Spotlight & Awards
Learn how the SOA recognizes leaders in championing community involvement for positive purpose.
Awards
Spotlight Societal Purpose Award
The SOA Spotlight Societal Purpose Awards recognize the extraordinary contributions of candidates, members, affiliates, and employers who are leaders in championing community involvement for positive purpose.
- The Member Spotlight Societal Purpose Award recognizes the contributions of individual SOA members for their community efforts.
- The Affiliate Spotlight Societal Purpose Award recognizes the contributions of Affiliate members for their community efforts.
- The Employer Spotlight Societal Purpose Award recognizes employers of SOA members who organize community efforts.
2024 Spotlight Societal Purpose Award Recipients
2024 Member Spotlight Societal Purpose Award
Ken Beckman, ASA, ACAS, MAAA
Ken supports the needs of his local community that are not served by the traditional healthcare system through his non-profit organization, Lifestyle Health Alliance. In this role, he educates the public on how lifestyle choices can enhance traditional healthcare treatment. He has had documented success, all without seeking recognition for himself.
Mike McLaughlin, FSA, CERA, FIA, MAAA
Mike is a founder of the Trees That Feed Foundation, an organization that plants breadfruit trees to combat food insecurity. Mike's background as a life actuary has been impactful in the study of tree mortality and also in projecting tree planting and survival success rates in regions of interest. Mike was chosen because of the ongoing nature of this food insecurity initiative and because of his leadership skills fostering the organization to accomplish its mission.
Nazir Valani, FSA, FCIA, MAAA
Nazir's background as a founder of two major actuarial consulting firms has served his efforts to assist vulnerable communities via relationships with organizations that can assist in the effort, as well as in recognizing societal needs. Nazir was chosen for this award because of his lifetime commitment to work in areas of community throughout his actuarial career and for doing so in a way that has had a documented positive impact.
2024 Employer Spotlight Societal Purpose Award
BADRI Management Consultancy
BADRI is an actuarial firm which operates in several countries in the Middle East region, offering assistance to students to enter the profession, as well as having management staff who volunteer in various actuarial organizational roles. BADRI was chosen because they are helping to advance the actuarial profession as a career choice in this region, which is valuable, since other talented young entrants may otherwise choose other career paths.
For 2025, we’ll be seeking to reach an even broader pool of member and employer nominations by leveraging the interactions with 2024 award winners and hearing their stories. The 2025 Spotlight Societal Purpose Award call for nominations is planned for April 2025.