National Academy of Social Insurance Welcomes Fifty-One New Members

The Board of Directors of the National Academy of Social Insurance has approved the election of 51 distinguished experts to the Academy. The Academy’s membership spans the country and is made up of over 1,200 individuals. (A complete list of individuals newly elected to the Academy may be found below.)

“We welcome our 2023 Members at a pivotal time for social insurance policy. We will count on our newest Members to contribute their expertise in building a more robust social insurance policy ecosystem that supports economic security opportunities for all and to collaborate with current Academy Members in pursuit of the same,” said Chief Executive Officer William Arnone.

The Academy advances solutions to challenges facing the nation by increasing public understanding of how social insurance contributes to economic security. This mission encompasses established social insurance programs – Social Security, Medicare, Workers’ Compensation, and Unemployment Insurance – as well as related policy areas, including Medicaid, long-term services and supports, paid leave, other social assistance programs, and private employee benefits.

“With the welcoming of this diverse membership cohort, the Academy has affirmed its commitment to building a stronger future by including voices with various backgrounds and experiences, as well as types of expertise,” said Robert Espinoza, Chair of the Membership Committee and Vice President of Policy at PHI. PHI is a national organization that works to ensure quality care for older adults and people with disabilities by creating quality jobs for direct care workers.

New Academy Members are nominated by current Members in recognition of their professional contributions, such as improving the quality of research, administration, or policymaking in an area of social insurance. Members make significant contributions to the Academy’s research, education, and leadership development initiatives by volunteering their time to serve on study panels, task forces, committees, and speaking at conferences and other Academy programs.

For more information about membership in the Academy and a full list of active Members, please visit the Academy’s website: www.nasi.org.

Newly elected Academy Members and their affiliations at the time of nomination:

Alex Abbott, Social Security Works

Shantanu Agrawal, Elevance Health

Philip Armour, RAND Corporation

Carolyn Barnes, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University

Kate Bent, Social Security Administration

Patrick Brockett, University of Texas Austin

Ramon Castellblanch, San Francisco State

Caitlin Connolly, National Employment Law Project

Patrick Conway, Care Solutions at Optum at UnitedHealth Group

Sabrina Davis, Social Security Works

Susan Dynarski, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Wendy Edelberg, Brookings Institution

Okey Enyia, Alliance for Health Policy

Maria Fitzpatrick, Cornell University

Debra Fitzpatrick, Children’s Defense Fund

Jessica Fulton, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Angela Glover Blackwell, Policy Link

Alix Gould-Werth, Washington Center for Equitable Growth

Carolyn Heinrich, Vanderbilt University

Kristin Henning, Georgetown Law Center

Nicole Jorwic, Caring Across Generations

Nadia Karamcheva, Congressional Budget Office

Kata Kertesz, Center for Medicare Advocacy

Kimberly Knackstedt, The Century Foundation

Kendra Kosko Isaacson, Senate HELP Committee

Vasyl Kostrytsia, Association of Employer Organizations of Ukraine

Lauren F. Lyles-Stolz, National Association of Chain Drug Stores

Lisa Lynch, Brandeis University

Elaine Maag, Urban Institute

Robert MacDonald, MacDonald & MacDonald, PLLC

Kate Massey, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission

Ellen Meara, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Noah Meyerson, Congressional Budget Office

Sophie Mitra, Fordham University

Michael Monson, Altarum

William Morton, Congressional Research Service

Daniel Nickerson, Social Security Administration

Denise D. Quigley, RAND Corporation

Emily Roessel, Social Security Advisory Board

Paul Seifert, Consultant

Purvi Sevak, Mathematica

Tim Shaw, The Aspen Institute

Martha Shedden, National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts

Chelsea Shudtz, Social Security Administration

David Simon, Alliance for Retired Americans

Kosali Simon, Indiana University

Mitch Steiger, California Labor Federation

Shengwei Sun, National Women’s Law Center

Kristal Vardaman, Aurrera Health Group

Ivey Warren, Department of Labor

Julia Zhang, California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau