Speaker Bios
SPEAKERS & MODERATORS:
Sandy Blair, Chief, Administrator, California Savings Plus
Sandy Blair is the Chief Administrator for the California Savings Plus Program, which offers pretax and Roth options in their 457(b) and 401(k) plans. Under her leadership, the program serves over 250,000 participants and manages assets exceeding $24 billion. Since joining in 2022, Sandy has overseen daily operations and field outreach teams, ensuring effective retirement savings options for California State Employees.
Previously, Sandy served as the Director of Retirement Readiness at CalSTRS, where she led the Client Outreach and Guidance office and administered the CalSTRS Pension2® plan, benefiting over 10,000 participants.
Sandy holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Finance from California State University, Sacramento. Her extensive experience in consumer banking, finance, and tax preparation has been instrumental in her success, making her a leader in retirement savings. Notably, she has also served as the President of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) on two occasions, further advancing the retirement industry.
Michael Conrath, CFP, CPRC, Chief Retirement Strategist & Head of Retirement Insights Strategy Team, J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Michael Conrath, CFP, CPRC, is the Chief Retirement Strategist and Head of the Retirement Insights Strategy Team for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. In this role, Michael is responsible for researching and delivering timely retirement-related insights to clients and financial professionals. Michael has over 25 years of investment and wealth management experience and focuses on identifying themes to improve retirement savings and deliver better retirement income outcomes for individuals across the wealth spectrum.
Michael formerly was the Head of Education Savings for J.P. Morgan Asset Management and was responsible for the firm’s 529 plan strategy, product solutions and distribution efforts across client relationships.
Michael earned an M.B.A. with a dual concentration in Finance and Taxation from Fordham University and a B.A. in English Literature and Rhetoric from Binghamton University. He is a Certified Financial Planner®, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and holds the Series 7, 6 and 63 licenses.
Michael Kreps, Principal | Retirement Services Chair, Groom Law Group
Michael Kreps is chair of Groom’s Retirement Services group, and he works with a wide variety of clients on complex retirement and health plan issues. His firsthand experience with the legislative and regulatory process gives him a perspective that is often instrumental in helping clients develop and implement effective compliance and advocacy strategies.
Michael advises many of the country’s largest benefit plans and service providers on issues related to plan governance, administration, funding, and restructuring. Michael is an expert on benefit plan recordkeeping and the development of complex financial and insurance products. He also serves as fund counsel to some of the largest benefit plans in the country, including public retirement systems and VEBAs. Michael helps clients address complex pension funding challenges for both single employer and Taft-Hartley (multiemployer) plans, and he has been involved in over a dozen distress terminations before the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).
As a zealous advocate, Michael routinely represents clients before regulators and Congress. He has successfully navigated dozens of Department of Labor (DOL) investigations, including a large number of service provider “book of business” audits. Michael also has secured federal legislation on behalf of clients to, among other things, change the pension funding rules for community newspapers, facilitate retirement plan participation by homecare workers, and provide pension funding relief to a national non-profit.
From the 111th through the 114th Congresses, Michael served as the Senior Pensions and Employment Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He managed all aspects of the Committee’s retirement agenda and had primary staff responsibility for pension legislation, including the pension investment provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the funding stabilization and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation reform provisions of the MAP-21 Act of 2012, the Pension Relief Act of 2010, and the CSEC Pension Flexibility Act. He also led the Committee’s oversight of regulatory activities involving employee benefit plans.
Michael serves as external general counsel for the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA) and is on the Executive Committee of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA). He is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School (JD with honors), the University of Colorado (with distinction), and the Sorensen Institute Political Leaders Program.
David Levine, Principal, Groom Law Group
David Levine advises plan sponsors, advisors, and other service providers on a wide range of employee benefits matters, from retirement and executive compensation to health and welfare plan matters.
David advises on the design and redesign of complex retirement, executive, and health and welfare plans; ongoing, day-to-day counseling of plan sponsors; in-depth compliance reviews of corporate and governmental benefit programs; alternative products and assets, including venture capital, private equity, and cryptocurrency, for IRA, HSAs, and 401(k) plan service providers; products and compliance for retirement and health service providers, and representation of tax-exempt organizations with respect to issues involving corporate governance, executive compensation, and unrelated business income tax liability.
David was previously the Chair of the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (2011-2013) and is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association and serves in a number of leadership roles in the American Bar Association Tax Section’s Employee Benefits Committee. David regularly speaks on plan design, fiduciary governance, and legislative issues and contributes a recurring column to NAPA Net — The Magazine. He is recognized in the Chambers USA guide for Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation.
Zhikun Liu, Ph.D., CFP®, Vice President, Head of MissionSquare Research Institute
Zhikun Liu, Ph.D., CFP®, is an experienced financial planning research director specializing in retirement planning, behavioral economics, and wealth management. He currently serves as Vice President and Head of the MissionSquare Research Institute at MissionSquare. Dr. Liu’s prior career includes research director roles at Empower Retirement and Employee Benefit Research Institute, where he made significant contributions to the retirement and financial planning industry. A prolific author, his work has been featured in numerous academic and industry journals. He is also a sought-after speaker, regularly presenting at financial services conferences, and his insights are frequently cited by the media. Zhikun received his Ph.D. in Personal Financial Planning from Texas Tech University. In addition, he holds four master’s and two bachelor’s degrees in six different majors from four universities, including Mathematics, Economics, Finance, Personal Financial Planning, Information Technology, Computer Science, and English. Zhikun is also a Certified Financial Planner® and a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo
Jennifer Mausolf, Customer Strategies Director, MERS of Michigan
Jennifer serves as the Customer Strategies Director at the Municipal Employees Retirement System (MERS) of Michigan, where she oversees outreach, marketing, and public relations for retirement programs that support over 1,000 municipalities statewide. With over 20 years of dedicated service at MERS, Jennifer has spearheaded numerous impactful initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of financial security in retirement. She is also the architect of MERS’ financial wellness strategy, which positively influences the lives of more than 100,000 public employees across Michigan.
A proud graduate of Michigan State University, Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Arts degree and is a Certified Financial Education Instructor. Her leadership reflects a deep commitment to empowering communities through education and actionable strategies for long-term financial stability. Jennifer resides in Lansing, Michigan, where she enjoys spending time with her family and contributing to her local community.
Justin Norton, Chief of Operations, Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office; Vice Chair, Washoe County Deferred Compensation Committee
Justin Norton is a board-certified fellow of the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators and oversees forensic operations and investigations for Washoe County’s medical examiner/coroner. He has been an active member of the Washoe County Deferred Compensation Committee since 2019, serving as Vice Chair since 2022. Justin has been a strong advocate for deferred compensation automatic enrollment and automatic escalation for employees, as well as increased employee education. His committee won a NAGDCA Leadership Award in 2025 for participant education and communication.
Justin has over a decade of experience managing a labor union, recently ending his final term as President of the Washoe County Employees Association. Through this, he has gained invaluable experience and expertise in managing relations between governments and their unionized employees. He has served as chief negotiator for several labor contracts, mediated disputes between employees and management, and participated in arbitrations and other legal matters.
Marta Norton, Chief Investment Strategist, Empower
With more than 20 years of experience in investment management, Marta is one of the industry’s leading voices on the economy, financial markets, and the trends shaping investors’ decisions.
Known for her thoughtful market analysis and ability to make complex economic issues accessible, Marta is a frequent commentator featured in major financial media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and Bloomberg.
Join us as Marta kicks off the conference with a timely discussion on the economic landscape, market trends, and what public sector retirement leaders should be watching in the months ahead.
Matt Petersen, Executive Director, NAGDCA
Matt Petersen joined NAGDCA as the association’s first full time dedicated staff resource in the summer of 2017. In his role as Executive Director he works directly with the Executive Board and staff to develop strategies to help the organization achieve its mission and vision. Prior to joining NAGDCA Matt spent 13 years on active duty in the US Air Force as a C-17 evaluator pilot and air drop specialist, and served three deployments in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Matt is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He also has a Master’s in Social Sciences from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Michael Scott, Investment Officer Virginia Retirement System
Michael Scott is an Investment Officer with the Virginia Retirement System, where he helps oversee approximately $12 billion in public sector defined contribution (DC) retirement plan assets. With more than 13 years of experience in retirement plan oversight, his work focuses on investment menu design, manager due diligence, target-date funds, alternative investments, and retirement income solutions. Prior to moving into investments, Michael served in audit roles with the Virginia Retirement System, the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts, and the City of Richmond. He is a CPA and CFA charterholder.
Sue Walton, SVP, Senior Retirement Strategist, Capital Group | American Funds
Sue Walton is a senior retirement strategist at Capital Group, home of American Funds. She has 26 years of industry experience and has been with Capital Group for eight years. Prior to joining Capital, Sue was a director at Towers Watson Investment Services. Before that, she was an investment consultant at Mercer Investment Consulting and Ellwood Associates.
She holds an MBA from DePaul University with a concentration in finance and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, economics and international business from Marquette University. Sue is based in Chicago.