Actuarial Perspectives and Solutions for Strengthening the U.S. Retirement System
Speaker Biographies
Charles Blahous
J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Chair, Mercatus Center at George Mason University; Former Public Trustee, Social Security and Medicare
Charles Paul Blahous III, Ph.D., is the J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Chair and Senior Research Strategist at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. From 2010 to 2015 he served as one of two public trustees for the Social Security and Medicare programs. Blahous was deputy director of the National Economic Council under President George W. Bush from 2007 to 2009, previously serving from 2001 to 2007 as a special assistant to the President for Economic Policy. Prior to that, he served from 1996 to 2000 as policy director for Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire. Between 1989 and 1996, Blahous worked for Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming, first as a Congressional Science Fellow in 1989-1990, then as a legislative assistant from 1990-94 and as legislative director in 1994-1996. Blahous is the author of Decoding the Debates, Social Security: The Unfinished Work and Pension Wise. Blahous has published studies with the Mercatus Center on subjects including the federal budget costs of “Medicare for All,” the origins of federal deficits, Medicaid expansion, multiple aspects of Social Security, the fiscal ramifications of the Affordable Care Act, gerrymandering, the multiemployer pension solvency crisis, and other issues. He served from 2014-16 on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings and with the BPC as a shadow trustee monitoring the finances of Social Security and Medicare. Blahous holds a Ph.D. in computational quantum chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and an A.B. in chemistry from Princeton University.
Bruce Cadenhead, MAAA, EA, FCA, FSA
Incoming Vice President, Retirement Practice Council, American Academy of Actuaries
Bruce Cadenhead is the chief actuary for Mercer’s Global and US Wealth businesses. In this capacity he chairs Mercer’s Actuarial Resource Network, which provides guidance and interpretation to consultants within the firm on professional standards and actuarial issues and policies. He also chairs Mercer’s Global Actuarial Standards Committee, which coordinates actuarial practice globally. In his 39 years at Mercer, Cadenhead has had extensive experience consulting to employers and serving as a resource to Mercer actuaries on a wide variety of retirement-related topics. Cadenhead was elected Phi Beta Kappa at Harvard University, where he earned a B.A. in applied mathematics with honors. He recently completed a three-year term as chairperson of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Pension Committee and was nominated to assume the role of vice president, retirement.
Sam Conchuratt
Senior Policy Advisor, Senate Committee on Finance
Sam Conchuratt is a senior policy advisor on the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Minority Staff. He serves as Ranking Member Ron Wyden’s lead policy advisor on the Social Security (OASDI) programs, including the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Conchuratt received his Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan and Bachelor of Arts from Xavier University.
Gene Dodaro
U.S. Comptroller General
Gene L. Dodaro became the eighth Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on December 22, 2010, when he was confirmed by the United States Senate. He was nominated by President Obama in September of 2010 from a list of candidates selected by a bipartisan, bicameral congressional commission. He had been serving as acting comptroller general since March of 2008. In a GAO career dating back more than 50 years, Dodaro has testified before Congress dozens of times on important national issues, including the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government’s long term fiscal outlook, efforts to reduce and eliminate overlap and duplication across the federal government and GAO’s “High Risk List” that focuses on specific challenges—from reducing improper payments under Medicare and Medicaid to improving the Pentagon’s business practices. In addition, Dodaro continues to develop GAO’s efforts to meet the needs of Congress in such areas as science, technology and cybersecurity. As comptroller general, Dodaro helps oversee the development and issuance of hundreds of reports and testimonies each year to various committees and individual Members of Congress. These and other GAO products have led to hearings and legislation, billions of dollars in taxpayer savings, and improvements to a wide range of government programs and services.
Lee Gold, MAAA, ASA, EA, FCA
Chairperson, Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation Committee, American Academy of Actuaries
Lee Gold is a senior principal at Mercer and is the defined benefit segment leader for the Western US. He has been with Mercer for over 27 years and has over 37 years of employee benefit consulting experience. During his career, he has consulted with companies in various industries, including manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, and government contractors. Gold consults with employers regarding plan design and risk management strategies for their retirement programs. His passion for optimal plan designs has led to creative and innovative solutions for his clients, as well as numerous speaking engagements, primarily on the topic of market-based / risk-sharing pension plan designs. Gold is currently chairperson of the Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries and also serves on the Academy’s Defined Contribution Subcommittee of the Pension Committee.
Sam Gutterman, MAAA, FSA, FCAS, CERA, FCA, HonFIA
Chairperson, Social Security Committee, American Academy of Actuaries
Sam Gutterman is a retired consulting actuary, formerly with PricewaterhouseCoopers Chicago. He provided consulting services to life and non-life insurance companies around the world, primarily in the U.S., as well as to governmental departments and agencies. He has held a wide range of committee positions in the American Academy of Actuaries, Society of Actuaries (SOA), Casualty Actuarial Society, and the International Actuarial Association (IAA). He served as President of the SOA and as chair of the Insurance Accounting Committee of the IAA and vice-chair of the IAA’s Resource & Environment and Population Issues Working Groups. He served as chair of the Society of Actuaries’ Social Insurance Committee and currently serves as the chair of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Social Security Committee and the SOA’s Steering Committee on Catastrophe and Climate. He served on four Technical Panels on Social Security and Medicare, the first in 1988 and most recently in 2015, and has been a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance for several decades. He is the author of numerous actuarial papers and is a regular speaker at actuarial conferences around the world.
Ali Khawar
Founder/President, FCP, LLC
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
Ali Khawar recently concluded a distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Labor that spanned four Democratic and Republican Presidential Administrations. During the Biden Administration, he was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the agency responsible for overseeing the approximately four million retirement, health, and other job-based benefit plans that serve America’s workers, retirees, and their families. In that role, he led the agency’s policy and regulatory work, interagency collaborations, international engagements, and played a key role in strategic and organizational management issues. Ali had several different positions over his government career, including as an EBSA Investigator, EBSA’s Chief of Staff, and a Counselor to the Secretary of Labor. He was also a Bureau Member for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Working Party on Private Pensions and the Vice President of the International Organization of Pension Supervisors. More recently, he founded FCP, LLC, a company that offers strategic and benefits-related consulting, is a fellow at Workshop, and a non-resident scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Retirement Initiatives.
Grace Lattyak, MAAA, FSA, EA
Chairperson, Pension Committee, American Academy of Actuaries
Grace Lattyak is the chairperson of both the Pension Committee and Research Committee of the American Academy of Actuaries. Lattyak is a partner at Aon with over twenty years of experience in strategic retirement plan consulting. She is a member of Aon’s U.S. National Actuarial Resource Team with a focus on retirement policy, connections with external industry organizations, and education of Aon’s retirement actuaries. Lattyak received her B.S.B.A. degree in Actuarial Science from Drake University.
Spencer Look, MAAA, FSA
Vice Chairperson, Defined Contribution Subcommittee, American Academy of Actuaries
Spencer Look is an associate director for Morningstar’s Center for Retirement Studies. He conducts research across many topics but primarily focuses on U.S. household retirement-income adequacy and in-defined-contribution-plan annuities. Before joining Morningstar in 2022, Look held roles as a life actuarial manager and a life-cycle advice senior analyst, specializing in goals-based financial planning, lifetime asset allocation, and retirement income. He holds a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science and finance from Drake University in Des Moines.
Tonya Manning, MAAA, EA, FCA, FSA
Member, Pension Committee, American Academy of Actuaries
As the U.S. defined benefit practice leader and chief actuary at Gallagher, Tonya Manning oversees the practice’s talent, operations and strategic direction, and provides guidance regarding emerging trends, technical issues, professional standards, and policies and procedures. She is also a lecturer for Columbia University’s Master’s Program in Actuarial Science. In addition, she recently served on the U.S. Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (more commonly known as the ERISA Advisory Council) and is currently a member of the Fiduciary Committee for Wespath Benefits and Investments and the Actuarial Advisory Committee for the Railroad Retirement Board. Before joining Gallagher, Manning served as a policy actuary with the U.S. Department of Treasury. She has been fortunate to serve the actuarial profession in multiple roles, serving as a past president of the International Actuarial Association and the Society of Actuaries; supporting The Actuarial Foundation as a Trustee Emeritus; and volunteering with the American Academy of Actuaries and the Conference of Consulting Actuaries.
Richard Phillips
Pensions and Tax Policy Director, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Richard Philips leads Ranking Member Bernie Sanders’s pensions, tax, and broader economic policy work on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Before joining HELP, he served four years on the Senate Budget Committee overseeing tax and budget policy for then-Chair Sanders, and nine years at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a progressive tax policy think tank. A native of Frederick, MD, Richard has lived in Washington, DC since attending American University, where he earned a BA in Political Science and Masters in Public Policy.
Kathleen Romig
Director of Social Security and Disability Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Kathleen Romig is the director of Social Security and Disability Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. She works on Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, paid leave, and other budget issues. Romig previously worked at the Social Security Administration, Social Security Advisory Board, and Congressional Research Service. She began her career as a Presidential Management Fellow, during which time she completed an assignment at the Office of Management and Budget. Romig has a master’s degree in Social Policy from University College Cork, Ireland, where she was a George J. Mitchell Scholar, and a B.A. from Michigan State University’s James Madison College.
Jason Russell, MAAA, FSA, EA
Vice President of Retirement, American Academy of Actuaries
Jason Russell currently serves as the vice president of retirement for the American Academy of Actuaries and chairperson of the Retirement Practice Council. He has been an active volunteer with the Academy for many years, having served on the Board of Directors since 2020 and previously as the chairperson of the Multiemployer Plans Committee. Russell is employed by Segal, a national benefits consulting firm, where he is a senior vice president and east region retirement practice leader. He also serves on Segal’s Office of Chief Actuary. He has 24 years of actuarial and consulting experience, mainly working with multiemployer pension plans. He graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001.
Connie Rydberg, MAAA, EA, FSA
Vice Chairperson, Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation Committee, American Academy of Actuaries
Connie Rydberg is a retirement consultant and actuary with over 30 years of experience advising organizations across a wide range of industries and sizes. Her clients have included nonprofit institutions, healthcare systems, law firms, financial services companies, and transportation entities such as trucking and railroad organizations, where she is recognized for her ability to explain complex retirement and actuarial topics in clear, accessible terms. Previously a principal in the retirement practice of a large, global consulting firm, she now serves as a Senior Director at its successor organization. She currently serves as vice chairperson of the American Academy of Actuaries’ Retirement Policy and Design Evaluation (RPADE) Committee and as chairperson of the Retirement Board for the City of Falls Church, Virginia. She earned her undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College, graduating summa cum laude with dual majors in mathematics and chemistry.
Michael Sinacore
Pensions Policy Director, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Michael Sinacore is the pensions policy director for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Republicans under Chairman Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.). He previously served as the economic policy adviser for Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) where he led the legislative efforts to draft and pass the SECURE 2.0 Act. He has also worked for Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and for Representatives Dave Trott (R-Mich.) and Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) in their respective assignments to the House Financial Services Committee. Sinacore has also served as the deputy director for external affairs at the National Credit Union Administration. Prior to his government service, Sinacore worked at JPMorgan’s London Office. He holds a B.A. from Boston College and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Linda K. Stone, MAAA, FSA
Senior Retirement Fellow, American Academy of Actuaries
Linda Stone is the senior retirement fellow at the American Academy of Actuaries. She 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 on the individual level. Stone previously was a Managing Principal at an international Human Resource consulting firm where she specialized in working with companies to create and deliver innovative solutions to manage costs and risks with emphasis on the design and financing of defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans. She has a passion for women’s retirement issues and for helping women make prudent financial decisions. In her volunteer role as a Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) Fellow, she is a frequent conference speaker on issues facing women in retirement security and actions steps to address. She graduated from St. Joseph’s University (SJU) with a degree in Mathematics and Economics. She is a past board member of The Forum of Executive Women and was also a policy board of directors member of the American Benefits Council.