National Committee Board of Directors
Max Richtman, J.D. – President/CEO

Max Richtman is one of the nation’s leading advocates for Social Security and Medicare — and a prominent expert on seniors’ issues. He has served as President and CEO of NCPSSM since 2011, after joining the organization in 1989.  Max also serves as Chair of the National Committee’s Political Action Committee (PAC) board. He is a former staff director of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and 16-year veteran of Capitol Hill.

Max has testified before House and Senate committees and provided expert commentary during appearances on CNN, C-Span, FOX, MSNBC, CBS and Pacifica radio networks. He has participated in hundreds of Congressional Town Hall meetings across the country and has been a featured speaker at national and state conferences on aging. His writings on seniors’ issues have been published in Newsweek, the Washington Post, The Hill, MarketWatch, CNN.com, and CNBC.com, among others.

Jim Crounse – Chair

Jim Crounse is recognized as one of the top Democratic mail consultants in the country. In 2008 and again in 2012, Jim captained the team that did direct mail for President Barack Obama. Jim’s mail was used all across the country and specifically helped the President win the tough states of Virginia and Florida. After the 2008 election, Jim was called upon by the Obama transition team to head the confirmation team of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. Jim has also produced direct mail for President Bill Clinton, and scores of high profile statewide races including U.S. Senators Evan Bayh, Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, and Jack Reed. Read More.

Catherine Dodd PhD, RN, FAAN
Catherine Dodd is a nurse and health policy advocate. She has held numerous positions, including chief of staff to Nancy Pelosi, presidential appointee to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Director of the San Francisco Health Service System. She served as Director of Government Affairs for the California Nurses Association. President Clinton appointed her HHS Region IX Director, the first woman to hold that position. As Director, Dodd “brought consideration of the individual, family, and community to all policy tables.” Since 2019, she has worked with the Alliance of Nurses for Health Environments in California as a policy advisor, advocating on issues including pesticides, climate change, recycling, the drought and more.
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.

Nicholas R. Smith – Secretary/Treasurer

Nicholas R. Smith is a co-founder and Principal of DSC Partners LLC. Prior to forming DSC, Mr. Smith was a co-founder of First Potomac Realty Trust (NYSE: FPO) and served as the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer from 1997 until 2015. He led First Potomac’s growth from four properties totaling 800,000 square feet in 1997, through its IPO and listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2003, to become one of the largest and fastest-growing real estate companies in the Greater Washington region with a portfolio valued in excess of $2 billion.

He recently served as Chairman of the Choral Arts Society of Washington and serves on the Council of Advisors for the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Graduate Programs in Real Estate.  He is also a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, the Urban Land Institute and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Mr. Smith is a graduate of the Catholic University of America.

Tula Thompson 

Tula Thompson is a businesswoman with a long career in sales and manufacturing. The company she founded became a leader in metal building insulation, operating eleven manufacturing facilities nationwide. One of the few women in the industry, she held multiple construction association leadership roles before retiring. She now pursues her passion for Western art as the owner of two galleries in Whitefish and Bigfork, Montana, and serves as a board member of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. She and her husband enjoy traveling and regularly return to Mbitini, Kenya, where they support clean water, medical, educational initiatives, and a women’s cooperative. They split their time between Montana and Arizona.