Introduction At the Board of Directors meeting on November 5, 2025, the Board unanimously agreed to create a new award for members who demonstrate extreme perseverance and resilience in the accomplishment of a physically challenging goal. The fact that a few of our colleagues manage to combine those traits in this post-retirement phase of their life is worthy of recognition by the 1818 Society.
What is SISU? Sisu is a Finnish word for a personality trait or philosophy that combines inner strength, perseverance and a can-do attitude towards adversity. It requires a high degree of stoicism that motivates people toward remarkable achievements that many of us might consider beyond our capacity, indeed unthinkable.
Selection criteria: The award shall be granted from time to time to a retiree member of the 1818 Society
- who accomplishes a unique personal and physical goal achieved through outstanding perseverance and resilience;
- whose achievement is motivated by personal drive and commitment;
- for accomplishing a unique goal that involves sustained effort over a long period of time to plan, prepare and execute;
- who has achieved, or completed the goal after retirement.
In future years, any member may submit nominations to the Board, which will be reviewed by a SISU Awards Committee. Nominations that are unanimously approved by the Committee will receive the award at the next Annual Meeting.
Sisu Award Recipients in 2025:
Christopher R. Bennett: for setting an Around-the-World Cycling Record riding his bicycle 29,101 km in under 130 days, at an an average of 232 km/day. He was 66 years and 5 days old when he accomplished his feat. Chris has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records for being the oldest person to achieve this record. Read more about his trip on Chris’ blogpost.
Chris joined the Bank as senior transport specialist working initially on China, then in the Caucasus in ECA for a few years before moving as local staff to Sydney to work on the Pacific Islands. He retired early after receiving a traumatic brain injury in a bicycle crash. He lives in Golden Bay, New Zealand where he owns a bicycle shop and is active in multiple voluntary activities.
Diana Corbin: for achieving the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. The triple crown consists of three specific marathon swims completed in any order:
- Catalina Channel, 20 miles between Santa Catalina Island and the California mainland, governed by Catalina Channel Swimming Federation (August 2013)
- 20 Bridges Swim, 28.5-mile circumnavigation of Manhattan Island in New York City, governed by New York Open Water (July 2019)
- English Channel, 21 miles between England and France, governed by Channel Swimming and Piloting Federation (August 2019)
Read her blogpost to find out more.
Diana worked in OED for six years and then moved to Trust Funds Quality and Compliance, spending her last 11 years in managing trust funds for the extractives sector. She left the World Bank in 2019, just months before completing her last two marathon swims.
She moved to California in December of 2019, just before the pandemic. Since then, she has focused on volunteer activities and consulting for nonprofit fundraising.
