Page 14 - DCAC September 2025 Files

San Mateo County —

NAGDCA Leadership Award Submission 2024

Participant Education and Communication

Plan Profile

• Types of plans offered: 401(a), 457(b), 401(a) OBRA, and 457(b) OBRA
• Total assets among all plans as of December 31, 2024: $860,840,272
• Total participants among all plans as of December 31, 2024: 24,453

• Recordkeeper is Empower; Consultant is Innovest

Background
San Mateo County (SMC) consistently prioritizes participant education and communication. Although historically
strong based on our 98% participation rate, the County recognized a need to elevate employee engagement

through targeted and sustained communication. Previous annual campaigns had limited sustained impact. To
address this, SMC designed a unique, year-long thematic communication strategy aimed at significantly improving
specific participant behaviors — such as account security, email registration, training engagement, investment
contributions, beneficiary designation, and asset retention.

Goals
The 2024 “Grow Your Retirement Garden” campaign was created to:
• Improve participant engagement through targeted, segmented, year-round messaging.
• Enhance account security and email registration and increase attendance at Empower education sessions.

• Boost personal contributions and encourage regular Empower representative meetings.
• Significantly increase the number of participants designating beneficiaries.

In Their Own Words

“This year-long approach didn’t just educate our employees — it empowered them, driving measurable improve-
ment across every key metric we set out to influence.”
— Kim Pearson, San Mateo County Plan Sponsor