The 2023 Volunteer of the Year Winners Announced!

Our volunteering community are the driving force behind the Institute.

As a community of over 700 members, our volunteers bring invaluable expertise and dedicate their time to enhance our profession. In recognition and celebration of this incredible contribution, we host the Volunteer of the Year Awards. The selection panel was given the difficult task of selecting the winners from an amazing group of candidates, with each nomination demonstrating the passion and impact of volunteering.  After much deliberation, we are excited to announce our 2023 Volunteer of the Year Award winners!  

President’s Award

The President’s Award recognises an individual’s significant contribution to the Institute’s key strategic programs. They are also recognised for work in improving, promoting, and contributing to the positive reputation of the profession.

Karen Cutter

Karen has been an invaluable member of the Institute with 25+ years dedicated to volunteering. The working groups and committees she has been part of include the General Insurance Practice Committee and the organising committees of both Accident Compensation and General Insurance Seminars. Recently, Karen has been a driving force behind the COVID-19 Mortality Working Group.

Karen’s passion for sharing that group’s research has provided the profession and the general public with invaluable objective insights regarding the impact of the pandemic on mortality. Her significant contributions involve generating monthly COVID-19 mortality reports, ad hoc articles on other COVID-19 related topics, and building relationships with government bodies. She is regularly sought out for interviews across multiple mediums, keeping the Actuaries Institute front and centre, and has a strong Twitter output on the topic. Karen has significantly raised the profile of the actuarial profession and Institute and enhanced the reputation of both.

Distinguished Volunteer Award

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to members who have made outstanding contributions for more than five years and have been involved in two or more areas of volunteer activities.

Tim Jenkins

Tim has been volunteering with the Institute for many years, first becoming involved marking then setting the superannuation examinations in the early 1990s. He has been actively involved as an Institute volunteer since returning to Australia in 2008 after five years in New Zealand. In 2018, Tim began chairing the Superannuation Practice Committee and retained the chair role on its expansion in 2021 to include Wealth Management as the Superannuation and Investments Practice Committee (SIPC).

Under his leadership, the SIPC has promoted the role of actuaries in superannuation and investments in what are increasingly non-prescribed roles, and has become one of the most active Institute committees. Tim has also led the drafting of many Institute submissions over the past five years that have influenced legislative direction, leading to better superannuation outcomes for Australians.  

Brent Walker

Sadly, Brent passed away in late April 2023 but his impact on the actuarial community lives on. Brent was an early advocate for the roles of actuaries in health, particularly at a time when the actuarial profession was mainly focused on traditional areas. His drive for leveraging the profile of actuaries in health by challenging actuaries to start helping society manage the financial risk of long-term improvements to health and longevity was evident in various health papers.

In 1998, Brent began the Health Practice Committee (HPC) and again, his passion for the role of actuaries in health was undeniable as he continued to serve on this committee and various subcommittees until 2021. Although Brent’s primary focus was always with HPC, Brent also contributed to Actuaries Digital articles during COVID-19. Brent wasn’t afraid to push actuaries’ way of thinking by challenging the role of actuaries in shaping public discourse to drive better outcomes. 

Spirit of Volunteering Award

The Spirit of Volunteering Award acknowledges the efforts of someone who is committed to their role and passionate about helping others. Convenors are encouraged to nominate members of their committees for this award.

Gaurav Agrawal

Gaurav is a young and dynamic risk management professional who has been volunteering with the Institute for three years. Gaurav has been working tirelessly with the Risk Management Practice Committee (RMPC) to develop the RMPC Risk Register and contributed to the Institute Risk Register.

Gaurav has also supported the Young Actuaries in Risk, assisted in running Insight Sessions, contributed to the updated Risk Management Practice Guide and is a regular contributor to Actuaries Digital. Gaurav is also a member of the Institute’s University Accreditation Panel.

Fei Huang

For the past three years, Fei has contributed her passion and time as a volunteer to further raise the profile of actuaries outside of the profession.  

Her recent work with the Human Rights Commission is a great example of where Fei’s extensive involvement as a volunteer was highlighted through the drafting of a detailed guidance as well as contribution and representing the Institute at actuarial events and international forums.

Jason Yu

Over the past eight years, Jason has been an active volunteer that contributes in various committees, including the Risk Management Practice Committee and the Risk Management Education Sub-Committee.

Leading the Risk Management Education Faculty, Jason has supported the Institute’s Education Team in implementing the new ERM Fellowship course assisting in ensuring the subject material stays relevant to students’ learning objectives.

Jason was also an invaluable contributor to the All-Actuaries Summit, where he facilitated two sessions and shared meaningful insights that enhanced audience engagement.

Young Volunteer Achievement Award

The Young Volunteer Achievement Award identifies outstanding contributions made by members who are aged 35 years and under. Applications are judged on the nominee’s commitment to excellence in their chosen field of volunteering, leadership, and determination to advance the profession.

Ayeeda Akhand

Ayeeda is an active and enthusiastic volunteer for the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group (DIWG) and is committed to not only making a difference but adding further value to the work that actuaries do.  

Ayeeda is a regular contributor to Actuaries Digital as the DIWG editor and has contributed to articles on diversity and inclusion initiatives, including World Pride and International Women’s Day.  

In 2022, Ayeeda co-authored a paper to Council with recommendations to improve diversity within the profession and participated in an All-Actuaries Summit panel on the findings of the Diversity and Inclusion membership survey. As part of the TPD and Trauma Working Group, Ayeeda co-authored a paper to the Disability Insurance Taskforce on TPD and Trauma considerations. For the Institute’s Hackathon, Ayeeda designed a dashboard for Wesley Mission’s suicide prevention networks.  

Hanna Beatrix

Serving as the Secretary of the Climate and Sustainability Working Group (CSWG) for the past year, Hanna has brought enthusiasm and passion to the role despite having limited experience in climate and sustainability when she joined.

Through her position, Hanna has assisted the CSWG in hosting Insight Sessions, crafting Actuaries Digital articles and preparing publication papers.

Ean Chan

Before volunteering with the Young Data Analytics Working Group (YDAWG), Ean was part of the Life Insurance and Data Analytics Working Group. He is passionate about raising the profile of actuaries in the Data Science space, seeking opportunities to increase the capability and visibility of the profession where he can. In this pursuit, Ean presented a concurrent session at the 2019 Actuaries Summit, was on the Data Science Practice Committee (DSPC) panel at the 2021 Actuaries Summit, has been on the organising committee for the Young Actuaries Conference (YAC) and prepared data for use in the Data Science Applications (DSA) assignment.

In his role as a YDAWG volunteer, Ean has been a speaker on multiple Actuaries Institute podcasts and contributed to many great articles, including 2021’s most popular Actuaries Digital article, The Olympics by numbers – for people who love data and sports (but mainly data).  

He is an extremely valuable member of the team who always goes above and beyond to make a contribution. 

Outstanding Committee Award 

Presented to the ICA2023 Organising Committee, this award acknowledges the time, energy and commitment of our volunteers in delivering the best International Congress of Actuaries yet! By volunteering their time, energy and commitment, the committee has helped further raise the profile of the actuarial profession in Australia and worldwide. Find out more about our ICA2023 Organising Committee. 

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