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    The Truth Squad: Busting Myths on Social Security and Medicare


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    National Committee Board of Directors

    Max Richtman, J.D. - President/CEO

    A former staff director of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and 16-year veteran of Capitol Hill, Max Richtman is President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), one of the nation's most influential senior advocacy and education membership organizations.  Mr. Richtman, who joined the organization in 1989, also serves as Chair of the National Committee's Political Action Committee (PAC) board, a non-partisan committee that endorses candidates for federal office who take uncompromising stands on social policy legislation which impacts the aging population. Mr. Richtman has testified before House and Senate committees, provided expert political and policy commentary during appearances on CNN, C-Span, FOX, MSNBC, CBS and Pacifica radio networks, participated in hundreds of Congressional Town Hall meetings across the country and has been a featured speaker during numerous national and state conferences on aging. During his congressional career, Max Richtman directed a lengthy investigation of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's enforcement of age-discrimination statutes which included a series of oversight hearings and preparing the committee testimony by then-EEOC Chairman Clarence Thomas. As staff director for the Senate Committee on Aging, Mr. Richtman developed legislation to establish a Consumer Price Index [for the] Elderly (CPIE) which if adopted, would lead to a more accurate cost of living adjustment for Social Security beneficiaries. Max Richtman was born in Munich , Germany , and grew up in Omaha , Nebraska .  He graduated cum laude from Harvard College and received his law degree from Georgetown University Law School .  He is vice-chair of the Seniors Coordinating Council of the Democratic National Committee, a member of the District of Columbia Bar and he resides in Montgomery County , Maryland.
       
    Carroll L. Estes, Ph.D. - Chairperson

    Dr. Estes joined the Board of Directors in 2002. She is a professor of Sociology at the University of California , San Francisco (UCSF). She is the founding and former director of the Institute for Health and Aging (1979-1998) and the former Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing , UCSF. Dr. Estes is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and past president of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), the American Society on Aging (ASA), and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE). She has served as consultant to the U.S. Commissioner of Social Security and the U.S. Senate and House committees on aging for more than two decades. She resides in Healdsburg, California .

    Agenda for Action: Building a Movement for Elder Women's Advocacy

       
    Maya Rockeymoore, Ph.D. - Vice Chair
    Maya Rockeymoore, Ph.D.

    Dr. Rockeymoore joined the Board of Directors in 2005.  Dr. Rockeymoore is a scholar and activist with expertise in an array of social and political issues.  She currently teaches a course on The Politics and Policy of Race and Gender at the American University .  Dr. Rockeymoore is the former Vice President of Research and Programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.  Prior to joining the CBCF, she served as the Senior Resident Scholar for Health and Income Security at the National Urban League Institute for Opportunity and Equality. Dr. Rockeymoore resides in Washington, D.C.

    "Health Care Reform - A Step Forward But Long Road Ahead"

       
    Patricia G. Archbold, D.N.Sc., R.N. - Secretary
    Patricia G. Archbold, D.N.Sc., R.N. Pat Archbold joined the Board of Directors in 2005.   Dr. Archbold is Professor Emerita from the Oregon Health & Sciences University where she was the founding Director of the J.A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence.  Since 2005 she has been Program Director for the J.A.Hartford Foundation's national initiative, Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity at the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Archbold's research focuses on understanding family care for frail elders, and developing health system interventions to support families in their role. Dr. Archbold resides in Montpelier,Vermont.
       
    Shelly C. Shapiro, CPA - Treasurer
    Shelly C. Shapiro was the Chief Financial Officer for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare from 1995 to 2005. During that time, she was responsible for all aspects of the National Committee's financial operations, including planning, budgeting, reporting and analysis, cash flow projection, and treasury functions.   She also managed the human resources, facilities management and information systems departments.  Prior to this she served as the Manager of Not-for-Profit Practice for KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, Washington , D.C. Mrs. Shapiro received her BS in Management -Accounting from A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University. Mrs. Shapiro resides in Rockville, MD.
       
    Catherine Dodd, Ph.D., RN
    Susan M. Daniels, Ph.D. Catherine L. Dodd, PhD, RN, has devoted the last two decades to public policy in the area of health and human services.  She currently serves in San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's cabinet as Deputy Chief of Staff overseeing Health, Human Services, Workforce Development, Aging Services, Community Courts and Civic Engagement.  Prior to joining the Mayor's staff, she was District Chief of Staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and prior to that she served as Region IX Director of Health and Human Services as an appointee of President Clinton. Catherine has served many non-profit organizations as an enthusiastic board member, among them the Glide Methodist Church , the Homeless Prenatal Program and Zen Hospice.  She has also held many leadership positions at the state and national level in the American Nurses Association.
       
    Mitchell Kaplan
    Mr. Kaplan joined the Board of Directors in 2006.  He is the co-founder of the Kaplan Stahler Agency, a boutique literary agency located in Beverly Hills that handles a diverse group of clients from motion picture /TV writers to reality TV producers. Mr. Kaplan is a graduate of the NYU School of Commerce.  He also served in the U.S. Air Force and the New York Air National Guard.  Mr. Kaplan is actively involved in many organizations.    Mr. Kaplan serves on the Boards of the Alliance for Children's Rights, the National Committee for an Effective Congress, and ACLU Foundation of Southern California .  Mr. Kaplan resides with his wife, Marilyn Jones, in Hollywood.
       
    Paul S. Nathanson, Esq.
    Mr. Nathanson was the Director of the Institute of Public Law and a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico School of Law. He is founding director of the National Senior Citizens Law Center and founding member of the ABA Commission on legal problems of the elderly. He has served as co-chair of the UNM Center for Aging Research, Education and Service (UNMCARES) and Chair of the New Mexico Association of Geriatric Education (NMAGE). Mr. Nathanson resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
       
    Hans Riemer
    Mr. Riemer joined the Board of Directors in 2006.  He is a senior advisor at AARP.  Previously, he was the key, early staffer in charge of getting young people out to vote for the Barack Obama campaign during the primaries.  His youth vote experience began as Political and Issues Director for Rock the Vote, the Los Angeles based nonprofit organization dedicated to building political power for young people. From 2001-2003, Mr. Riemer was a senior policy analyst directing the Social Security Information Project at the Institute for America's Future, a progressive research and advocacy organization. While there, he ran a national coalition of organizations dedicated to protecting Social Security.  From 1996-2001, Mr. Riemer was the director of the 2030 Center, a public policy organization for young adults focused on economic issues and particularly Social Security, which he founded at the age of 23.  Mr. Riemer resides in Silver Spring , Maryland.
       
    William K. Vaughan
    Bill Vaughan is currently a consultant in the health sector for Consumers Union, the non-profit, independent publisher of Consumer Reports. Starting in 1965 he worked for various Members of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, and retired in 2001 as Health Subcommittee Staff Director for the Minority. Between 2003 and May 2005 he was Director of Government Relations for Families USA, a national health advocacy organization.
       
    The National Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that acts in the interests of its membership through advocacy, education, services, grassroots efforts and the leadership of the board of directors and professional staff. The work of the National Committee is directed toward developing a secure retirement for all Americans.