DOL Appoints 5 New Members to the ERISA Advisory Council

The Department of Labor announced Tuesday the appointment of five new members of the 2023 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, better known as the ERISA Advisory Council.

The council has 15 members representing different interest group and industries related to retirement: three each representing employers, employees and the general public, and one each for accounting, actuarial counseling, corporate trust, insurance, investment counseling and investment management.

Members serve staggered three-year terms and help the council advise the DOL on matters related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

From the field of accounting, the DOL appointed Fayetteville, Arkansas-based Gwen Mazzola, a partner in and the ERISA practice leader of HoganTaylor LLP.

Representing employees, Mayoung Nham was the DOL’s choice. Nham is a principal in the Slevin & Hart PC law firm in Washington, D.C.

For employers, the DOL appointed Jack M. Towarnicky, of Cleveland, an ERISA compliance attorney with the Koehler Fitzgerald LLC law firm.

Representing the general public, the DOL chose Chicago-based Mark D. DeBofsky, the principal member of DeBofksy Law Ltd.

Finally, also from the accounting field, the DOL appointed Pennsylvania-based Alice Palmer, the vice president and Retirement Plan Service chief counsel for the Lincoln Financial Group.