Townsend Joins DOL as Retirement Advisor to Walsh

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is joining the Department of Labor to help advance state and federal efforts to expand retirement savings programs. 

In an emailed statement, Townsend explained that on Aug. 30 she started a new role as Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s Representative on Retirement and Pension Issues. 

“Over the last several years, I have worked ... to advance state and federal policy to create accessible, portable retirement savings programs to help the most vulnerable save for a dignified retirement. It has been a challenge to bring this issue to the forefront. However, much progress has been made. 10 states have passed legislation to address the retirement crisis and make it easier to save. These have enabled thousands of Americans and there is more to be done,” Townsend stated. 

“And so, with great excitement, I wanted to share the news that on August 30, I will start a new role to advance this work as the Secretary’s Representative on Retirement and Pension Issues for the Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh,” she added. 

“For years, my mission has been to protect pensions and build a retirement system that makes it possible for working Americans to retire with financial security. As the Secretary’s Representative on Pensions and Retirement, I am convinced that together we can make real and lasting strides to achieve these goals that support the dignity of work,” Townsend noted. 

Townsend most recently served as Executive Director of Retirement for All, a grassroots advocacy foundation to create universal retirement plans for all. From 2018 to 2019, she was Director of Retirement Security at the Economic Policy Institute, and she has served as a research professor at Georgetown University, where she founded the Center for Retirement Initiatives. Townsend also has served as chair of the Governor’s Retirement Security Task Force for the State of Maryland that helped spearhead efforts to enact a state-run retirement plan for workers not covered by a retirement plan at work. She was also Maryland’s first woman lieutenant governor, from 1995 to 2003. Prior to being elected lieutenant governor, Townsend served as a U.S. deputy assistant attorney general. She has also been a Managing Director at the Rock Creek Group, a Washington, DC-based investment advisor. 

Townsend is the eldest child of Robert F. Kennedy.

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