ACLI President and CEO

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Susan K. Neely

Susan K. Neely is a change maker. She has a track record of transforming industries, building consensus, and using bipartisan partnerships to revolutionize business and politics.

As President and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Neely leads an industry whose mission is to help families live better lives by creating more certainty now and in the future. ACLI’s 275 member companies represent 93 percent of industry assets and provide financial security products and services to 90 million families.

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Susan K. Neely is a change maker. She has a track record of transforming industries, building consensus, and using bipartisan partnerships to revolutionize business and politics.

 

As President and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Neely leads an industry whose mission is to help families live better lives by creating more certainty now and in the future. ACLI’s 275 member companies represent 93 percent of industry assets and provide financial security products and services to 90 million families.

 

In her role, Neely has forged groundbreaking initiatives and partnerships on paid leave and retirement security policy. Key examples include passage of the SECURE Act in 2019 and SECURE 2.0 in 2022 – two monumental pieces of bipartisan retirement legislation passed in three years. ACLI has advanced our commitment to closing coverage gaps by advocating for greater access to financial protection products and education. Under Neely’s leadership, ACLI has invested in initiatives that make an impact, like the ACLI Capital Challenge, which supports financial education for kids across the nation.

 

Neely is President of the Global Federation of Insurance Associations and serves on the B20 Finance & Infrastructure Task Force. She also serves as chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, a director on the board of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation and on the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Dean’s Advisory Council and George W. Bush Institute Advisory Council.

 

Before joining ACLI, Neely led the American Beverage Association, where she helped lead partnerships with President Clinton’s Global Initiative and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign. Before that, Neely was special assistant to President George W. Bush on the frontlines of creating the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11, serving as the first DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.

 

Prior to association leadership, Neely was a senior advisor to two members of Congress as well as Governor Terry Branstad of Iowa. She was one of the first women nationally to manage a statewide campaign. Years later, Neely was elected as the first woman president of both the 105-year-old Washington Rotary Club and the 113-year-old University Club of Washington, D.C.

 

Neely is widely recognized as one of the most influential people in association leadership. She is a two-time trade association CEO of the year, one of Washingtonian’s “most influential people” and “100 Most Powerful Women in Washington.” Neely also received the “Luminary Award” from the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance for lifetime dedication to gender parity, diversity and inclusion.

 

A native of Iowa, Neely holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree from Drake University. She is the mother of two adult children, Eve and Ben.

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