Background

I worked for the City of Los Angeles for over 32 years in the field of employee benefits. My particular focus was working with and eventually becoming Executive Director for the City's Section 457 supplemental retirement savings plan, which grew to approximately $9 billion in assets and over 50,000 active and retired participants by the time of my retirement. I also oversaw health and welfare benefits for the Civilian workforce, which included over 25,000 active employee members and approximately 30,000 dependents. My responsibilities included all aspects of program administration, including plan design, stakeholder management, procurement and contracting, marketing and communications, and compliance. I developed the reputation as an innovator and thought leader, becoming an early adopter of an array of new programs and benefit design enhancements, while also critically approaching certain retirement industry innovations which may have been redundant or not always in the best interests of plan participants. My skills and experience eventually led to serving seven years on the Executive Board of a national organization, the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA), including a term as its President. In this position I helped support state and local government defined contribution plans across the country, and also had the opportunity to meet annually with elected officials and regulators in Washington DC in support of our programs.

Job experience

• September 1989 - July 2022
  Director of Employee Benefits/Executive Director Deferred Compensation Plan
  City of Los Angeles
  

  Los Angeles, CA, USA

  I worked for the City of Los Angeles for over 32 years in the field of employee benefits. My particular focus was working with and eventually becoming Executive Director for the City's Section 457 supplemental retirement savings plan, which grew to approximately $9 billion in assets and over 50,000 active and retired participants by the time of my retirement. I also oversaw health and welfare benefits for the Civilian workforce, which included over 25,000 active employee members and approximately 30,000 dependents.
  
  My responsibilities included all aspects of program administration, including plan design, stakeholder management, procurement and contracting, marketing and communications, and compliance. I developed the reputation as an innovator and thought leader, becoming an early adopter of an array of new programs and benefit design enhancements, while also critically approaching certain retirement industry innovations which may have been redundant or not always in the best interests of plan participants.
  
  My skills and experience eventually led to serving seven years on the Executive Board of a national organization, the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA), including a term as its President. In this position I helped support state and local government defined contribution plans across the country, and also had the opportunity to meet annually with elected officials and regulators in Washington DC in support of our programs.

Education

• UC Santa Cruz
  BA Community Studies
  

  1985 - 1989

  Graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz