Lisa Marsh Ryerson MS, BA, PhD

Lisa Marsh Ryerson is president of AARP Foundation, AARP’s affiliated charity. At the helm of the charity since the fall of 2013, she sets the Foundation’s strategic direction and leads its social impact initiatives. She is also a member of AARP’s Executive Leadership Team, which directs the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working on behalf of the 50+ population.

Ms. Ryerson joined the Foundation after 18 years as the president and CEO of Wells College in Aurora, New York. Her many accomplishments there include increasing enrollment by 45 percent – revitalizing the economy of the surrounding community – and launching an endowed Center for Business and Entrepreneurship.

She has brought that same innovative flair to her work at the Foundation, whose mission is to create and advance effective solutions to help vulnerable older adults meet their basic needs. Under her leadership, the Foundation has embarked on new relationships with high-profile organizations to serve older adults struggling with poverty and the related issues of unemployment, insufficient food, inadequate housing and social isolation.