Gonzaga University Wins PLANSPONSOR's 2025 Plan Sponsor of the Year Award

Recognition Highlights Gonzaga's Retirement Plan Innovation and Lifetime Income Commitment, in Partnership with TIAA and CAPTRUST

NEW YORK, June 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- PLANSPONSOR has named Lisa Schwartzenburg, Vice President of Human Resources Operations, and the Gonzaga University team, a 2025 Plan Sponsor of the Year in the nonprofit defined contribution with more than $200M in assets category. The award honors retirement plan sponsors who demonstrate exceptional leadership and deliver measurable improvements in retirement outcomes for their employees. The winners were announced at the 2025 PLANSPONSOR National Conference on June 4.

Under Schwartzenburg's leadership and in partnership with TIAA and CAPTRUST, Gonzaga undertook a sweeping retirement plan transformation to increase participant engagement among its workforce of more than 2,700 employees. In an effort to ensure more employees have access to long-term retirement security, the university implemented TIAA RetirePlus to deliver a custom target-date fund series built specific to Gonzaga's participant demographics with embedded guaranteed lifetime income¹ through TIAA Traditional, TIAA's flagship fixed annuity. The transition also included a full-plan reenrollment supported by a comprehensive outreach program and robust employee education campaign.

The results of the implementation were staggering. Following the launch in early February 2024:

• There was a 21% increase in participant retirement readiness, as measured by a proprietary TIAA metric that evaluates how well participants are taking advantage of their retirement plan benefits.
• The percentage of employees protecting their retirements with guaranteed lifetime income by contributing to TIAA Traditional rose from 24% to 94%.
• There was an 81% reduction in the number of accounts with missing beneficiary information, meaning more employees had engaged or reengaged with their plans.
• The university saw a 90% opt-in rate to the new default investment lineup. Zero employees registered complaints with Gonzaga's HR team regarding the plan transition.

"This recognition reflects Gonzaga's mission-driven commitment to the end-to-end well-being of our workforce," said Schwartzenburg. "Helping our employees build a secure retirement and bolster their financial wellness are some of the most impactful ways we can support them not only as employees, but as people. I'm deeply grateful to our HR team, Retirement Committee and partners at TIAA and CAPTRUST for helping bring this vision to life."

"Lisa's leadership has been nothing short of transformative," said Jim Mullery, Head of Institutional Relationship Management at TIAA. "Lisa and her team's embrace of bold changes, commitment to ensuring employees have access to lifetime income, and ability to deliver outcomes will set a new standard in higher education retirement plans."

PLANSPONSOR's Plan Sponsor of the Year awards celebrate the individuals and organizations demonstrating a steadfast commitment to participants' financial health and retirement success. Schwartzenburg's and Gonzaga's recognition spotlights what's possible through change management, thoughtful plan design, impactful partnership, clear communication and education, and a dedication to ensuring employees' financial futures are secure.

Read more about Schwartzenburg and the other winners at https://www.plansponsor.com/2025-plansponsor-of-the-year-award-winners-named/.

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 $1.4 trillion in assets under management (as of 03/31/2025).ⁱⁱⁱ

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­­­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. 

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This material is for informational or educational purposes only and is not fiduciary investment advice, or a securities, investment strategy, or insurance product recommendation. This material does not consider an individual's own objectives or circumstances which should be the basis of any investment decision.

TIAA Traditional is issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), New York, NY. 

Any guarantees under annuities issued by TIAA are subject to TIAA's claims-paying ability.

No registration under the Investment Company Act, the Securities Act or state securities laws—the model is not a mutual fund or other type of security and will not be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and no units or shares of the model will be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, nor will they be registered with any state securities regulator. Accordingly, the model is not subject to compliance with the requirements of such acts, nor may plan participants investing in underlying investments based on the model avail themselves of the protections thereunder, except to the extent that one or more underlying investments or interests therein are registered under such acts.

No guarantee – Neither the models nor any investment made pursuant to the models are deposits of, or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by TIAA or their affiliates (except with respect to certain annuities sponsored by TIAA or its affiliates), or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or any other agency. There is no guarantee that the underlying investments will provide adequate income at and through retirement and participants may experience losses. Participants should not allocate their retirement savings to the underlying investments unless they can readily bear the consequences of such loss.

Assets allocated to the underlying investments based on the model will be invested in underlying mutual funds and annuities that are permissible investments under the plan. Some or all of the underlying investments included in the model may be sponsored or managed by TIAA or its affiliates and pay fees to TIAA and its affiliates. In general, the value of a model-based account will fluctuate based on the performance of the underlying investments in which the account invests. For a detailed discussion of the risks applicable to an underlying investment, please see the prospectus or disclosure document for such underlying investment.

TIAA RetirePlus Select® and TIAA RetirePlus Pro® are administered by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America ("TIAA") as plan recordkeeper. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, Member FINRA and SIPC distributes securities products. SIPC only protects customers' securities and cash held in brokerage accounts. TIAA and CREF annuity contracts and certificates are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), New York, NY, respectively. Each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations. Transactions in the underlying investments invested in based on the models on behalf of the plan participants are executed through TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC.

Annuity contracts may contain terms for keeping them in force. We can provide you with costs and complete details.

TIAA Traditional is a fixed annuity issued by TIAA, New York, NY: Form series including but not limited to: 1000.24; G-1000.4; IGRS-01-84-ACC; IGRSP-01-84-ACC; 6008.8.

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