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 achieving financial security and certainty. ACLI’s member companies represent 94 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 tax and retirement security policy, including passage of the SECURE Act in 2019 and SECURE 2.0 in 2022 – two monumental pieces of retirement security legislation passed in three years. Under her leadership, ACLI announced the formation of a historic initiative, 360 Community Capital, to exponentially expand the industry’s impact investing capability, beginning with affordable housing to meet the needs of underserved communities.
Before joining ACLI, Neely led the American Beverage Association, where she helped companies like Pepsi and Coca-Cola navigate the sugar wars by forging unlikely 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 Gov. Terry Branstad of Iowa. She was one of the first women nationally to manage a statewide campaign.
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.
Neely also 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 President of the Global Federation of Insurance Associations, and serves on the B20 Task Force on Financing for Global Economic Recovery. She also serves as chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, and as a director on the board of the Global Child Nutrition Foundation.
A native of Iowa, Neely holds an undergraduate degree in journalism and French civilization from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in public administration from Drake University. She is the mother of two adult children, Eve and Ben.
