CalSavers- HKS Alum leads California’s pioneering anti-poverty Nudge application

Brought to you by Behavioral Insights Group and Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government! Katie Selenski (MPP 2007), Executive Director of the State of California’s brand new retirement savings program—CalSavers—will present the case study of CalSavers, how it was built on Nudge theory, early results, future design questions, and the career trajectory that led her from HKS to the helm of this pioneering program. Katie Selenski was appointed in 2017 by the California State Treasurer to serve as the first Executive Director of the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board which operates CalSavers, the state’s pioneering retirement savings program. The program will provide a path to retirement security for millions Californians who currently lack access to a retirement savings vehicle at work. Prior to taking the helm at CalSavers, Ms. Selenski was the State Policy Director for pension policy at The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C., where she managed Pew’s efforts to help fiscally distressed states and cities undertake data-driven pension system improvements. Previously, she was a senior manager with the nonpartisan public sector consulting firm Harvey M. Rose Associates, based in San Francisco, where she advised policymakers on a wide array of budget, management, and policy matters, including pensions. She has also worked as a municipal bond rating analyst, a legislative fellow in the California Assembly, and the director of an historic statewide nonpartisan youth voter turnout initiative. Ms. Selenski is a member of the advisory board of the Aspen Institute’s Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings. She is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Participant facing site www.calsavers.com Our govt/Board site (with more policy and reporting information) www.treasurer.ca.gov/scib