It’s been a busy year for Jordan Marks and the National Public Pension Coalition. The Washington-based not-for-profit was established in 2007 in response to Alaska’s decision to terminate its defined benefit pension plan for state workers. Funded by seven of the U.S.’s major unions, including the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union, NPPC’s mission is to counter attacks on defined benefit pension plans. As the organization’s executive director, Marks, 35, has been front and center in efforts to coordinate and assist campaigns across the U.S. Surprisingly, Marks says he’s gratified by how his side fared in the 2014 midterm elections. “This was not a bad year for pensions,” he says. NPPC won almost all its legislative and ballot initiatives, and helped defeat a measure in Phoenix that would have switched new city employees into a 401(k) system. NPPC often faces deep-pocketed opponents, including the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (No. 2), which poured money into the Phoenix initiative. But Marks, who has served as a staffer to former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania policy director for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, believes that the power of NPPC’s message has not just helped the coalition prevail but has slowed the pace of attacks on traditional pensions. “People don’t like to see public employees get hurt,” he says.
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Jordan Marks
Executive Director
National Public Pension Coalition
PNR
The 2014 Pension 40