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Who We Are
Honorary Chairperson
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Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn (R-WA)
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"It’s shameful how working women are treated
like second-class citizens under the current Social Security
system. Personal savings accounts would benefit women by
giving them ownership of the money they are already contributing
to
the system, enhancing their retirement income, and building
wealth.”
“I am pleased to be a part of Women for
a Social Security Choice because this group truly believes
in the dignity and
right of women to control her own life and finances.”
Congresswoman Dunn was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
in 1992 and was the first woman in either party to run
for Majority Leader or any top leadership post. She has served
in the leadership of The House of Representatives for 8
years.
Jennifer has also served for ten years on the powerful
Ways and Means Committee. She is an expert in tax policy,
IRS
reform, trade, and technology issues. She has always been
a strong advocate for women’s rights. Jennifer has
chosen to retire from Congress at the end of her term in
2004 and will devote her time to her family and other causes
close to her heart.
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Executive Director
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Leanne J. Abdnor
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“I created Women for a Social Security Choice because
I believe women are smart enough to make their own choices
and because women deserve to have financial security."
“Today’s Social Security system should guarantee
the benefits of today’s retirees, strengthen the
anti-poverty safety net, and give younger workers—especially
important for those without pensions and savings—the
opportunity to create their own nest egg for retirement.
WSSC is pleased
to have such strong, bi-partisan support from women experts
all over the country.”
Lea was a member of the 2001 President’s
Commission to Strengthen Social Security, co-chaired by Senator
Daniel
P. Moynihan (D-NY). She has since served as President of
For Our Grandchildren, a grassroots Social Security education
project. After living and working in Washington, D.C. for
27 years, Lea moved to Boulder, Colorado, in 2000. She holds
a Masters in Social Work and works as a therapist for trauma
victims. |
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National Advisory Council
WSSC’s National Advisory Council consists
of women experts in the field of Social Security reform and other
women with leadership and/or expertise that is valuable to the
organization.
Leanne J. Abdnor
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| A republican member of the President’s Commission
to Strengthen Social Security in 2001, Lea is the founder
and executive director of Women for a Social Security Choice.
Lea spent 27 years in Washington, D.C., most recently as
the founder and former executive director of the Alliance
for Worker Retirement Security (a pro-Social Security reform
coalition in Washington, D.C.). Prior to that, Lea served
as Vice President for External Affairs of the Cato Institute.
She is currently a national spokesperson of For Our Grandchildren,
a non-partisan, non-profit grassroots education program.
She has been quoted in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal,
and many other publications. In addition, her op-eds have
appeared in dozens of newspapers and she has been interviewed
on countless talk radio shows throughout the country. Lea
also is a therapist for trauma victims and resides happily
in Boulder, Colorado.
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Carolyn Cox
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Carolyn was the Chief Financial Officer for 30 years of
a Denver electrical engineering corporation and administrator
of its profit sharing and pension plans. After retiring,
Carolyn began studying our Social Security system and became
a passionate reformer of Social Security with Personal Retirement
Accounts. In 1997, she became a director and frequent speaker
for Economic Security 2000, the first national grassroots,
non-partisan organization to educate about the need for Social
Security reform. She has spoken before dozens of service,
business and political clubs. She is now a volunteer for
For Our Grandchildren.
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Elizabeth Gregg
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Elizabeth Gregg is a native of South Carolina and is
currently an undergraduate student at the University of
Colorado at Boulder. She is studying foreign languages
and plans on a career in international business. Elizabeth
enjoys volunteering at the Boulder Valley Humane Society
and the Good Samaritan Nursing Home, and snowboarding in
the Colorado mountains. Meanwhile, she takes every possible
opportunity to see new places and visit new people. Elizabeth
has a strong interest in Social Security because the problems
ahead in the system will have a pivotal impact on her and
her generation.
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Sandra Jaques
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Sandi is a perfect example of why Social Security needs to be fixed and reformed. Sandi is a 27-year old, single working mother of a 10 year old daughter named Wynter. For several years and in different capacities, she has chosen to work in the field of public policy. While in college she became interested in public policy and the Iowa Caucuses, and began volunteering. She was hired by the Grea ter Des Moines Business Partnership as the Government Relations Program Management. Following that, she worked for several grassroots organizations managing the state or regional operations. From 2002 to 2004, she worked as the Midwest Regional Director of For Our Grandchildren, a grassroots Social Security education project. In December, 2004, she was was invited to speak at the White House Economic Forum in Washington, D.C., on the subject of Social Security and her generation.
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Heather Elizabeth Lamm
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Heather is the Director of Strategic Planning at MediaNews
Group, the seventh largest newspaper group in the U.S.
Prior to other strategic planning positions, Heather served
as
the Director of Multimedia and Marketing for the Presidential
Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform in Washington,
D.C. She is an expert in the field of Social Security reform,
having organized and conducted forums around the country
on the issue. She has appeared on CNN’s Inside Politics,
CNN and Company, Talk Back Live, Crossfire, The McLaughlin
Group, the Jim Bohannon Show and Politically Incorrect.
Heather is a wife and new mother, residing in Denver, Colorado.
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Karen Kerrigan
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| Ms. Kerrigan is one of the best known small business advocates
in the country, and has developed positive relationships
with individuals in the media, government, and private sector
that have led to substantive reforms and initiatives to help
America’s entrepreneurial sector. She founded and is
the President and CEO, Women Entrepreneurs, Inc. (WE Inc.)
in 2002, a nonprofit business association that helps women
business owners succeed.
In 1994, she founded the Small Business & Entrepreneurship
Council, a prominent small business advocacy organization
with more than 70,000 members. In 2002, she was appointed
to serve on the National Women’s Business Council
(Presidential appointment). Karen’s analysis and
written work has appeared in major newspapers throughout
the country and she makes regular appearances on radio
and television shows. She has received numerous awards
and honors, among them being named by Fortune Small Business
to its Power 30 list of key advocates in Washington, D.C.
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Dr. Olivia Mitchell
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Dr. Olivia Mitchell was a democratic member of the President’s
Commission to Strengthen Social Security, 2001. She is a
Wharton Professor, Executive Director of Wharton’s
Pension Research Council, and Director of the Boettner
Center for Pensions and Retirement Research.
Olivia is
undoubtedly
among the most highly respected and sought-after experts
in the country in the areas of Social Security, private
pensions, employee benefits and compensation, risk and
crisis management,
health and retirement analysis and policy, and labor,
economic, and public finance. She speaks to organizations
throughout
the world. Her recent consultant work includes working
with the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Government Accounting
Office,
the U.S. Social Security Administration, and the U.S.
Department of Labor, as well as to several foreign governments
and
organizations.
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Heidi Neel
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Ms. Neel directs the American Institute for Full Employment’s
Social Security project, For Our Grandchildren. As such,
she manages grassroots efforts and oversees the Institute’s
very comprehensive message testing research. In addition,
she has testified before state committees and met with
elected officials to help implement public assistance programs.
Ms.
Neel has also written model state legislation for the implementation
of the Workforce Investment Act. Prior to joining the Institute,
Ms. Neel practiced law. She is known for her efforts facilitating
the drafting and subsequent passage of Oregon’s “Best
Interest of the Child Bill,” which prevents children
from languishing in foster care. This law has since been
used as a national model.
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Dr. June O’Neill
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Dr. June O’Neill served as the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C. from 1995-1999,
and is an expert in the field of budget and Social Security
policy. She has spoken and written extensively on the subject,
including having written “The Trust Fund, the Surplus,
and the Real Social Security Problem, published by the Cato
Institute in April 2002. Dr. O’Neill now serves as
a Professor of Finance and the Director of the Center for
the Study of Business and Government at the Zicklin School
of Business at Baruch College, City University of New York.
She has won numerous honors and awards.
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Nancy Pfotenhauer
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| Ms. Pfotenhauer is the President and CEO of the Independent
Women’s Forum in Washington, D.C. “IWF was established
to combat the women-as-victim, pro-big-government ideology
of radical feminism. IWF seeks to restore, strengthen, and
extend that which promotes women’s well being by advancing
the principles of self-reliance, political freedom, economic
liberty, and personal responsibility.” Nancy brings
to IWF extensive experience in relating public policy issues
to the media and the public. She was a daily radio talk show
host and has appeared on all the major television networks.
Newsweek, George Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal have
all covered her television work.
Prior to her work at IWF, Nancy directed the Washington
office of Koch Industries, the second largest privately
held company in the U.S. Nancy began her career in Washington,
D.C. in 1987 as a senior economist at the Republican National
Committee and subsequently became the chief economist.
She has held numerous leadership positions in government
and in the U.S. Senate, including being appointed chief
economist of the President’s Council on Competitiveness.
Nancy is a wife and mother of four active children.
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Laura Slay
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| Ms. Slay has more than seventeen years of combined management
experience in the fields of public relations, government
affairs, and corporate and foundation relations. As President
of Laura Slay & Associates, a strategic, communications
firm, Laura has navigated an outstanding team of experienced
strategists in the creation of dynamic campaign that cut
through the communications clutter with clear, concise and
targeted messages.
For the past 15 years, Laura has developed and implemented
Strategic Communications and Public Relations for a wide
variety of non-profit organizations, political issues,
and government agencies. This includes having managed the
state-wide PR of For Our Grandchildren, a Social Security
reform education project, and wrote and developed a strategic
plan for targeting women, nationwide. Laura lives in St.
Louis, Missouri.
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