Josh B. McGee is research professor for the Office of Education Policy at the University of Arkansas and is a leading retirement policy expert and has written extensively about retirement plan design, benefit security, and sustainability. He was most recently executive vice president of Results-Driven Government at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and chairman of the Texas State Pension Review Board. He has provided expert testimony and technical assistance in more than 50 jurisdictions across the country. In addition, he is a member of the board of directors of MDRC. Mr. McGee earned a B.S., an M.S., and a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas.

Pete Constant is an assistant professor of public policy at William Jessup University. He also serves as a board member for the Roseville Joint Union High School District. Previously he was chief executive officer of the Retirement Security Initiative, director of the Pension Integrity Project, and Senior Fellow at the Reason Foundation. While at Reason he led the team that designed, drafted, and negotiated the successful public safety pension reform plan for the state of Arizona. Prior to that, he served as Council Member for the City of San Jose from 2007-2014, where he served as trustee on the city's two pension plans. Pete began his career in law enforcement as a police officer for the City of San Jose, where he served for 11 years until an on-duty injury forced his early retirement.

“The only way to make lasting change to these complex systems is through bipartisan and stakeholder-wide solutions being developed. Equable is uniquely suited to facilitate these improvements.”

Dan Liljenquist served as a Utah State Senator from January 2009 to December 2011. Dan is a nationally recognized expert on pension reform. In 2010, he championed groundbreaking pension reforms that have helped ensure that Utah will be able to meet its retirement commitments to current workers and retirees, while providing retirement security for future workers. Dan is currently Chief Strategy Officer at Intermountain Healthcare, founding board chairman of Civica RX and Graphite Health, as well as a trustee for other public policy and community non-profit organizations.

“As a former legislator in Utah, I was able to see up close and personal what state and local governments face, as they try to balance the need to fairly compensate employees while managing a budget. Costs are much higher than anyone had anticipated because many pension plans have relied on overly optimistic financial assumptions without long-term sustainability in mind. The resulting debt has put extraordinary pressure on state and local governments around the country. That's a big issue.”

Steve Patton is a trial lawyer and appellate advocate in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP with nearly 40 years of experience trying cases and arguing appeals in complex, high-stakes commercial disputes across the country. From 2011 to 2017, Steve served as the City of Chicago’s Corporation Counsel and then- Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s senior legal advisor, where he was actively involved in efforts to reduce and actuarially fund the City’s massive unfunded pension liabilities. Since returning to Kirkland, Steve has served as lead counsel in nationwide pro bono cases involving immigrant and transgender rights, taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Law School, and served in leadership roles in several not-for-profits focused on reducing gun violence in Chicago. Steve is also a member of the executive dean’s advisory board at Indiana University College of Arts & Sciences, the UCAN presidential advisory board, and Chicago Metropolitan Family Services board of directors.

Lois Scott served as Chief Financial Officer for the City of Chicago under Mayor Rahm Emanuel from 2011 to 2015. She was entrusted by Mayor Emanuel to dig the City of Chicago out of a $600 million budget hole and tackle its $20 billion pension funding challenge. Her efforts were instrumental in passage of one of the most sweeping pension reform laws in U.S. history. Lois is currently a corporate director at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, an independent director at FHLB Chicago, the board chair at GreenGas USA, president of Epoch Advisors, and a co-founder of The 51 Fund.

“The public pension crisis is a weight that sits on top of every public policy goal. Unless and until we wrestle with that crisis, we cannot make progress on the issues that will make life better. Want better schools and better paid teachers? Fix the pension crisis so we can fund schools. Want a cleaner environment? Free up funding to make that happen. Think that we need more affordable housing? Focus on pensions first.”