NIRS Hosts 16th Annual retirement Policy conference in Washington, D.c.
The National Institute on Retirement Security held its 16th Annual Retirement Policy Conference, “Choices, Challenges, and Opportunities | Strengthening Our Retirement Infrastructure.” at the Park Hyatt in Washington, D.C.
The exclusive members-only event kicked off on Monday, March 3, 2025, with an opening reception, and continued on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, with a full day of insightful keynotes and panels.
The conference engaged leading retirement policy experts from across the country in a series of conversations about how to strengthen the nation’s retirement infrastructure so that every American has adequate income to be self-reliant in retirement.
As always, attendance at the conference was exclusive to NIRS members and special invited guests. If you’re not yet a member and interested in future conferences, we invite you to learn about NIRS membership.
Below is the conference agenda, along with selected conference presentations. Download Conference Program
Conference Agenda
Monday, March 3, 2025
5:30 PM Opening Reception
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
8:00 AM Breakfast
8:30 AM Welcome | Michael Hairston, NIRS Chair
8:45 AM Ken Dychtwald, Age Wave CEO | Keynote Slides
9:45 AM Networking Break
10:00 AM Carl Tannenbaum, Northern Trust Chief Economist | Keynote Slides
11:00 AM Panel | Social Security at 90 | Panel Slides
> Joel Eskovitz, Senior Director, Social Security and Savings, AARP Public Policy Institute
> Tracey Gronniger, Managing Director, Economic Security, Justice in Aging
> Chantel Sheaks, Vice President, Retirement Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
> Moderator: Rebecca Vallas, Chief Executive Officer, National Academy of Social Insurance
12:00 PM Networking Lunch
1:00 PM Keynote Conversation | The Second Fifty
> Debra Whitman, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Public Policy Officer
> Kerry Hannon, Yahoo Finance Columnist
1:30 PM Panel | Financial Markets & Public Pension Investing | Panel Slides
> Robert Crothers, Managing Director & Head of U.S. Retirement, BlackRock
> Angela Miller-May, Chief Investment Officer, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund
> John Sullivan, Associate Partner, Asset-Liability Management, Aon
> Moderator: Tyler Bond, Research Director, National Institute on Retirement Security
2:20 PM Panel | Closing the Retirement Savings Gap | Panel Slides
> Joelle Saad-Lessler, Industry Professor & Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Business, Stevens Institute of Technology
> John Scott, Retirement Savings Project Director, The Pew Charitable Trusts
> Lilach Frenkel, Director, Product Innovation, CAAT Pension Plan
> Moderator: Dan Doonan, Executive Director, National Institute on Retirement Security
3:10 PM Panel Discussion | Retirement Plans & the Public Workforce
> Gerald Young, Senior Researcher, MissionSquare Research Institute
> Kelly Dobson, President, Jacksonville Association of Firefighters
> Jon Buske, Public Safety Division Liaison, Michigan State Employees Association
> Moderator: Joshua Franzel, Senior Executive and Director of Research & Data Analysis, National League of Cities
4:00 PM Closing | Dan Doonan, NIRS Executive Director