HARRISBURG, PA – The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) earned a second national honor for its personalized communications approach that helps Defined Contribution (DC) Plan members better understand their evolving retirement needs.
Members of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) selected PSERS from among the association’s Leadership Award finalists to receive the 2026 Members’ Choice Award for its life-cycle-based approach to communication and engagement. NAGDCA first recognized PSERS’ work with a Leadership Award in July.
The Members’ Choice Award recognizes an outstanding project, program, or campaign that demonstrates innovation and excellence in public-sector defined contribution plan administration.
“Receiving this recognition from our peers demonstrates the value of providing members with information that reflects where they are in their retirement journey,” said PSERS Executive Director Uri Monson. “We are committed to partnering with our members and giving them the tools needed to make informed decisions about their retirements.”
PSERS created educational tracks to enable specific, targeted messaging based on members’ tenure in the DC Plan and their level of engagement. The groups include new participants, members in their second and third years, members with four or more years in the plan, highly engaged members, and retired or former employees. Monthly emails to each group build upon themes from previous months, and the themes become more advanced as members move through different groups.
“Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach to our member communications, we tailored our outreach to reflect where members are in their careers,” said Jennifer Mills, PSERS Deputy Executive Director and Director of Defined Contribution Investments. “The growth in online engagement shows this approach is connecting our members with useful resources. As the DC Plan grows, we will continue to refine our communications to keep members engaged and informed.”
Results show PSERS’ approach is working. Compared to the same period before the targeted messaging, PSERS saw a 27% increase in unique mobile app usage and a 15% increase in unique member website usage in 2025.
PSERS also sent more than 1.3 million financial wellness emails to DC Plan members in 2025. The campaign achieved a 49% email open rate and a 6% click-through rate, both exceeding industry benchmarks for financial services organizations and government retirement plans.
Visit NAGDCA’s website to learn more about the 2026 Members’ Choice Award and PSERS’ winning initiative.
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About the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System
PSERS, founded in 1917, began operations in 1919 to oversee a statewide defined benefit pension plan for public school employees. PSERS' role expanded upon the passage of Act 5 of 2017 to include oversight of two new benefit options consisting of defined benefit and defined contribution (DC) components and a stand-alone DC plan. As of June 30, 2025, PSERS had a total net position of about $83.7 billion and a membership of about 262,000 active, 255,000 annuitants and beneficiaries, and 26,000 vested inactive members.