For more than 20 years, the Alexander Hamilton Awards fromTreasury & Risk have recognized corporate treasury,finance, and risk management teams that have pursued innovation—andsucceeded wildly in that pursuit. Speaking with the professionalswho drove the award-winning initiatives is always an honor and alearning experience.

This year's winners in the Treasury Transformation categorytruly transformed their treasury functions.

• Bronze Award: OpenText rationalized its complex globalbanking structure, setting up three cash pools and positioning thebusiness for easier integration of future acquisitions.
• Silver Award: Avery Dennison rebuilt its European treasuryfunction, centralizing bank account management, intercompanylending, and FX risk management.
• Gold Award: Herc Rentals, in its divestiture from Hertz,spun up a fully functional treasury group to support abillion-dollar company in just six months.

These three initiatives have two key characteristics in common:a drive to streamline processes, and an emphasis on buildingcross-functional collaboration throughout thecompany. “For a project like ours, you need buy-in notjust from those inside treasury, but externally as well,” saysMustally Hussain, vice president and treasurer of Herc Rentals.“Getting that buy-in requires you to understand what people's needsare. Become a manager of their needs, and add value by connectingwith them cross-functionally across the value chain. If you can dothat, then treasury becomes important. If you don't do that,treasury becomes marginalized and just becomes a back-officeoperation.”