WASHINGTON – Today, AARP announced a new leadership team for its Board of Directors. Lloyd E. Johnson will serve as Board Chair, replacing Annette Franqui, who planned to step down after the Board’s June 2023 meeting. Beth Ellard will remain First Vice Chair, Robert Blancato will become Second Vice Chair and serve as Chair of the Board’s Audit and Finance Committee, and Margot James Copeland will chair the Governance Committee. All will serve in these capacities until June 2024.

The Board of Directors is the governing body of AARP, setting policy and providing strategic direction and governance oversight for AARP.

Lloyd E. Johnson (Board Chair) holds an MBA degree and is a Certified Public Accountant. . He is a former managing director and global chief audit executive with Accenture and has more than 40 years of experience in governance, strategy, finance, mergers and acquisitions, information technology, cybersecurity, and enterprise risk management with large multinational corporations. Prior to Accenture, his career experience included senior finance leadership positions with three Fortune 500 companies. He joined the AARP Board in 2014, serving as Board Chair of AARP Foundation for four years and as AARP Board Second Vice Chair, chairing the Audit and Finance Committee from 2020-2023. He also serves as a Board member of Apogee Enterprises and Beazer Homes, where he chairs their audit committees, and as a Board member of Haemonetics Corp. and VSE Corp.

Beth Ellard (First Vice Chair) is a C-suite executive known for driving long-term value by turning early ideas into roadmaps for success, seizing market opportunities, and enhancing performance and operational excellence. Her experience spans strategic, revenue, and functional leadership for SaaS (human capital management and edtech) and media (digital, emerging and traditional) companies across PE-owned, private, public, and non-profit environments. Beth is currently the CMO of Salary.com, a high-growth software and data company. Prior, she served as Chief Growth Officer at Infobase Holdings, and before that, as Chief Media Officer for the nonprofit Ad Council. Her early career experience includes Comcast/NBCU, Hearst, Disney, and Time Inc.

Robert “Bob” Blancato (Second Vice Chair) is President of Matz, Blancato and Associates, a public and government relations firm, with more than 30 years of experience in the aging and public service fields.  He spent 17 years on the U.S. House Select Committee on Aging and has participated in four White House Conferences on Aging, including as the Executive Director of the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. Currently, Bob is executive director of the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs and the National Coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition. As a volunteer, Bob serves on the Board of the National Hispanic Council on Aging, and from2016 to 2018, he chaired the American Society on Aging (ASA).  He is a former volunteer State President of AARP Virginia and served six years on the Board of the National Council on Aging.  He is a former president of the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. In 2019, he was appointed by Health and Human Services  Secretary Alex Azar to the National Advisory Council on Rural Health and Human Services.  Bob was named to the ASA Hall of Fame in 2020.

Margot James Copeland (Governance Committee Chair) serves on the board of Banner Bank and on its Compensation and Human Resources Committee and Credit Risk Committee.  She serves on the board of trustees for the Cleveland Clinic and as Chair of Community Relations.  She is on the board of the Cleveland Foundation, chair of its Governance Committee and member of its Investments Committee.  She is on the board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and co-chair of its Education Committee.  She serves on the board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.  Over nine years at Kent State University, she served as Board Secretary, Chair of Nominating and Governance, and Chair of Academic Excellence and Student Success.  She retired as Chair and CEO of the Key Bank Foundation.  Previously, she was the Chief Diversity Officer of Key Bank, garnering many national and regional awards.  She has also served as national president of The Links, Incorporated.

Joseph F. Coughlin, Jeffrey D. Dunn, Jo Ann Jenkins, Rosanna A. Márquez, Alan Murray, Julio A. Portalatin, Marie Quintero-Johnson, Libby Sartain, and David Windley will continue to serve as Board Directors. Sartain also chairs the Board of AARP Foundation.

For more information about the AARP Board of Directors, visit http://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/board-of-directors.

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About AARP

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the more than 100 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org/about-aarp/, www.aarp.org/español or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspañol and @AARPadvocates on social media.