Virtual Conversation: Is retirement only a dream for many in Idaho’s workforce?

Moderator: City Club of Boise Board and Forums Committee member Jeremy Parkinson

Angela M. Antonelli is a Research Professor and the Executive Director of the Center for Retirement Initiatives (CRI) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. She also is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Prior to assuming her position at Georgetown, Angela served in senior positions in the government, consulting and nonprofit sectors, including as the Assistant Secretary & CFO for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with responsibilities for a $30 billion budget and implementing a range of economic policies and programs. She has a B.A., summa cum laude, from Cornell University and an MPA with honors from Princeton University.

Pam Eaton has served as President/CEO of the Idaho Retailers Association (IRA) since January 2001, building the voice of retailers across Idaho in the legislature, regulatory and federal arenas, the media and general public. She has over 20 years of experience in state retail association management and lobbying, having been with the Washington Retail Association prior to moving to Idaho to lead the IRA. Representing the IRA, Pam sits on over one-dozen agency and private sector committees, including the Idaho Food Safety Advisory Council, one of five business appointed positions on the Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance Task Force, and Idaho Power’s Idaho Resource Planning Advisory Committee and their Consumer Advisory Group. On behalf of the IRA, Pam also sits on the Governor’s Alcohol Beverage Control Task Force and several other coalitions that are focusing on alcohol issues like training, compliance checks, funding and licensing. She also sits on the boards of directors of the Idaho Liability Reform Coalition, the Idaho Advertising Federation, the Governor’s Idaho Preferred Program, the Idaho Legislative Advisors, and is a past board member of the Council of State Retail Associations and past chairman of the Idaho Society of Association Executives. Pam graduated from Washington State University.

Lupe Wissel is the state director of AARP Idaho since 2015. She served more than 10 years with the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and earlier served as the staff director for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. She is also former state director for the Idaho Commission on Aging, a post to which she was appointed by then-Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. Wissel is fluent in Spanish and also worked as a former assistant regional manager/rehabilitation counselor for the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. She has served on a number of boards and commissions, including the Pacific Region National Rehabilitation Association, the Idaho Hispanic Commission and Idaho State Independent Living Council and the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce.