As AARP’s chief advocacy and engagement officer, Nancy LeaMond, MPP, has responsibility for advancing the organization’s social mission on behalf of Americans 50-plus and their families. She 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. LeaMond’s team includes 700 staff members across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
LeaMond directs major AARP initiatives, including work to support America’s 48 million family caregivers. Advocacy, education, outreach to employers, and innovative programs are aimed at saving caregivers time and money as well as making sure they have the information, skills and tools they need to care for their loved ones with confidence. Particular attention is paid to connecting family caregivers with resources and services in their own communities.
LeaMond has led several landmark advocacy campaigns for AARP, including the Fair Rx Prices Now campaign focused on lowering the prices of prescription drugs which resulted in historic the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022’s historic drug pricing reform. She also spearheaded the successful 2017 effort to protect Medicare and maintain important consumer protections under the Affordable Care Act. Other campaigns have provided older Americans with critical information about how they could cast safely ballots during the pandemic, urged candidates for national office to address 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.
LeaMond has been named by The Hill as a “Top Lobbyist” every year since 2011 and as one Washington, D.C.’s Most Influential People Shaping Policy in the healthcare category by Washingtonian Magazine four years in a row. In 2020, she received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement award from the Women in Government Relations. The National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics also named LeaMond one of its 2020 and 2022 Top Lobbyists.
LeaMond is a nationally recognized leader on health, retirement security, and other issues important to older Americans. Prior to coming to AARP, LeaMond 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. LeaMond 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.
LeaMond currently serves on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee, the Bryce Harlow Foundation Board of Directors, and is a member of the ALS Association Board of Trustees. She also serves on the KB Home National Advisory Board on home and community development and the United States Conference of Mayors Business Council Steering Committee. She is a former Trustee of Smith College.
