Women in Pensions Awards 2025 – The winners!

Talented women are celebrated for their achievements across the pensions industry

Professional Pensions
clock • 2 min read
Women in Pensions Awards 2025 – The winners!

Here they are… the winners of the Professional Pensions Women in Pensions Awards 2025.

The Women in Pensions Awards aim to shine a spotlight on the work of inspirational women in the pensions sector, along with the mentors and organisations supporting them.

Our winners were announced last night (12 November) at a gala dinner at The Brewery in London.

There was an exceptional response to these awards this year with a huge number of submissions to the Professional Pensions judging panel.

In choosing this year's winners, judges took into account achievements in the workplace/role, evidence of contributions to support and inspire women, and the overall quality of the submission.

You can view photos from the evening here.

The full list of winners for 2025 is as follows:


Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner: Helen Dean

 

Pensions Woman of the Year

Winner: Donna Walsh (Standard Life)

 

Pensions Manager of the Year

Winner: Jayne Pocock (Clara Pensions)

 

Trustee of the Year

Winner: Rebecca Wood (Vidett)

 

Adviser of the Year

Winner: Lara Desay (Hymans Robertson)

Highly Commended: Nikki Browning (Barnett Waddingham)

 

Lawyer of the Year

Winner: Anna Rogers (Arc Pensions Law)

 

Sales/Marketing/Communications Professional of the Year

Winner: Cali Sullivan (Pensions UK)

 

Administrator of the Year

Winner: Kristy Cotton (PwC)

Highly Commended: Joanne Reeve (Pensions Protection Fund)

 

Investment Manager of the Year

Winner: Tamsin Coleman (Mercer)

 

Young Achiever of the Year

Winner: Lauren Branney (Hymans Robertson)

Highly Commended: Charlotte Bowe (Railpen)

 

Newcomer of the Year

Winner: Claire Kirwan (Hymans Robertson)

 

Innovator of the Year

Winner: Katrina Martland (The Pensions Regulator)

 

Mentor of the Year

Winner: Joanne Coan (Legal & General)

 

Team Leader of the Year

Winner: Olasumbo Biobaku-Mason (Legal & General)

Highly Commended: Jasbinder Sidhu (People's Partnership)

 

LGBTQI+ Trailblazer Award

Winner: Claire Kennedy (Mercer)

 

Unsung Hero Award

Winner: Shayala McRae (LCP)

 

Sustainability/ESG Woman of the Year

Winner: Lauren Juliff (Storebrand Asset Management)

 

Organisational Award for Supporting Diversity

Winner: Sackers

More on Industry

FRC issues updated actuarial standard to support expansion of CDC

FRC issues updated actuarial standard to support expansion of CDC

Standard will be effective for technical actuarial work completed on or after 31 July

Holly Roach
clock 10 July 2026 • 1 min read
Professional Pensions: Stories of the week

Professional Pensions: Stories of the week

PPF annual report, VLK DB research, Nest pay gap report

Professional Pensions
clock 10 July 2026 • 1 min read
PPF: Beating benchmarks, AI caution and understanding surplus extraction

PPF: Beating benchmarks, AI caution and understanding surplus extraction

Acting CEO Richard Beaven says the lifeboat fund ‘beat our benchmarks once again’

Holly Roach
clock 10 July 2026 • 5 min read
Trustpilot