NASCA Press Release: Accenture and the State of Michigan Announced as 2025 Excellence Through Collaboration Award Recipients
For Immediate Release
October 27, 2025
Contact: Elizabeth Whitehouse, Executive Director, executivedirector@nasca.org
NASCA Press Release: Accenture and the State of Michigan Announced as 2025 Excellence Through Collaboration Award Recipients
Lansing, MI — The National Association of State Chief Administrators is proud to announce Accenture and the State of Michigan as recipients of the NASCA 2025 Excellence Through Collaboration Award for their project, Transforming Retirement Services Through Human Centered Design (HCD).
The Excellence Through Collaboration Award recognizes corporate and non-corporate partner companies that have partnered with a state to implement a program, project, or service that positively impacts the state. The award seeks to highlight cross-sector collaboration that advances the efficiency and effectiveness of state government operations.
The State of Michigan and Accenture’s Transforming Retirement Services Through Human Centered Design (HCD) initiative modernized the state’s retirement planning experience, creating a more accessible experience for Michigan’s public employees and retirees. Two offices of the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB) – the Office of Retirement Services (ORS) and the Office of Continuous Improvement (OCI) – partnered with Accenture to embed a human-centered mindset, skillset, and toolset across ORS.
This project shifted Michigan’s retirement systems from a strictly transactional process to one rooted in user experience, trust, and accessibility. The collaboration redesigned the PickMIPlan.org platform, simplified digital access between the ORS and Voya Financial, and established outreach to employees, underserved groups, retiree associations, union partners, and employers.
“This partnership between Accenture and the State of Michigan is a textbook example of the excellence that can be achieved when public and private sectors work hand in hand,” said NASCA Executive Director Elizabeth Whitehouse. “Their collaboration has reimagined a critical public service, making retirement planning more accessible, human-centered, and sustainable for generations to come. NASCA is proud to present the 2025 Excellence Through Collaboration Award to Accenture and the State of Michigan for setting a new standard for innovative partnership.”
Upon nominating the project, the Michigan DTMB emphasized the lasting impact of this collaboration.
“As an outcome of this initiative, ORS has realized an internal culture shift focused on a customer-first approach. Our team increasingly connects their daily work to the agency’s larger mission and see the value of user-centered thinking. Adopting an HCD mindset has reshaped how ORS defines usability performance.”
The DTMB continued, “Grounded in user research, journey mapping, co-creation, and hands-on training, our HCD methodology provides a blueprint to transform complex public services into simple, accessible, trusted and intuitive user experiences that is scalable no matter the size of the project.”
Through cross-sector collaboration and a shared commitment to service, both the State of Michigan and Accenture successfully modernized retirement services by embedding a people-centered approach into state functions, leveraging digital platforms to streamline processes, and creating lasting change that extends beyond technology. The success of their user-centered thinking approach exemplifies the impact recognized by the NASCA Excellence Through Collaboration Award.
Founded in 1976, NASCA is the nation’s only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization serving chief administrative officers or CAOs. NASCA provides a forum for state chief administrative officers to exchange information and learn new ideas from each other and private sector partners. NASCA engages states in transforming government operations through shared knowledge, operational excellence, and thought leadership.
For more information on NASCA, please visit NASCA.org.
