Giant Killer Awards

In every industry, real progress doesn’t come from the biggest players.
It comes from the bold ones.

At the Ascend 2026 Summit, NextGen Benefits proudly introduces the Giant Killer Awards—a celebration of advisers, innovators, and partners who spent the last decade challenging the status quo of employer healthcare and delivering measurable results.

This isn’t about size.
It’s about impact.

What the Giant Killer Awards Represent

The Giant Killer Awards honor those who, over the past ten years, have done more than talk about change. They executed it.

Recipients represent professionals who have:

• Turned strategy into action and outcomes
• Helped employers control costs while improving care
• Won meaningful mid-market and enterprise accounts through confidence and clarity
• Elevated C-suite conversations by focusing on results—not jargon
• Proven that innovation, transparency, and accountability outperform legacy approaches

These are the leaders who didn’t wait for permission. They built better systems—and delivered better results.

Why Ascend Is the Home for the Giant Killers

Ascend was never designed as a passive, educational conference. From day one, it has been a summit for doers—advisers who turn insight into execution.

The Giant Killer Awards reflect the same philosophy that defines Ascend itself:

• Knowledge matters—but action wins
• Strategy matters—but implementation changes outcomes
• Vision matters—but results are what employers remember
  
  

Ascend brings together the professionals who don’t just discuss fixing healthcare—they actually do it.

Decade One: A Milestone Worth Celebrating

Ten years ago, a new generation of benefits advisers began questioning assumptions that had gone unchallenged for decades. They challenged rising costs, opaque systems, and misaligned incentives—and delivered alternatives that worked.

The Giant Killer Awards celebrate that decade-one impact:

• The employers empowered
• The employees helped
• The systems improved
• The measurable outcomes delivered

This recognition isn’t about looking backward. It’s about acknowledging momentum—and setting the tone for the next decade.

More Than an Award — A Statement

Receiving a Giant Killer Award is more than recognition. It’s a statement.

That meaningful change doesn’t require scale—it requires conviction.
That progress isn’t inherited—it’s earned.
The future of benefits advisory belongs to those who execute.

These award recipients represent where the industry is going next.

Join the Celebration at Ascend 2026

The Giant Killer Awards will be presented live at Ascend 2026, alongside the industry’s most action-oriented advisers, partners, and thought leaders.

Whether you’re being recognized or inspired, this is a moment to celebrate what happens when insight turns into execution—and execution turns into results.

Ascend 2026
Celebrate decade-one impact.
Build the next decade.

Learn more and register at AttendAscend.com