National Committee Board of Directors

Barbara B. Kennelly - National Committee President and CEO

National Committee President and CEO Barbara B. Kennelly has spent 25 years in public service at local, state and federal levels, including 17 years as a member of the U.S. Congress.  A former ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Social Security, Mrs. Kennelly was the first woman to serve as Chief Majority Whip and she was Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus. She was also the first woman to serve on the House Committee on Intelligence. Throughout her career, Mrs. Kennelly has advocated for Social Security, Medicare and other health and retirement issues. After leaving Congress, she served as Counselor to the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration.  Mrs. Kennelly served on the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.  In 2006, Mrs. Kennelly was appointed to the Social Security Advisory Board by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Mrs. Kennelly resides in Hartford , Connecticut and Washington DC .

Jane L. Ross, Ph.D. - Chair

Dr. Ross joined the Board of Directors in 2001and was elected Chair in 2005.  She is the Director of the Center for Social and Economic Studies at the National Research Council and responsible for the leadership and management of boards and committees that address a broad range of social and economic issues.  Dr. Ross served as Deputy Commissioner for Policy for the Social Security Administration from1998-2001 and served as SSA spokesperson on a broad range of policy issues at the White House and the Office of Management and Budget.  From 1992-1998, Dr. Ross served as the Issue Area Director and Assistant Director for income Security Issues at the United States General Accounting Office.  Dr. Ross resides in Greenbelt , Maryland .

Carroll L. Estes, Ph.D. - Vice Chair

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 .

Mrs. Wagenfeld joined the Board of Directors in 2003.  She is president of Aviation Products, Management, Inc., the umbrella organization for two aviation-related companies, which deal with reducing the environmental impact of commercial jet noise, without degrading aircraft safety, fuel efficiency and overall performance.  Mrs. Wagenfeld is also the owner and chair of SWINGSHIFT, Inc. of New York , NY and SWINGSHIFT, LLC of Greenwich, CT.  Mrs. Wagenfeld is active in a wide range of civic, political, and philanthropic endeavors, her Board memberships include:  The Metropolitan Opera and Connecticut Voices for children.  Mrs. Wagenfeld resides in Westport , Connecticut and New York City .

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.

Carolyn W. Colvin

Ms. Colvin joined the Board of Directors in 2006. Ms. Colvin is the CEO of Amerigroup Community Care of D.C. Ms. Colvin is the former Director of the Department of Health and Human Services for Montgomery County, Maryland. In this capacity, she managed the following service areas: Aging and Disability Services; Behavioral Health and Crisis Services; Children, Youth, and Family Services; Public Health Services; the Office of Special Needs Housing; and the Office of Community Outreach. Prior to her appointment to the Department of Health and Human Services, Ms. Colvin was the Director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Human Services. Ms. Colvin served in the Social Security Administration as Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Deputy Commissioner for Programs and Policy. Ms. Colvin resides in Olney, Maryland.

Catherine Dodd

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 a founder of the Kaplan-Stahler-Gumer-Braun Agency, a boutique literary agency that handles a diverse group of clients from motion picture 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.  He is a founding member of the Chairman's Leadership Group of the NAACP.  Mr. Kaplan serves on the boards of the Alliance for Children's Rights, the National Committee for an Effective Congress, and 21 st Century Democrats.  Mr. Kaplan resides in Beverly Hills , California.

Hans Riemer

Mr. Riemer joined the Board of Directors in 2006.  He is the 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 .

Mr. Smith joined the Board of Directors in 2002.  He is the partner in charge of the Assurance Department of Langan Associates, P.C.  He has over fifteen years of experience exclusively serving the audit, tax and consulting needs of the not-for-profit community.  Mr. Smith served as a member of the Financial Issues Committee of American Society of Association Executives and the Government Affairs and Public Relations Council of Greater Washington Society of Association Executives.  Mr. Smith resides in Alexandria , Virginia .

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.

Dr. Torres-Gil joined the Board of Directors in 2004.  He is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the School of Public Policy and Social Research, University of California , Los Angeles .  He also serves as a Professor of Social Welfare and Policy Studies and is Director of the School's Center for Policy Research on Aging.  Dr. Torres-Gil is an expert in the fields of health and long-term care, the politics of aging, social policy, ethnicity, and disability.  He is the author of four books and more than 70 articles and book chapters.  Dr. Torres-Gil's government and public policy experiences include serving as the first-ever Assistant Secretary for Aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Staff Director of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging.  He serves on the Board of Directors of Families USA Foundation and the AARP Andrus Foundation.

William E. Spriggs , Ph.D.

Dr. Spriggs joined the Board of Directors in 2007. Dr. Spriggs is a Professor and the Chairman of the Economics Department at Howard University in Washington, DC.  Most recently, Dr. Spriggs was at the Economic Policy Institute as a Senior Fellow.  Prior to that, he was a former Executive Director of the National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity and Equality.  Dr.  Spriggs is a past board member and President of the National Economic Association.  Dr. Spriggs serves on the board of the National Academy of Social Insurance and co-chaired the 2003 NASI conference that produced Strengthening Community:  Social Insurance in a Diverse America.  Dr. Spriggs serves on the policy board of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and serves on the boards of the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute, the National Employment Law Project and the National Advisory Council of Corporate Voices for Working Families.

Bill Vaughan

Bill Vaughan is currently Senior Policy Analyst 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.