Linda Stone is an expert in retirement security issues and has worked to improve retirement solutions within the structure of employer sponsored plans as well as through education and advocacy. Linda is the Senior Pension Fellow at the American Academy of Actuaries where she shapes and communicates the Academy?s work on pension, Social Security, and other retirement security issues to the public, policymakers, and the news media. She previously was a Managing Principal at an international Human Resource consulting firm where she specialized in working with companies on the design and financing of defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans. In her role as a WISER Fellow, she is a frequent conference speaker on issues facing women in retirement and the impact of divorce and widowhood on retirement security. As a volunteer on the Society of Actuaries Committee on Post-Retirement Needs and Risks, Linda has worked on projects, focus groups, surveys and reports concerning the decision to retire, retirement risks and financial literacy with a cross-functional group of public and private sector experts in the aging/financial planning/retirement arena. She graduated from St. Joseph?s University (SJU) with a degree in Mathematics and Economics.

Cindy Hounsell is the Founder and President of the Washington D.C. based Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 to improve opportunities for women to secure retirement income and to educate the public about the inequities that disadvantage women in retirement.

An attorney and retirement expert, Ms. Hounsell has been widely quoted in various media and publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes/PBS Next Avenue, Barrons, U.S. News and World Report, CNN, CNBC and NPR’s 1A, All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Marketplace.

Ms. Hounsell also serves as Director of the National Resource Center on Women and Retirement; the Center WISER operates in partnership with the U.S. Administration on Aging. Through the Center, Ms. Hounsell provides technical assistance to national organizations and trains leaders and grassroots advocates across the country.

 Ms. Hounsell has testified before Congress and has served as a delegate for a number of White House summits and conferences.  She has authored many chapters, columns, articles, op-eds, papers and booklets focused on women’s retirement issues.

In 2018, Ms. Hounsell was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Plan Sponsor Council of America. Ms. Hounsell was also named a 2015 Influencer in Aging by PBS- Next Avenue. The Influencers in Aging list highlights 50 thought leaders, researchers, experts, executives and everyday people who are redefining what it means to grow older in America. Ms. Hounsell was named by Women’s eNews as one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, and Money magazine named her one of its 40 Money Heroes for helping women secure their financial futures.

Dr. Laurel Beedon has spent her career working on retirement income policy as a researcher, writer, speaker, and educator. Dr. Beedon recently retired from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) where she was a Senior Analyst in the Education, Workforce, and Income Security Division. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at WISER. Among her GAO publications are studies on the provision of home and community-based services and how the Social Security Administration delivers information to its constituents. Her prior experience includes Senior Fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) where she led the Washington Internship program, and Senior Policy Adviser at the Public Policy Institute (PPI). At PPI she conducted research and published numerous reports and briefs on Social Security (Old Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance) and other retirement income sources with a focus on the aging and women’s communities. She came to PPI from the Social Security Administration’s Offices of Research and Statistics and Governmental Affairs. In addition to policy research, Dr. Beedon’s experience includes staff member of the American Indian Policy Committee for Senator James Abourezk and faculty member at the George Washington University.  She received her doctorate from Virginia Tech University.

Michelle Mai, MPH is the Senior Program Associate with the Center for Healthy Aging. She brings experience conducting outreach increasing public health education within the community. In this role with NCOA, she provides technical assistance to chronic disease self-management education and falls prevention grantees, striving to help them reach their grant goals as they implement evidence based programs into their community. Michelle received her Master’s degree in Public Health and Bachelor’s degree in Community Health from George Mason University.