Professional Position: Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer/Executive Vice President, Community State and National Affairs
Company: AARP
Location: Bethesda, MD
As AARP's chief advocacy and engagement officer, Nancy LeaMond has responsibility for driving the organization’s social mission on behalf of Americans 50-plus and their families. Nancy leads government affairs and legislative campaigns for AARP, widely seen as one of the most powerful advocacy organizations in the country. She also manages public education programs, community engagement, and AARP’s network of 18,000 volunteers. Nancy’s team includes 700 staff members across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Nancy brings to the ALS Board of Trustees significant experience leading AARP’s health care portfolio and its work on behalf of American’s 48 million family caregivers. AARP’s caregiving work is designed to support family caregivers in finding the help they need when they need it. Advocacy, education, outreach to employers, and innovative programs are all aimed at to providing social support and connecting caregivers to services and advocates in their own communities. Nancy and her two millennial sons also served as caregivers for her husband Steve, who battled ALS for six years and passed away in 2019.
Nancy has led several landmark advocacy campaigns for AARP including the successful 2017 effort to protect Medicare and maintain important consumer protections under the Affordable Care Act. Most recently, AARP’s Protect Voters 50+ campaign successfully provided older Americans with critical information about how they could cast ballots with confidence through the early voting process. Other campaigns demanded that candidates for national office commit to addressing challenges facing Social Security and Medicare, fought major home energy cost increases, and put health care and financial security at the top of the country's agenda.
Nancy has been named by The Hill as one of the “Top Lobbyists” every year since 2011. In 2020, Nancy received the first ever Lifetime Achievement award from the Women in Government Relations. The National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics also named Nancy one of its 2020 Top Lobbyists. In 2016, she received the What’s Next Boomer Business Innovation Award for Vision, Leadership and Integrity, and she was named one of Next Avenue’s 2017 Influencers in Aging.
Nancy is a nationally recognized leader on health, retirement security and other issues important to older Americans. Prior to coming to AARP, Nancy served as the chief of staff and assistant U.S. trade representative for congressional affairs at the Office of the United States Trade Representative. She worked extensively on health care and pension issues before entering the trade field, beginning her career in the Public Health Service, the Medicaid program and the Department of Commerce. She also served in the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Education, and on Capitol Hill as chief of staff to a senior member of Congress. Nancy holds a bachelor's degree from Smith College and a master's degree in public policy and city planning from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
