NIRS Hosts 16th Annual retirement Policy conference in Washington, D.c.
The National Institute on Retirement Security will hold 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 will kick off on Monday, March 3, 2025, with an opening reception, and will continue on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, with a full day of keynotes and panels.
Again this year, the conference will engage 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 is exclusive to NIRS members and special invited guests. If you’re not yet a member, we invite you to learn about NIRS membership.
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 Keynote | Ken Dychtwald, PhD, Founder and CEO, Age Wave
9:45 AM Networking Break
10:00 AM Keynote | Carl Tannenbaum, Chief Economist, Northern Trust
11:00 AM Panel Discussion | Social Security at 90
> 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 Discussion | Financial Markets & Public Pension Investing
> 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 Discussion | Closing the Retirement Savings Gap
> 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