June 10, 2021 (NEW YORK) — CFA Society New York Vice Chair Thomas Brigandi, CFA, was honored by CFA Institute—as part of the 2021 Society Awards Programme—with the Volunteer of the Year award for the Americas region. Mr. Brigandi won the award for his tireless volunteer efforts in service of CFA Society New York and the CFA Society^® community globally.

Candidates for this year’s award were evaluated based on their embodiment of Society involvement; their ability to innovate while inspiring others to lead; and their standout achievements in developing future professionals, delivering member value, and building market integrity.

“This year’s pool of applicants and finalists represented a diverse and talented community, committed to furthering the work and mission of their Societies and of CFA Institute,” commented Randi Tolber, CFA, Managing Director for Global Society Relations at CFA Institute. “We are so pleased to recognize Tom’s energy and contributions at CFA Society New York. He has fostered member-driven content with reach and impact far beyond the New York market.”

“We are thrilled to have Tom’s contributions recognized by the CFA Institute,” said Deepika Sharma, CFA, Chair of the Board of Directors at CFA Society New York. “Tom is at the heart of many of our Society’s efforts and has been a highly visible and well-connected leader within the New York City investment community for nearly a decade. We are thankful for his leadership within the Society’s Board and within our Society’s membership.”

In volunteer capacities during the last twelve months, Mr. Brigandi:

• Served CFA Society New York’s Board as both Chair and Vice Chair. In those roles, Brigandi steered the Society through some of the greatest uncertainty it has faced in over a decade owing to the pandemic.
• Served the global CFA Society community by leading an international group of hundreds of investment professional volunteers that produced world class content to share with every CFA Society around the world. These nearly 50 virtual events featured speakers from many of the world’s largest asset owner, investment consultant, and institutional asset manager organizations by assets under management and assets under advisement, in addition to many national and supranational policymakers, central bank officials and think tank fellows.
• Continued to spearhead the Society’s premier series, the Asset Owner Series™ (AOS), which took a new virtual form in 2020 owing to the pandemic, AOS Virtual Keynotes. Brigandi’s volunteer team organized over 40 AOS Virtual Keynotes featuring C-Level asset owner representatives from sovereign wealth funds, family offices, pension funds, insurance companies, central bank reserve funds, investment consultant OCIOs, private banks, endowments and foundations responsible for overseeing many trillions of dollars in fiduciary institutional assets. These events were attended via livestream by over 4,000 CFA Society New York members, in addition to many more via recording. Since 2015, the nearly 100 in-person and livestreamed AOS and AOS Virtual Keynote events combined have featured over 400 asset owner and investment consultant speakers from organizations with over 75 trillion USD in assets under management and advisory at their time of speaking. The Asset Owner Series Virtual Keynotes are co-hosted by CFA Society New York with the CAIA Association and CFA Institute.
• Launched the Global Policymakers Series (GPS). The GPS features current and former policy makers, in addition to think tank fellows, discussing what to expect next in the regulatory, monetary and fiscal policy realms. Brigandi’s volunteer team organized the inaugural 4-day GPS Summit, which received over 1,800 virtual attendees and featured 50 influential current and former policy makers and think tank fellow speakers from organizations such as the European Commission, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Inter-American Development Bank, European Investment Bank, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Brookings, European Central Bank, United Nations, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Council on Foreign Relations, US National Economic Council, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Chatham House, the People’s Republic of China and the Former Prime Minister of Australia, Hon. Kevin Rudd, among others. CFA Institute and the Foreign Policy Association co-host the Global Policymakers Series with CFA Society New York.
• Organized co-hosted events between CFA Society New York and other CFA Societies across regions. Brigandi’s volunteer team led CFA Society New York’s efforts in co-hosting a major LatAm Asset Owner Summit featuring over 30 LatAm-focused institutional investor speakers, which attracted almost 600 viewers. The Summit was co-hosted in partnership with every CFA Society in Latin America, in addition to several CFA Societies in the Caribbean.
• Served as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the Macaulay Honors College at the City University of New York (CUNY) Foundation, navigating the foundation through fiscal challenges owing to the pandemic.
• Steered AOS Virtual Keynotes toward topics of diversity and inclusion. The two D&I focused AOS Virtual Keynote events that Brigandi’s volunteer team organized were attended by almost 300 CFA Society New York members interested in participating in this important dialogue. These events featured high-profile speakers such as the New York State Comptroller, in addition to the Chief Investment Officers of the State of New Jersey’s pension fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, among others.
• Brigandi was nominated and sponsored by his employer to become a Coro Leadership New York civic leadership training program participant, in addition to volunteering considerable time to mentor CUNY students from groups that are underrepresented in the financial services community. Additionally, Brigandi recently became an Advisory Board Member of the Singapore Economic Forum.

According to Geoffrey Glick, Executive Director of the Macaulay Honors College Foundation, “Tom Brigandi exemplifies the kind of civic-minded leaders who graduate from Macaulay Honors College. His acumen as a finance professional and his deep commitment to public higher education make him uniquely qualified to serve as Treasurer of the Macaulay Honors College Foundation Board. We are thrilled to see Tom’s tireless volunteer efforts with CFA Society New York recognized with CFA Institute’s 2021 Americas Volunteer of the Year award.”

Mr. Brigandi, who was also named CFA Institute’s Inaugural Global Outstanding Young Leader in 2017, looked outward at the news of receiving this highly competitive award. “I am deeply honored to receive this award. I will continue to do my best to facilitate a more diverse and inclusive financial services industry that includes more public higher education graduates from groups that are underrepresented in the industry, in addition to working hard to provide world-class educational and networking opportunities for current and future financial professionals in New York City and globally,” he said.

Sean Conaton, CFA Society New York’s interim CEO, added, “It is a great pleasure to work with Tom. He brings energy and creativity to the work of the Society, and inspires others to make their own contributions through the Society’s work and programs.”