Aspen Institute Initiative on Financial Security Appoints New Executive Director

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Aspen Institute is pleased to announce today that Ida Rademacher has joined the Institute as the new Executive Director of the Initiative on Financial Security, effective immediately. In this role, Rademacher will lead the Initiative into a new phase of engagement with leaders from the financial services, government, and independent sectors to explore how the rapidly evolving financial system and public policies can work together to improve the financial security and financial well-being of all Americans. Rademacher's work will expand the Initiative on Financial Security's efforts to bring to the national forefront a solutions-focused discussion of how America can address growing wealth inequality and household financial insecurity.

"We are extremely pleased to have someone with Rademacher's expertise and drive join the Institute at this time," said Aspen Institute Executive Vice President Elliot Gerson. "Her breadth of knowledge about consumer financial products and services, coupled with her experience working with a range of industry, policy, and community stakeholders gives her unique insights into the ways in which current market and policy solutions are falling short in helping the majority of Americans achieve a meaningful measure of savings and financial security."   

Rademacher comes to the Institute from the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), a 35-year-old national nonprofit dedicated to advancing innovative market and policy solutions that help low-income households and communities build wealth and financial resilience. There, she served over the past seven years in a succession of senior leadership roles including Chief Program Officer, Vice President for Policy and Research, and Director of Research. She formerly worked at the Aspen Institute as Associate Director of the Workforce Strategies Initiative.

"New research is beginning to show how growing income volatility and wealth inequality at the household level can stifle long-term macroeconomic growth," said Rademacher. "As the evidence mounts, it is more important than ever to advance dialogue that drives forward new policy and market solutions that that can gain bipartisan support. That new policy paradigm must be inclusive of national savings policy that recognizes the role that asset ownership and financial inclusion play in creating strong and resilient economies and democracies. I can think of no better organization than the Aspen Institute to lead that effort."

Ida Rademacher is succeeding Lisa Mensah who, in November of 2014, became Under Secretary for Rural Development at the US Department of Agriculture.

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

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SOURCE The Aspen Institute