About the Elder Economic Security Initiative™

The Elder Economic Security Initiative™ (Initiative) offers a conceptual framework and concrete tools to shape policies and programs to build economic security for elders and their families. The Initiative combines organizing, advocacy and outreach at the national, state and community levels. To date, the Initiative is ongoing in seventeen states, including Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, West Virginia, New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, North Carolina, South Dakota and Iowa.

Underpinning the Initiative is the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), developed by the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston and WOW. The Elder Index is a new measure of the income that older adults need to meet their basic needs and age in place with dignity. The Elder Index is specific to household size, geographic area and life circumstances.

Find out more about the work of the Initiative:

• Press Release – Atlantic Philanthropies Support for the Elder Initiative
• Frequently Asked Questions About the Elder Economic Securty Initiative™
• Frequently Asked Questions About the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index
• Other Resources

The National Advisory Board for the Initiative:

• Howard Bedlin
  Vice President for Public Policy and Advocacy, National Council on the Aging
• Ellen Bruce
  Associate Director, Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston
• Barbara Butrica
  Senior Research Associate, Income Benefit and Policy Center, The Urban Institute
• Karen Ferguson
  Director, Pension Rights Center
• Lee Finney
  Retired Labor Relations Attorney
• Karen Friedman
  Policy Director, Pension Rights Center
• Amy Gotwals
  Director of Public Policy and Legislative Affairs, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging
• Heidi Hartmann, Ph. D.
  President, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
• Martha Holstein
  Long-term Care Advisor, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
• Cindy Hounsell
  Executive Director, Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement
• Karyne Jones
  President and CEO, The National Caucus and Center on Black Aged
• Harriet Komisar
  Associate Research Professor, Georgetown University, Health Policy Institute
• Diane Lifsey
  Director of Government Relations, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
• Marci Phillips
  Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, National Council on Aging
  
• Anna M. Rappaport, FSA, MAAA
  Anna Rappaport Consulting
• Virginia P. Reno
  Vice President for Income Security Policy, National Academy of Social Insurance
• Martha Roherty
  Executive Director, National Association of State Units on Aging
• Erol Yildirim
  Cost of Living Index (COLI) Project Manager, ACCRA-the Council for Community and Economic Research