Board of Directors

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 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement of age-discrimination statutes and 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. In addition to being appointed to the 2016 Platform Committee for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), he is vice-chair of the Seniors Coordinating Council of the DNC, a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, Bloomberg BNA Medicare Report Advisory Board, the District of Columbia Bar and a recipient of the 2013 Gray Panthers Social Justice Award and 2014 Winn Newman Equality Award from Americans for Democratic Action. Richtman resides in Washington, D.C.

Catherine Dodd, Ph.D., RN – Chair

Catherine J. Dodd, PhD, RN, has devoted the last two decades to public policy and administration in the area of health and human services. Currently as the Director of the San Francisco Health Service System she is responsible for negotiating and administering health benefits for 110,000 employees, retirees and dependents of the County, the School District and the Community College. Prior to this position she served as Mayor Gavin Newsom’s 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 held many leadership positions at the state and national level in the American Nurses Association and serves on the Boards of The Breast Cancer Fund, Zen Hospice Project and Glide Methodist Church.

William K. Vaughan – Vice Chair

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.

How to Save Medicare—while Helping Yourself Save Money

Tim Leach – Treasurer

Tim Leach has over 30 years of investment and wealth management expertise. He is the current Chief Investment Officer at U.S. Bank Wealth Management Group. Tim has held senior investment management positions at Qualivest Capital Management (formerly the investment management arm of one of U.S. Bancorp’s predecessor companies), ABN Amro Asset Management, Wells Fargo Private Client Services and U.S. Trust Company. Leach earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, Davis and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jim Crounse

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.

Ladonna Harris

Ladonna Harris is the President of Americans for Indian Opportunity. As a national leader, she has influenced the agendas of the civil rights, feminist, environmental and world peace movements; and has been an advocate on behalf of Tribal America.

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.

Terry O’Neill

Terry O’Neill is an attorney, law professor and activist for social justice, and was elected president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 2009. She is also president of the NOW Foundation and chair of the NOW Political Action Committees.

Nicholas R. Smith

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 currently serves 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.