WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ann Y. Orr has been designated by President Biden to serve as the acting director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). Gordon Hartogensis, the former director of PBGC, concluded his five-year term appointment on April 30, 2024.
Since June 2021, Orr has served as the chief policy officer overseeing the coordination of policy development, research, and legislative affairs, as well as agency communications and interactions with PBGC stakeholders. Orr was the acting director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the Partnership for Public Service from 2019 to 2021.
Orr served as chief of staff at PBGC from 2011-2019, where she helped manage top agency priorities and provided strategic advice to the director and agency officials. She also served as liaison to the Board of Directors, White House officials, and Congress.
Previously in her career, Orr worked at the National Endowment for the Humanities, where she served as chief of staff. Additionally, she spent 10 years on Capitol Hill as a professional staff member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Outside of her work in government, Orr was the executive director of two private-sector foundations: the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation and The National Trust for the Humanities. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
PBGC’s deputy chief policy officer, Michael Rae, will be performing the duties of chief policy officer.
About PBGC
PBGC protects the retirement security of over 31 million American workers, retirees, and beneficiaries in both single-employer and multiemployer private sector pension plans. The agency’s two insurance programs are legally separate and operationally and financially independent. PBGC is directly responsible for the benefits of nearly 1.4 million participants and beneficiaries in failed single-employer pension plans. The Single-Employer Program is financed by insurance premiums, investment income, and assets and recoveries from failed single-employer plans. The Multiemployer Program is financed by insurance premiums and investment income. Special financial assistance for financially troubled multiemployer plans is financed by general taxpayer monies.