DEI Champion Award
Award Overview
The SOA recognizes members who demonstrate the commitment and support of the SOA towards DEI initiatives. This award is meant to distinguish and recognize individuals that are championing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the profession, which in turn, can inspire the behavior and actions of others.
Key Dates
| Call for Nominations | April 20, 2025 |
| Nominations Due | June 2, 2025 |
| Awardees Announced | November 2-5 (at the 2025 ImpACT Conference) |
Eligibility and Criteria
SOA DEI Champion Award nominees must:
- be a current SOA Member. Non-SOA Members are not eligible for nomination.
- have volunteered with the SOA in the last 18 months.
- be nominated for volunteer activities within the SOA ONLY – not The Actuarial Foundation.
- not be a current SOA Board Member.
- not be a previous DEI Award Champion recipient within the last five (5) years.
- not be a current member of the SOA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee or the SOA/CAS Joint Committee of Inclusion, Equity and Diversity (JCIED), or have been a member within the last year (12 months).
Key Criteria
When nominating a volunteer, consider the following activities and actions:
- Advocating for DEI practices, helping to develop appropriate DEI practices, resources, and tools within their committee or SOA volunteer opportunity.
- Raising awareness about challenges and opportunities related to DEI in the actuary field and/or area of expertise.
- Partnering with SOA volunteers to create an inclusive environment within a section, committee, and/or partner affinity organization.
- Assisting in recruiting volunteers to diversify an SOA section or committee.
- Championing topics or content that aids in generating diversity, equity, and inclusion within the SOA and/or actuarial field.
- Leadership of DEI-related initiative(s) and/or committee(s) within the SOA.
Nominations
Any SOA volunteer or staff member can nominate an individual who has volunteered. Nominations for this award are open from April 20, 2025 through June 2, 2025.
When nominating an individual, be prepared to answer the following questions about the nominee:
- Please describe the specific nature of the DEI volunteer work.
- Please describe how this volunteer has exceeded the duties and responsibilities of their role as it relates to DEI awareness, advocacy, practices, resources, or leadership.
- What DEI outcome or tangible benefit did the volunteer effort contribute to the SOA and its constituents? Please provide examples to explain.
- Please summarize why this nominee deserves the SOA DEI Champion Award.
- In one sentence, please provide a brief description of the volunteer activity this nominee is being nominated for (i.e. created a DEI mentorship program; developed and presented a one-day seminar on a DEI-specific issues of importance to the profession, encouraged and enabled a working group or conference session to have greater representation; etc.)
Selection and Recognition
All nominations will be forwarded to the Society of Actuaries’ Volunteer Awards Committee when you click on the Submit Button within the document. This committee is comprised of SOA volunteers from the Education, Research, Professional Development, International and Special Practice areas of the SOA. The team will review the submissions and select the annual Honorees.
Award recipients will be announced at the annual ImpACT Conference.
Contact
Any questions regarding this process can be directed to the Volunteer Engagement Team at volunteer@soa.org.