December 14th: Featured Speakers

Andrew G. Biggs is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies Social Security reform, state and local government pensions, and public sector pay and benefits.

Before joining AEI, Biggs was the principal deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), where he oversaw SSA’s policy research efforts. In 2005, as an associate director of the White House National Economic Council, he worked on Social Security reform. In 2001, he joined the staff of the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security. Biggs has been interviewed on radio and television as an expert on retirement issues and on public vs. private sector compensation. He has published widely in academic publications as well as in daily newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He has also testified before Congress on numerous occasions. In 2013, the Society of Actuaries appointed Biggs co-vice chair of a blue ribbon panel tasked with analyzing the causes of underfunding in public pension plans and how governments can securely fund plans in the future. In 2014, Institutional Investor Magazine named him one of the 40 most influential people in the retirement world. In 2016, he was appointed by President Obama to be a member of the financial control board overseeing reforms to Puerto Rico’s budget and the restructuring of the island’s debts.

Biggs holds a bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, master’s degrees from Cambridge University and the University of London, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

A lifelong Ohioan, Senator Sherrod Brown has spent his career figh8ng for the Dignity of Work – the idea that hard work should pay off for everyone, no matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of work you do. He has held nearly 500 roundtables across Ohio, because he believes the best ideas don’t come out of Washington – they come from conversa8ons with Ohioans. Senator Brown serves as Ranking Member on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs CommiBee. He also serves on the Finance CommiBee, the Agriculture CommiBee, and is the longest serving Ohioan on the Veterans’ Affairs CommiBee. Sherrod was born and raised in Mansfield, Ohio, where he earned his Eagle Scout award and spent summers working on his family’s farm. He is married to author and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Connie Schultz. They live in Cleveland, Ohio, with their rescue dogs, Franklin and Walter, drive Jeeps made by union workers in Toledo, and have three daughters, a son, a daughter-in-law, three sons-in-law, and seven grandchildren.

Rob Chess is Chairman of Nektar Therapeutics, (NASDAQ:NKTR), a health care biotechnology company developing new treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Rob has been with Nektar for 29 years, joining as its first non-founder employee in 1991 and serving as the company’s CEO through 1999 and as Chairman since then. In addition, he is co-founder and Chairman of Biota Technologies, which is pioneering genomics data analytics applications for industrial markets. He also serves on the Board of Directors and is Lead Director of Twist Biosciences (NASDAQ:TWST), which manufactures synthetic DNA using high-throughput production methods. Rob co-founded and was President of Penederm, a dermatology company that went public and was acquired by Mylan Laboratories, and was the start-up CEO and later Chairman of OPX Biotechnologies, a renewable chemicals company, which was sold to Cargill. He started his career in the technology field and held management positions at Intel and Metaphor Computer Systems (later acquired by IBM). Rob served on the White House Staff in the first Bush Administration as a White House Fellow and Associate Director of the White House Office of Economic and Domestic Policy.

Since 2004, Rob has served on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses in the MBA program on the health care industry, entrepreneurship, and the opportunity created by increased longevity and aging demographics. He is a trustee of Caltech, Chairman of the Trustee Technology Transfer Committee, and was a visiting professor at Caltech teaching entrepreneurship. Rob was a long-time Board member of the Biotechnology Industry Organization where he was chairman of the Emerging Companies Section and co-chairman of the Intellectual Property Committee. He was the first Chairman and is a current Board member of Bio Ventures for Global Health. Rob received a BS in engineering with honors from Caltech and an MBA from Harvard.

As the Managing Editor of Next Avenue and the editor of its Money and Work & Purpose channels, Eisenberg, also a frequent blogger for the site, aims to help people manage their personal finances, find jobs, switch fields, volunteer and find purpose in their lives.

“Whether geared toward our readers, their older parents or their millennial children, I’m interested in trends, new laws and new programs, preferring to cover them in a holistic way,” says Eisenberg.

A graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Eisenberg has been working in the spheres of work and personal finance for decades. His first job out of college was as a fact-checker with Money magazine. Eisenberg made his way up the ranks, eventually being named executive editor. He remained at Money for 19 years, went on to become the money and special projects editor at Good Housekeeping and then the front-page finance editor for Yahoo!

The author of two books: How to Avoid a Midlife Financial Crisis and The Money Book of Personal Finance, Eisenberg is an avid reader with interests ranging from novels to nonfiction.

Eisenberg and his wife, Liz Sporkin, live in New Jersey and are parents to two talented sons; Aaron, 31, a screenwriter, actor and comedian, and Will, 29, a director and screenwriter. The pair, who live in Los Angeles, are screenwriting partners.

With a goal of encouraging Next Avenue readers to find their purpose, Eisenberg has clearly discovered his own.

“I’ve never been interested in stories about making rich people richer,” he says. “I like to find ways to help people manage their money and make their careers better. And I want to help them be happier.”

Gopi Shah Goda is a Senior Fellow and the Deputy Director at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) at Stanford University.  Gopi is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.  As the institute's Deputy Director, Gopi works closely with the Director in developing and articulating the institute's strategic priorities while overseeing its academic programs and its operations.

She conducts research on issues primarily related to the economics of aging in the United States that inform economic policymaking.  Her recent research studies include an examination of perceptual and behavioral biases and their relationship with retirement saving decisions and the effects of long-term care insurance on family members’ work and location decisions.  Her work has appeared in a variety of leading economics journals, and has been supported by the Social Security Administration, the National Institutes on Aging, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the TIAA Institute.

Prior to joining SIEPR, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at Harvard University.  She earned her PhD in economics from Stanford University in 2007 and her B.S. in mathematics and actuarial science from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 2000.

Susan Golden’s career has spanned both the private and public sectors in venture capital and public health. She is currently the Director of dciX at the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute and an Adjunct Professor, where she leads initiatives to develop innovations to support healthy longevity. Dr. Golden also serves as a thought leader and is a mentor for the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator, which partners with Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda Gates.

In collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity and Graduate School of Business, she has co-developed a new course on the business implications and opportunities associated with longevity. She is the author of a forthcoming book on business innovation strategies and longevity which will be published by Harvard Business Press next year, and advises companies on developing their longevity strategies.

Previously, Golden was a partner at Schroder Ventures specializing in life sciences and health care investments and was a partner in the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund. She has been an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Boston University Medical School, and served on the Board of Dean’s Advisors at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Golden received her doctorate of science in Public Health from Harvard University, did her post-doctoral fellowship at UCSF in Health Policy, attended Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development, was a Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute Fellow and a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Center on Longevity.

Paul Irving is chairman of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging and distinguished scholar in residence at the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology. Irving also serves as chairman of Encore.org, a director of East West Bancorp, Inc. and Pharos Capital BDC, Inc., and an advisory board member at USC, Stanford University, the Global Coalition on Aging, and WorkingNation. He previously served as the Milken Institute’s president, an advanced leadership fellow at Harvard University, and chairman and CEO of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, a law and consulting firm. Author of “The Upside of Aging: How Long Life Is Changing the World of Health, Work, Innovation, Policy, and Purpose,” a Wall Street Journal expert panelist and contributor to PBS Next Avenue and Forbes, Irving is involved in initiatives at the National Academy of Medicine and the Bipartisan Policy Center, and was a participant in the 2015 White House Conference on Aging. He was honored with the Janet L. Witkin Humanitarian Award by Affordable Living for the Aging, the Life Journey Inspiration Award by Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute, and the Board of Governors Award by Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. PBS Next Avenue named Irving an “Influencer” for his work in aging and longevity.

Richard W. Johnson is a labor economist and senior fellow in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where he directs the program on retirement policy. He writes and speaks frequently about income and health security at older ages. He is an expert on older Americans’ employment and retirement decisions and has authored or co-authored more than 200 journal articles, book chapters, and research reports and testified before Congress and federal commissions. Recent studies have examined job loss at older ages, occupational change after age 50, work incentives created by state and local government pension plans, and employment prospects for older African Americans, Hispanics, and people with limited education. He has also written extensively about government pensions, retirement preparedness, and long-term services and supports. He received an A.B. from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, both in economics.

Michael Liersch is head of Advice and Planning for Wealth and Investment Management, which is responsible for developing and propagating research-based methods to help advisors and clients most productively collaborate around their money decisions.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Michael worked at JPMorgan Chase where he served as managing director and global head of Wealth Planning and Advice. Prior to his role at JPMorgan Chase, he served as head of Behavioral Finance and Goals-based Consulting at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, and as head of Behavioral Finance at Barclays Wealth, Americas. He was also a faculty member at New York University, where he taught management and organizational analysis.

Michael earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with honors from Harvard University and earned his doctorate in Cognitive Psychology from University of California, San Diego. His perspectives have been featured in media outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg and USA Today. Michael is also published in academic and industry journals for his research on human behavior.

Michael resides in Connecticut with his wife and daughter where they enjoy time with family and friends.

Srinivas D. (Sri) Reddy is senior vice president, retirement and income solutions at Principal Financial Group®. He is responsible for the Income Solutions businesses, which includes Retail Annuities, Individual Savings, Pension Risk Transfer, Principal Bank and our Trust and Custody business. 

Prior to joining Principal, Reddy was the head of the investments and retirement income businesses for Prudential Retirement. Before that, he led all the product lines for USAA’s investment management and life insurance companies and held several roles at ING where his experience ranged from managing wholesale and direct distribution groups to product development in both the defined contribution business as well as the rollover & retirement income business. Previously, he served as a consultant with Ernst & Young. 

Reddy has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Baylor University and a master’s degree in International Management from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He has also completed his coaching certification through the NeuroLeadership Institute. Reddy is a frequent contributor to national media outlets and an expert resource on a range of retirement and financial security topics. He has served on various industry and regulatory groups including as chair of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Advisory Council at the United States Department of Labor (2018-2019). 

Andrew Scott is Professor of Economics at London Business School and a consulting scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Longevity.

His research, writing and talks focus on the macro trends that shape the global environment. His special focus is on longevity and ageing and how individuals, corporates and governments need to adapt to seize the opportunities of long and healthier lives.

Andrew’s 2016 book “The 100 Year Life” on this theme became an award winning global best seller, translated into 15 languages. His next book, “The New Long Life” is out in May 2020 and will look at how the twin forces of technology and longevity are set to change how we live our lives.

He has been an advisor to a range of corporates and governments on a broad range of economic issues and an award winning public speaker combining insight, clarity, humour and a motivation to action for anyone who hears him.

He previously held positions at Harvard University, London School of Economics and All Souls, Oxford University. He is currently on the advisory board of the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, a member of the Cabinet Office Honours Committee (Science and Technology) and co-founder of The Longevity Forum and Encore Fellows (UK).

My current focus is on the organisational implications of macro trends such as increasing longevity and 4IR future of work scenarios. Mercer’s Next Stage platform examines the coalescence of living and working longer, and how organisations can harness the longevity dividend as we move into an increasingly digital age. I co-chaired the UK Govt. Department for Work and Pensions Fuller Working Lives Business Strategy Group, working with employers to recruit, retain and retrain older workers, which published its policy document in 2017. My first book, The New Rules of Living Longer, was published in November 2015, with a foreword from the UK Pensions Minister. I am an advisor to the Healthy Ageing challenge fund and currently working on a global dialogue series called ‘Redesigning Retirement for the 100 year life’ with the World Economic Forum. I have worked in senior HR and HR Consulting roles for 30 years, living in the Middle East and Europe and working with global organisations on strategic HR and people programme design. I hold Masters Degrees in Psychology and Business Research and I am a Fellow of The Pensions Management Institute, previously an author of their International Diploma syllabus. In my spare time I hold both Vice Chair of Trustees and Director roles in Creative Arts organisations and am trained in advanced design thinking methodology.

Maria Thomas is a business and technology executive who transforms early-stage companies into iconic, durable businesses. A digital pioneer, Maria joined Amazon in its early years and went on to help lead NPR Digital, Etsy, and SmartThings (acquired by Samsung) from small, startup organizations through high growth phases and onto lasting value. She is a strategic thinker and continuous learner who recognizes patterns in industries disrupted by digital technologies and by changing consumer expectations. Today, Maria is working with digital health startups, with a particular focus on older adults. She is a consultant to a startup studio called Redesign Health and serves as an external adviser to McKinsey’s Leap practice. Maria also serves on several boards including Spoonflower, a privately held ecommerce company, and the Pew Research Center. Maria is also a full-time student in the University of Pennsylvania's Master of Healthcare Innovation program.