Staff

Dana Bilyeu, Executive Director

Ms. Bilyeu was appointed as executive director of NASRA in September 2013.

Before joining NASRA, she served for ten years as the executive officer of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Nevada. She was responsible for all aspects of fund management including analysis of plan funding, investment oversight, operational and strategic planning, and fiduciary and governance issues. Before her appointment as the executive officer, she served for eight years as the System's operations officer, overseeing benefits administration, including survivor, disability, and retirement programs. Before coming to work at the System, Ms. Bilyeu was the System's legal counsel in the Office of the Nevada Attorney General, representing the System in benefits litigation, contract analysis, Board governance, and fiduciary issues.

She is in her third term on the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB). FRTIB administers the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) and is an independent Federal agency overseen by five presidentially appointed board members and an Executive Director. The TSP is a retirement savings and investment plan for over 4.5 million Federal employees and members of the uniformed services, including the Ready Reserve. Ms. Bilyeu also served as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board from 2007 through September 2010. The Advisory Board is an independent, bipartisan board created by Congress and appointed by the President and the Congress to advise the President, the Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs. In addition, Ms. Bilyeu also served for over fifteen years on the Public Employees' Board of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

Ms. Bilyeu received her Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Arizona.
dana@nasra.org, 202.624.8462  

  Keith Brainard, Research Director

As research director for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, Mr. Brainard collects, prepares and distributes to NASRA members news, studies and reports pertinent to public retirement system administration and policy.

Mr. Brainard is co-author of The Governmental Plans Answer Book, Fifth Edition, and he created the Public Fund Survey, predecessor to the Public Plans Database, an online compendium of public pension data developed and maintained through a collaboration of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, MissionSquare Institute, the Government Finance Officers Association,and NASRA. He also created the State & Local Pension Exchange, the predecessor to the Public Fund Survey and recipient of the Award for Excellence in Government Finance from the GFOA. Keith has discussed public pension issues before Congress, state legislative committees, public pension boards of trustees, and on multiple media outlets.

Keith is an adjunct assistant professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as vice-chairman of the Texas Pension Review Board and previously served two non-consecutive terms as an elected member of the Georgetown, Texas, city council. Mr. Brainard served as manager of budget and planning for the Arizona State Retirement System and as a fiscal analyst for the Texas and Arizona legislatures. He holds a B.A. and an M.P.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.
keith@nasra.org, 202.624.8464

Alex Brown, Research Manager

Alex is the research manager for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) where he is responsible for collecting and updating data and contributing to fact sheets and other research materials that help inform the public pension community. He has co-authored papers on public pension and retiree health care including “Strengthening State and Local Government Finances: Lessons for Negotiating Public Pension Plan Reforms,” “Understanding Finances and Changes in Retiree Health Care,” and NASRA Issue Briefs on pension spending, hybrid retirement plans, and cost-of-living adjustments.

Before joining NASRA, Alex worked on pension and retiree health care issues for the Center for State & Local Government Excellence and the International City/County Management Association. He holds a master’s in public policy from George Mason University and a B.A. in interdisciplinary social sciences from James Madison University.
alex@nasra.org, 202.624.8461
 

Jeannine Markoe Raymond, Director of Federal Relations

Ms. Raymond has served as director of federal relations for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators since 1997. In this role, she serves as NASRA's liaison to Congress and the Administration, as well as other national associations, policy organizations, and stakeholder groups.  

Ms. Raymond serves on the advisory board of the Wharton Business School’s Pension Research Council, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans’ Government Liaison Committee, is Vice President of the Coalition to Preserve Retirement Security, and is a member of the The Tax Coalition. She is on the board of Women in Government Relations and a former co-chair of their Financial Services Task Force. She was a congressionally-appointed delegate to the 2002 National Summit on Retirement Savings.

Formerly, Ms. Raymond was the legislative analyst for the Government Finance Officers Association. She also worked as a graduate student associate for the California Debt Advisory Commission within the California State Treasurer’s Office.

She received a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, San Diego, and a Master’s degree, with honors, in public administration and intergovernmental management from the University of Southern California.
jeannine@nasra.org, 202.624.1417
 

Ronda Stegmann, Membership Coordinator

 

Ronda is the newest staff addition to NASRA as Membership Coordinator; in this role, she is responsible for managing member services, along with the Executive Director, member outreach, and support.
 
Before joining NASRA,Ronda served for five years as the Executive Director of the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS).  She was responsible for the oversight and leadership of all System program areas, including actuarial, financial, retirement and disability benefits, and the deferred compensation plan. Before her appointment as the Executive Director, she served for three years as the System’s Legislative and Policy Coordinator, ensuring the Missouri General Assembly was informed and educated on all aspects of MOSERS.  Before coming to work at MOSERS, Ronda served for sixteen years at the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Public Employee Retirement (JCPER) with her final six years as the Executive Director.  The JCPER received and reported annual information from Missouri’s 120 public pension systems and worked to ensure appropriate actuarial and financial information was provided relative to policy decisions.
 
She served on the Missouri Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (MAPERS) from 2009 to 2015 and Staff Vice Chair of the Budgets and Revenue Committee within the National Council on State Legislatures (NCSL) from 2013 to 2015.
 
Ronda received a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Columbia College and her Certificate in Public Plan Policy from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP).
 
ronda@nasra.org