About Us
Data-driven research & analysis to build public retirement systems that work — for every public worker and the communities they serve.
A fair retirement for all
Our Mission
Equable Institute is a bipartisan nonprofit dedicated to making public retirement systems work. We sit at the intersection of retirement policy and broader public policy, equipping policymakers, public employees, and retirement plan managers with independent, data-driven research, analysis, and education. When retirement systems are sustainable and well-designed, they strengthen the public services communities depend on and put every public worker on a path to retirement security.
Why Equable?
Equable was created because we’ve seen how bipartisan, collaborative processes build lasting change for state and municipal governments — and how a lack of clear information and partisan politics can threaten pension solvency, cut public services, or delay necessary reforms. Having votes from more than one party isn’t enough; the path from identifying problems to finding solutions must also be collaborative from the start.
Teacher Retirement U
We know public pension retirement benefits can be complicated, but learning about them shouldn’t be. TRU has free, interactive courses designed by experts and educators to help teachers understand how their retirement system works, the benefits it offers, and the challenges it faces.
Verdara
Verdara is a public benefit corporation born out of Equable’s research. It designs and manages pooled, portable retirement plans for mission-driven workers left out of state pension systems — combining the best of pensions and 401(k)s without the complexity, hidden fees, or conflicts of interest.
How We Work
Our Approach
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for every challenge to retirement security. Some states have strong public sector benefit design, but poor funding policies for promised pensions. Some retirement systems have very near-term solvency issues, while others are in a position where if they make improvements now they can avoid costly fixes down the road. We believe that solutions start with a data-first analysis of the challenges unique to a state, municipality, and system.
Our Board
We’ve purposely built Equable with a bipartisan board to reflect the broad political spectrum of this country.
Former Board Members
We are grateful to the dedicated leaders and advocates whose service on Equable’s board helped build the foundation for our work.
Our Team
Researchers, economists, organizers, and writers united by collaborative problem-solving and a commitment to retirement security for all.
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