Bridget Bearden is Research and Development Strategist at the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Prior to joining EBRI, Bridget conducted research and created thought leadership for corporate and non-profit investment organizations, including Edelman Financial Engines, Ceres, Defined Contribution Institutional Investors Association (DCIIA), and Strategic Insight (now ISS Market Intelligence). She received her Ph.D. in Public Policy from University of Massachusetts Boston, with a dissertation on sustainable investing in private workplace retirement plans. She was a David Nyhan fellow of the UMass Sustainable Solutions Lab and is a current member Women in Pensions Network. She holds a BA in political science, an MBA in finance, and an MS in public policy. She holds the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential from SASB and is also pursuing the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) designation.

Jared is a senior ERISA consultant in Vanguard Strategic Retirement Consulting (SRC). His responsibilities include advising clients about various retirement plan issues, such as fiduciary best practices, operational compliance, taxation matters, legal and regulatory policy, and plan design. Jared joined Vanguard in 2000 as a retirement plan administrator and spent seven years assisting plan sponsors with plan design and compliance issues before joining SRC. Jared holds the Certified Pension Consultant, Qualified Pension Administrator, and Qualified 401(k) Administrator designations from the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries. He earned a B.A. in political science from Villanova University.

Summer Conley is leader of the Faegre Drinker’s benefits and executive compensation group. She guides companies through the complicated legal landscape surrounding employee benefits.
Conley advises on qualified plan, health and welfare and executive compensation issues related to retirement plan committee fiduciary responsibilities; Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Labor (DOL) correction procedures; Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA); Section 125; health care reform and alternative plan investments.

Monica De Agostino is an HR Leader with over 16 years of experience leading Benefits and Total Rewards. She has worked in industries where people and innovation are the keys to success. Monica believes in empowering individuals and fostering a sense of humanity and connection in the workplace. She has led MRIGlobal to win 2022 Nonprofit DC Plan Sponsor of the Year and be a finalist in 2020 and 2021 Business Journal’s Healthiest Employer.
Growing up in South America, raised in multiple countries, and comfortable everywhere, Monica believes education transforms generations. Monica has a Bachelor’s in International Business and an MBA in Management. She holds Senior HR Professional Certifications from SHRM and HRCI Institutes.

Catherine joined CAPTRUST’s Austin, Texas, office as a financial advisor responsible for helping institutional retirement plan sponsors prioritize and execute on plan design initiatives. She specializes in institutional investment consulting, asset allocation, retirement income solutions, defined contribution and defined benefit plans, and nonqualified and nonprofit plans.

Catherine served as a vice president, regional retirement consultant, for American Century Investments prior to joining CAPTRUST. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance from Missouri Western State University. She has worked in the industry since 2006.

Pam Hess is the Executive Director at the DCIIA Retirement Research Center. Previously, she was with Aon Hewitt and served as their Director of Retirement Research for a number of years. In that role, Pam created and directed the retirement research efforts and was broadly quoted in the press. Earlier in her career Pam worked on the investment side at Aon Hewitt and with other firms in the financial services industry, including Smith Barney.
Pam received a bachelor’s degree in finance from The University of Illinois, at Chicago. She earned her master’s in business administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, with concentrations in accounting, finance and managerial & organizational behavior. Pam is also a CFA Charterholder since 2002. She is based in Charlotte, NC.

Jeffrey Petrone is the Managing Director for SageView Advisory Group’s Florida office. His primary focus is helping clients navigate the challenges of managing qualified and nonqualified retirement plans including 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans and various other defined contribution and defined benefit plans. His responsibilities include advising clients on plan design, compliance, and in-depth investment consulting issues.
Petrone has dedicated over 22 years to improving retirement plans. He is currently on PLANADVISER’s Top Retirement Plan Advisers list.
Prior to joining SageView, Jeff made significant contributions to the employee benefits and retirement practices of Mercer in Florida. He began his career with the financial planning division of Citigroup in West Palm Beach, Florida. Jeff graduated from Villanova University with a B.S. degree in Finance and holds various securities registrations.

Jake Spiegel is a Research Associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, where his work focuses on the intersection of health and wealth. Currently, he works on projects that leverage EBRI’s HSA Database, FSA Database, Telemedicine Database, and Financial Wellbeing Database, as well as commercial health insurance claims databases to help employers and policymakers develop a better understanding of the impact of these benefits on workers. He completed his undergraduate work in economics at Carnegie Mellon University and earned a master’s degree in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University.