Dr. Laurel Beedon has spent her career working on retirement income policy as a researcher, writer, speaker, and educator. Dr. Beedon has recently retired from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) where she was a Senior Analyst in the Education, Workforce, and Income Security Division. She is volunteering at WISER as a Senior Research Fellow lending her invaluable and extensive experience to the organization.

Among her publications for the GAO are studies on the provision of  home and community-based services and how the Social Security Administration delivers information to its constituents. Her prior experience includes: Senior Fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) where she led the Washington Internship program, Senior Research Fellow at WISER, and Senior Policy Adviser at the Public Policy Institute (PPI). At PPI she conducted research, wrote and published numerous reports and briefs focusing on Social Security (Old Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance), and other retirement income sources with a focus on the aging and women’s communities. She came to PPI from the Social Security Administration’s Offices of Research and Statistics and Governmental Affairs.

In addition to policy research, Dr. Beedon’s experience includes: staff member of the American Indian Policy Committee for Senator James Abourezk and faculty member at the George Washington University.  She is also a member of the Alumni Advisory Board at Virginia Tech University where she received her doctorate.