Executive Board members ascending to new positions are Jim Potvin, Hunter Bethea, Paul Nacario; Malia Bonham continues as Member-at-Large; Newcomers are Karla Kirkling, Brian Merrick

Lexington, KY, October 7, 2026 — The National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators today announced the elevation of Beth Conradson Cleary to NAGDCA Executive Board President from Vice President, and additional changes to the 2026-2027 Executive Board. NAGDCA is the premier professional association for plan administrators and services providers of government-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans, and the nation’s state-facilitated auto-IRA programs.

Beth Conradson Cleary, Executive Director of the City of Milwaukee’s 457(b) Deferred Compensation Retirement Plan, replaces Ronda Butler Bell, Executive Director & Board Secretary of Maryland Teachers & State Employees Supplemental Retirement Plans.

We’re delighted to now have Beth helming the NAGDCA Executive Board,” said Matt Petersen, NAGDCA Executive Director. “We look forward to continuing to work with her in her new position as she continues to share her extensive experience, expertise, and insights in furtherance of NAGDCA’s efforts to support public sector DC plan sponsors.”

The following individuals were elevated from their prior Executive Board positions:

  • Jim Potvin to Vice President from Secretary/Treasurer. Jim is Executive Director for the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia.
  • Hunter Bethea to Secretary/Treasurer from Member-at-Large. Hunter is Director of Deferred Compensation for the Tennessee Department of Treasury.
  • Paul Nacario to Industry President from Industry Observer. Paul is Managing Director, Partner at Creative Planning Retirement.
  • Malia Bonham, Defined Contribution Plan Manager at the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems, continues as Member-at-Large.

Newcomers to the NAGDCA Executive Board are:

  • Karla Kirkling joins as Member-at-Large. Karla is Executive Director of Healthcare & Benefits for Chicago Public Schools’ 403(b) and 457(b) Tax-Deferred Compensation Plans.
  • Brian Merrick joins as Industry Observer. Brian is VP, Client Relationship Leader, Government Market at Voya Financial.

“We’re grateful to have Jim, Hunter, Paul, and Malia continuing to share their valuable industry experience in their new and current positions. And, we’re pleased to welcome Karla and Brian, whose experience and insights we’re eager to tap as we continue to advocate for and support the nation’s public sector DC plan sponsors. We thank Ronda and Julian for their years of service,” Matt concluded.

Additional information about NAGDCA’s 2026-2027 Executive Board members may be found here.

About NAGDCA

NAGDCA provides education, information, and training in all aspects of public plan administration to support members in creating plans that enable secure retirement outcomes for their participants. NAGDCA’s members include 270 governmental plan sponsor members represent 15,000 governments in 49 states, administering governmental deferred compensation and defined contribution plans, including Section 457(b), 401(k), 401(a), and 403(b) plans, as well as the majority of the nation’s state-facilitated auto-IRA programs.

Additionally, NAGDCA is a co-founder with the Employee Benefit Research Institute of the Public Retirement Research Lab (PRRL), a retirement industry-sponsored collaborative effort. The PRRL mines data from the PRRL Database, the first-ever database specific to public sector plan- and participant-level defined contribution data, to produce research aimed at enhancing understanding of the design and utilization of public sector defined contribution retirement plans. NAGDCA also conceived National Retirement Security Week to encourage retirement saving among government workers. Through its efforts, National Retirement Security Week evolved into National Retirement Security Month, a national effort to inspire American employees to save adequately for a secure retirement that is observed throughout the retirement industry during the month of October. To learn more about NAGDCA, visit https://www.nagdca.org/.

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