Cheryl Gannon is a Senior Fellow at the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement, and, since 2001, has helped design numerous outreach and educational initiatives that provide critical financial education and fraud prevention skills to average and at-risk women.  Since 2018 she has also directed WISER’s iOme Challenge program, a national essay competition for college students. Ms. Gannon is the author or co-author of numerous WISER publications, including Financial Steps for Caregivers, Seven Life Defining Financial Decisions and tip sheets for consumers on reverse mortgages, retirement saving vehicles, financial scams, healthcare scams, financial abuse by caregivers, Social Security and Medicare, saving and investing for young people, annuities, credit cards and credit reports and many other topics. Her publication, “Five Things to Ask your Mother or Grandmother” is a highly effective educational publication helping family members talk to senior citizen relatives about five topics, including financial fraud and scams. The publication received Gold honors from the Mature Media Awards. Ms. Gannon has also helped design several national workshop and train-the-trainer programs, including a training curriculum for the Financial Steps for Caregivers and a unique outreach and education program for women at a Native American Community College. 

Ms. Gannon has presented workshops at federal agencies, women’s commissions and church groups. She is an expert on retirement, financial and health issues, and has worked for 25 years in public policy, public affairs and legislative positions for a trade association, a Fortune 1000 company and a non-profit senior organization. She has extensive experience building coalitions of stakeholders and engaging the grassroots of both national organizations and small community organizations. She is a graduate of Catholic University of America and a public policy certificate program at Georgetown University.