December 18, 2025
In October, the National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA) announced that the State of Michigan and Accenture received a NASCA 2025 Excellence Through Collaboration Award for their project, Transforming Retirement Services Through Human-Centered Design.
The initiative aimed to modernize the state’s retirement planning experience, creating a more accessible experience for state employees and retirees. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB) Office of Retirement Services (ORS) and Office of Continuous Improvement partnered with Accenture to embed a human-centered mindset, skillset, and toolset to achieve program goals.
The 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 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.”
The Excellence Through Collaboration Award recognizes corporate and noncorporate 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.
Upon nominating the project, DTMB emphasized the lasting impact of the collaborative effort.
“As an outcome of this initiative, the Office of Retirement Services 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 sees the value of user-centered thinking. Adopting a human-centered design mindset has reshaped how the Office of Retirement Services defines usability performance.”
“Grounded in user research, journey mapping, cocreation, and hands-on training, our human-centered design 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.
About NASCA
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.
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