Cindy Hounsell

Cindy Hounsell is the President and Founder of the Washington DC-based Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 to improve opportunities for women to secure retirement income and to educate the public about the inequities that disadvantage women in retirement.

As an attorney and retirement expert, Ms. Hounsell has been widely quoted in various media and publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes/PBS Next Avenue, Barrons, U.S. News and World Report, ABC, CNN, CNBC MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance and NPR.

As Director of the National Resource Center on Women and Retirement, Ms. Hounsell provides technical assistance to aging organizations by training leaders and grassroots advocates. She has testified before Congress, served as a delegate for several White House summits, and authored many chapters, columns, articles, op-eds, papers, and guides.

Awards include a Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Plan Sponsor Council of America, an Influencer in Aging award by PBS-Next Avenue, Money magazine's 40 Money Heroes, the National Adult Protective Services’ Collaboration Award, and the HERMANA Award from MANA, A National Latina Organization.Most recently, the American Society on Aging honored Ms. Hounsell & WISER with the 2023 Advancing Economic Security for Older Adults Award.