Keynote and Plenary Speakers

Christopher J. Dodd
Former Senator

Former Sen. Chris Dodd, principal sponsor of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, will discuss the election and provide uniquely qualified insights on insurance and banking system oversight and health policy. While in the Senate, he served as chairperson of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs during the highly consequential period for financial services policymaking immediately following the late-2000s financial crisis. He served in the Senate for 30 years, where he authored or coauthored major legislation in the areas of health, financial services, education, foreign policy, and election reform.

W. Thomas Reeder Jr.
Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

Tom Reeder, director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), will provide perspectives on the strengths of and key challenges facing the PBGC, the agency that protects the pension benefits of more than 40 million Americans in private-sector pension plans. Before becoming PBGC director in October 2015, Reeder held positions in the Department of the Treasury and on the Senate Finance Committee staff, and practiced benefits law in the private sector.


Andy Slavitt, acting administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, oversees programs that provide access to quality health care for 140 million Americans, including Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace. During his plenary address, Slavitt will provide insights on the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid.