Gonzaga University and MSU Denver Win 2025 Pensions & Investments Excellence & Innovation Awards

Amanda Berry, Executive Director of Total Rewards at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver), and Lisa Schwartzenburg, Vice President of Human Resources Operations at Gonzaga University, have been named winners of Pensions & Investments' 2025 Excellence & Innovation Award for their transformative approaches to retirement plan benefits.

The award, co-sponsored by Pensions & Investments (P&I) and the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA), celebrates defined contribution plan executives employing creative and innovative strategies to meaningfully improve outcomes for retirement plan participants. Berry and Schwartzenburg were honored at P&I’s 2025 Defined Contribution West Conference in Pasadena, California, on October 28.

MSU Denver: Creating a Social Security Replacement

Under Berry's leadership and in partnership with TIAA and Nuveen, MSU Denver undertook a comprehensive retirement plan transformation to address declining employee engagement, improve access to guaranteed lifetime income options and create a true Social Security replacement for its 1,260 participants who neither contribute to nor receive Social Security benefits.

To address these challenges, the university adopted the Nuveen Lifecycle Income CIT target date series as its default investment option, with embedded guaranteed lifetime income through TIAA's Secure Income Account (SIA). Over the course of the four-month implementation, MSU Denver achieved remarkable results, including:

• 122% surge in the number of employees on track for secure retirement, from 19% to 42%.
• 66% increase in employees meeting recommended contribution rates.
• 70% average reduction in investment fees.
• 100% of employees now meet the recommended allocation to guaranteed lifetime income.

"This recognition reflects MSU Denver's commitment to providing our employees with income they can't outlive in retirement," said Berry. "By embedding guaranteed lifetime income into our default investment, we've made it easier and more cost-effective for our employees to build a secure financial future. I'm grateful to our retirement committee and partners at TIAA and Nuveen for making this transformation possible."

Gonzaga University: Transforming Employee Engagement and Retirement Readiness

Under Schwartzenburg's leadership, in partnership with TIAA and CAPTRUST, TIAA RetirePlus, a custom target-date fund series with embedded guaranteed lifetime income through TIAA Traditional, built specifically for its participant demographics. The rollout to more than 2,700 employees included a full-plan reenrollment supported by comprehensive outreach and an extensive employee education campaign.

The transition, which aimed to increase employee engagement and improve access to lifetime income solutions, achieved strong results following its launch in early 2024, including:

• 21% improvement in participant retirement readiness, as measured by a proprietary TIAA metric.
• An increase from 24% to 94% of employees with guaranteed lifetime income.
• 81% reduction in accounts with missing beneficiary information.
• 90% opt-in rate to new default investment lineup, with zero complaints.

"Winning this award validates our belief that thoughtful plan design paired with exceptional communication can transform retirement outcomes,” said Schwartzenburg. “The results speak for themselves—nearly all of our employees now have guaranteed lifetime income protection. This achievement belongs to our entire team and our partners at TIAA and CAPTRUST who helped us execute a complex transition seamlessly."

The initiative also earned Schwartzenburg and her team PLANSPONSOR's 2025 Plan Sponsor of the Year Award, as well as a 2025 P&I Eddy Award for Plan Transitions in the Not-For-Profit category.

Setting a New Standard

"Both Amanda and Lisa have driven outstanding outcomes for their universities," said Jim Mullery, Head of the Institutional Relationship Management and Retirement Advice and Consulting teams at TIAA. “MSU Denver provides a critical blueprint for non-contributory institutions, while Gonzaga shows the power of combining innovative plan design with intentional and robust communication. These leaders demonstrate what's possible when plan sponsors prioritize improving access to guaranteed lifetime income. These solutions can truly transform workers’ future financial success.”

Read more about this year's winners here.

About TIAA

TIAA provides secure retirements and outcome-focused investment solutions to millions of people and thousands of institutions.ⁱ It paid more than $5.9 billion in lifetime income to retired clients in 2024ⁱⁱ and has $1.5 trillion in assets under management (as of 09/30/2025).ⁱⁱⁱ

About Gonzaga

Gonzaga University, established in Spokane, Wash. in 1887, is a nationally ranked liberal arts institution that educates students for lives of leadership and service for the common good. In keeping with its Catholic, Jesuit, and humanistic heritage and identity, Gonzaga models and expects excellence in academic and professional pursuits and intentionally develops the whole person – intellectually, spiritually, culturally, physically and emotionally. Gonzaga offers 16 undergraduate degrees through 53 majors, 68 minors and 73 concentrations; 23 master’s programs; and five doctorate degrees, through the College of Arts and Sciences and six schools: School of Business Administration, School of Education, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Health Sciences, School of Leadership Studies, and School of Law.

About MSU Denver

MSU Denver, Colorado’s only modified-open access university, empowers students of all ages and backgrounds with flexible learning programs and close faculty connections across six schools and colleges. Offering a range of bachelor’s and master’s degrees along with unique educational pathways, MSU Denver provides career-aligned, real-world experiences tailored to Colorado’s future workforce. MSU Denver provides 104 Undergraduate majors, 26 fully online undergraduate majors, 101 minors 10 graduate degree programs, 44 pre-K-12 licensure programs, and 300+ flexible career-aligned educational pathways.