A private American university. The largest integrated, not-for-profit medical group practice in the world. The second-largest electricity company in the world. What do these disparate organizations have in common? They are finalists for Compliance Program of the Year in Compliance Week’s 2026 Excellence in Compliance Awards. With innovations in third-party risk management and sustainability, and in embedding a compliance-first culture, the compliance programs at all three showcased how compliance can be game-changing.

Without further ado, and in alphabetical order, are the three finalists for Compliance Program of the Year for the 2026 Excellence in Compliance Awards.

  • Iberdrola: Headquartered in Bilbao, Spain, Iberdrola is Europe’s largest electricity company, and the second largest worldwide, supplying electricity to more than 100 million people.

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Excerpt from its nomination: ”Iberdrola has evolved its compliance model to become an international benchmark, built on four strategic pillars,” which are Innovation and digitalization, sustainability, employee focus, and excellence.

  • Mayo Clinic: With a hospital and clinic in Rochester, Minn., with additional locations in Florida, Arizona and the U.K., Mayo Clinic is the largest integrated, not-for-profit medical group practice in the world. 

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Excerpt from its nomination: ”One of the (third party risk management) program’s most significant accomplishments this year has been its leadership in designing and implementing a unified risk intake model. Scheduled to launch in mid‑2026, this consolidated intake system replaces fragmented, multi‑entry workflows with a single, standardized gateway for all third‑party, internally developed, and open‑source solutions.”

  • University of Southern California: Based in Los Angeles, USC is an innovative private research university with 46,000 total students in undergraduate and graduate programs.

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Excerpt from its nomination: “…the University of Southern California (USC) has emerged as a leader in embracing a new model of governance and compliance. In recent years, USC has fundamentally rebuilt its compliance program—not as a collection of policies, but as an institutional culture of compliance involving reorganization of its people and practices, supported by an enterprise-wide, digitally-empowered infrastructure.”

Leadership from Compliance Week and its sister organization, the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI), judged dozens of nominations for Compliance Program of the Year submitted by colleagues, friends, students, and others who know the organizations and were able to best articulate their accomplishments.

Of these three finalists, one will be named Compliance Program of the Year for the 2026 Excellence in Compliance Awards, at Compliance Week’s National Conference, to be held May 6-8 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Now in their seventh year, CW’s Excellence in Compliance Awards annually honor the brightest minds, biggest innovations, and crowning achievements in compliance.

At the reception on the evening of May 7, Compliance Week will also hand out awards to Joe Murphy for Lifetime Achievement in Compliance; CCO of the Year, Compliance Mentor of the Year, Compliance Innovator of the Year, and Rising Star in Compliance. 

Finalists for those awards will be named later this week.

Congratulations to all three finalists!

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