William Arnone, Chief Executive Officer
As we approach the holidays, the Board of Directors and staff of the National Academy of Social Insurance wish you a safe and healthy holiday season.
We are joyful for the commitment by our Members to the Academy’s activities – our policy work and research, leadership development, and public education – and are heartened by your steadfast commitment to improving economic and social conditions for all.
One of the highlights of the year was our 2022 Robert M. Ball Award, honoring Marian Wright Edelman, Peter Edelman, and Jack Lew. The event was the most successful fundraiser in the Academy’s 35-year history. See photos and watch a recording of the Award ceremony, here.
This year’s painful loss of Pam Larson will leave a lasting impact. We deeply appreciate the generous gifts made to the Academy in Pam’s memory. In this season of charitable giving, we invite you to consider a donation to the Academy above and beyond your dues.
We choose to commit to making the new year one of resilience. We expect renewed focus on the financing challenges confronting Social Security and Medicare. The pandemic affected all the nation’s social insurance and related programs. It revealed the need for systemic changes to prepare for the next catastrophe or major shock to our economy and our society. It reinforced society’s persistent inequalities and disparities. It also, in the words of George Packer, “forced us to look at ourselves and for once pay the kind of attention that we’ve also taken for granted from others.” (Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal, New York, 2021, p. 4): He added: “The biology of a pandemic is designed to show the limits of individualism and affirm a truth that’s too hard to keep in mind – our common humanity.” (p. 16) He also reminded us that equity “looks at outcomes not opportunities, and at groups, not individuals, distinguishing between them based on disparate needs.” (p. 43) (Packer also pays tribute to Frances Perkins, who “spent the twelve years of Roosevelt’s presidency doing more than anyone other than FDR himself to make the New Deal a reality…most notably Social Security.” (p. 178))
As a nonpartisan trustworthy convenor of social insurance experts from many different disciplines and perspectives, the Academy remains uniquely positioned to develop options that will lead to sound policies and impactful solutions for the common good.
There is much at stake in the years ahead. Thank you for your continued commitment to our vital work. We need your support now more than ever.
All the best.
Bill Arnone
Chief Executive Officer
