements. Did your plan develop an ESG policy or strategy? Did you evaluate and implement an in-plan annuity or retirement income option? If so, this is the category for your submission. In addition to investment enhancements, other topics featured in this category may include automatic enrollment, Roth, customer service, adoption of ancillary plans (401a, HRA, HSA), plan document governance, vendor consolidation, and more.

Technology & Cybersecurity

For plans that improved participants’ user experience through technological enhancements and/or demonstrated the ability to protect participant assets via fraud controls, cybersecurity policies, or other means. Common nominations in this category include website, mobile app, and online tool enhancements and communications campaigns aimed at protecting participants’ personal information. How did technology and/or cybersecurity improve your plan outcomes? This is the category to demonstrate those achievements.

Leadership Award Nominations