2025 Summit
Ron Auer
CORPaTH
Ron is executive director of CORPaTH. He has extensive experience in investment architecture and strategy, management, and communications. He has been a speaker at the IFEBP, The World Bank, Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), and The Centre for Corporate Governance and Ethics at the University of London, Birkbeck. Ron has participated in programs at the Kennedy School of Government (Behavioral Finance), Harvard University, and the PRI. He served as co-chair of the Committee to Support America’s Workers.
Ted pappageorge
Culinary Workers Union Local 226
Ted Pappageorge is secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226. He previously served as president for 10 years (2012 – 2022).
Ted has been negotiating collective bargaining agreements for over 20 years and is one of the chief negotiators for Culinary Union contracts, which protect approximately 60,000 workers.
Ted’s goal is to secure good union wages, healthcare, and benefits for Culinary Union members and their families. Ted has helped win the strongest and most comprehensive language on technology, immigration, sexual harassment and safety in the history of any union in the United States.
Jacques Loveall
UFCW 8-Golden State / UFCW Trust
Jacques is president of UFCW 8-Golden State and chair of UFCW Trust, which administers pension and health care benefits for 125,000 active workers, dependents and retirees in the food and drug industries. He is a vice president of the UFCW International Union and senior vice president of the California Labor Federation. He is also chair of the Loveall Foundation for Children, a nonprofit charity dedicated to giving children an opportunity for a better life and enabling them to reach their full potential.
Michael Scott
NCCMP
Michael is the Executive Director for the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP). He has broad investment banking, advisory and public policy experience from serving in senior positions in the U.S. Government and the private sector. Prior to NCCMP, Mr. Scott ran his own advisory business where he advised clients on federal credit, infrastructure, federal budget issues, public-private solutions, legislation and regulations, as well as GSE and housing finance reform. At U.S. Department of the Treasury, Mr. Scott was responsible for federal credit, federal and private sector restructurings, privatizations, infrastructure finance, and government financial policy.
trustee panel
The trustee panel brings together representatives from public and Taft-Hartley pension funds and will include perspectives from both labor and management. Panelists will discuss current issues and challenges facing their funds and will be asked to comment on efforts to invest in ways which create and protect good Union jobs while providing an appropriate rate of return.
Ron lind
CORPaTH
Ron is Public Member of the Board of Administration of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation’s largest pension fund with more than $300 billion in assets. He was appointed jointly by the California State Assembly and Senate in 2013. Prior to joining the CalPERS board, Lind spent twelve years as a member of the governing board of the San Jose-Evergreen Community District. Previously, he served as president of UFCW Local 5 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
John frahm
UFCW and Employers Northern California Pension Fund
John is president of UFCW Local 5. He has worked for the UFCW for over 22 years. In 2020 he was elected Secretary-Treasurer, and then in 2023 he was elected President. He is currently a trustee on multiple benefit funds including the UFCW and Employers Northern California Pension fund, UFCW Northern California Drug Pension fund, UFCW and Employers Individual Account Plan and the UFCW and Employers Lifetime Income Security Accrual Fund.
Brent Lewandowski
Cook County, Illinois Pension Fund
Brent is executive director of the Cook County Pension Fund where he oversees approximately $15 billion in assets for two pension funds and leads efforts to strengthen the financial stability and service to the 40,000 active members and annuitants.
As a dedicated public servant with more than 25 years of experience as an active Cook County employee, Brent spent 15 of those years as a Cook County Sheriff as a correctional officer and investigator.
Sandi Ryan
Alaska Retirement Management Board
Sandi is vice chair of the Alaska Retirement Management (ARM) Board and chair of its actuarial committee. She is a retired mathematics and computer science teacher in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, where she taught from 1994 to 2023. She served as a member of the District’s curriculum committee, an advanced placement teacher in both AP Computer Science and AP Statistics, on two school Accreditation Committees, and on the Education Excellence for Teachers and Students Committee.
Patrick Velasquez
Nevada Contractors Association
Patrick is Director of Labor Relations with the Nevada Contractors Association (NCA) and Association of General Contractor (AGC) representing over 75 union contractors in Southern Nevada.
Patrick has been involved with unions and trust issues for over 30 years. Prior to that he was a Director of Labor Relations for United Parcel Service (UPS) and Director of Labor for Penhall Inc. for the North American Division covering The US and Canadian operations.
consultants panel
Consultants will discuss how defined benefit plans are navigating the shifting economic and policy landscape of the Trump era. Topics include interest rate dynamics, market volatility, regulatory signals and the long-term solvency challenges facing pension sponsors. Also discussed will be the intersection of pension investment strategies with the role of responsible investment, job creation, worker rights and considering how capital deployment aligns with the long-term interests of plan participants.
Ron Auer
CORPaTH
Ron is executive director of CORPaTH. He has extensive experience in investment architecture and strategy, management, and communications. He has been a speaker at the IFEBP, The World Bank, Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), and The Centre for Corporate Governance and Ethics at the University of London, Birkbeck. Ron has participated in programs at the Kennedy School of Government (Behavioral Finance), Harvard University, and the PRI. He served as co-chair of the Committee to Support America’s Workers.
Tim McCusker
NEPC
Tim is chief investment officer at NEPC, where he oversees investment research and strategy development. In 2015, he topped CIO magazine’s rankings of the world’s most influential investment consultants, and in 2016 he was listed again by the magazine as one of the world’s most influential investment consultants. Tim earned his B.A. in mathematics from Colgate University.
Stephanie sorg
Meketa Investment Group
Stephanie is a managing principal, investment consultant at Meketa Investment Group and serves as a consultant for various defined-benefit, endowment, foundation, defined-contribution, and health & welfare funds, with Taft-Hartley, public and non-profit clients. Since joining the firm in 2017, her consulting work includes asset allocation, risk budgeting, investment policy and guideline development, portfolio and manager attribution analysis, asset class structural reviews, investment manager searches, and performance monitoring. In addition to her client responsibilities, she is a member of Meketa’s Pension Practice Group.
Nick Trella
Segal Marco Advisors
Nick is a senior vice president in Segal Marco Advisors’ Chicago office. He works directly with clients, leading them on investment decisions related to their pension, health & welfare, defined contribution, VEBA and other miscellaneous investment portfolios. Nick concentrates his efforts on portfolio asset allocation, risk and liquidity management, quantitative portfolio analysis and trustee investment education. He focuses on client relationships with a specialty in the Taft-Hartley and endowment marketplace.
2025 crystal globe awards
Master of Ceremonies
Collin Moulton
Collin is a comedian who draws on life experiences and current events to create a comedy ride for his audiences.
Collin can be heard regularly on satellite radio. He has also appeared on Comedy Central, the Bob and Tom Show and he currently writes for Showtime.
Manifesting possibilities
Gerard Senehi
Experimentalist
Gerard is recognized as a “superstar” in mentalist entertainment. He has been featured on numerous television shows internationally including The Today Show, Ellen, Fox News and CNN. New York Magazine referred to his performance as “some sort of religious experience from the sixteenth century.” World leaders, Presidents, celebrities and top corporations have been moved by his unique approach to mentalism which combines the art of mystery and the impossible with inspiration about the wonder and mystery of Life.
crystal globe awards keynote
Matti Leppälä
Secretary General/CEO of PensionsEurope
PensionsEurope is the leading voice for funded pensions in Europe representing 25 European national pension fund associations covering over 100 million Europeans and €7 trillion of assets.
Matti is vice-chair and a former member, chair and vice-chair of the Occupational Pensions Stakeholder Group of EIOPA. He was a member of the European Commission’s High-Level Group of Experts on Pensions 2018–2019 and the Chair of the World Pension Alliance 2023–2024 and 2018–2019.
Before joining PensionsEurope Matti worked 11 years for The Finnish Pension Alliance TELA. In the 1990’s Matti worked in collective bargaining, labour law and social policy. In 1986, he began his professional career at the Ministry of Justice in Finland. Matti has a LLM and an Executive MBA in Insurance and Financial services.
2025 crystal globe award recipients
Presented in order of appearance.
Mark Lauritsen
UFCW International Vice President /
Director of Food Processing, Packing & Manufacturing
Mark is International Vice President and Director of the Food Processing, Packing and Manufacturing Division of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).
Mark is a third-generation packinghouse worker who began his union career as a shop steward in the Wilson Foods meatpacking plant in Cherokee, Iowa. Today, his rank-and-file perspective guides his work to unite worker activists from across the country. Mark spearheads the UFCW’s work to organize new packinghouse workers, negotiate contracts, and to educate political and community allies in the effort to raise standards for all workers in the meat packing and food processing industries.
Matthew Lovell
Head of Labor Relations, JBS USA
Matt is a seasoned human resources and labor relations executive with more than two decades of experience in large, complex organizations. He currently serves as head of labor relations, employee health & safety, and security for JBS USA, where he oversees labor relations strategy, occupational health and safety, workers’ compensation, and security for a global food company with 85 facilities, 78,000+ employees across the USA and Canada, with annual revenues exceeding $40B.
As an accomplished labor strategist and chief negotiator, Matt has led and overseen more than 100 labor negotiations and the administration of more than 50 longstanding labor agreements impacting more than 35,000 union-represented employees. He is a trusted partner and subject matter expert on collective bargaining, relationship management, grievance resolution, and arbitration. His leadership has resulted in many groundbreaking agreements, including national-level settlements spanning dozens of facilities and multiple business as well as the creation of a historic pension fund designed to minimize liabilities while providing a stable retirement benefit.
Randi Weingarten
President, American Federation of Teachers
Randi is president of the 1.8 million-member AFT, which represents teachers; paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; higher education faculty and staff; nurses and other healthcare professionals; local, state and federal government employees; and early childhood educators.
Prior to her election as AFT president in 2008, Weingarten served for 11 years as president of the United Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2, representing approximately 200,000 educators in the New York City public school system, as well as home child care providers and other workers in health, law and education.
Under Weingarten’s leadership, the AFT continues to grow and expand its voice as a union of professionals. Nationwide, the AFT is the second-largest union of nurses and other health professionals and the largest higher education union, representing 230,000 higher education faculty, professional staff and graduate employees.