National Committee Board of Directors
Max Richtman, J.D. – President/CEO

A former staff director of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and 16-year veteran of Capitol Hill, Max Richtman is President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM), one of the nation’s most influential senior advocacy and education membership organizations.  Mr. Richtman, who joined the organization in 1989, also serves as Chair of the National Committee’s Political Action Committee (PAC) board, a non-partisan committee that endorses candidates for federal office who take uncompromising stands on social policy legislation which impacts the aging population. Mr. Richtman has testified before House and Senate committees, provided expert political and policy commentary during appearances on CNN, C-Span, FOX, MSNBC, CBS and Pacifica radio networks, participated in hundreds of Congressional Town Hall meetings across the country and has been a featured speaker during numerous national and state conferences on aging. During his congressional career, Max Richtman directed a lengthy investigation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement of age-discrimination statutes and developed legislation to establish a Consumer Price Index [for the] Elderly (CPIE) which if adopted, would lead to a more accurate cost of living adjustment for Social Security beneficiaries.

Max Richtman was born in Munich, Germany , and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska.  He graduated cum laude from Harvard College and received his law degree from Georgetown University Law School. In addition to being appointed to the 2016 Platform Committee for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), he is vice-chair of the Seniors Coordinating Council of the DNC, a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, Bloomberg BNA Medicare Report Advisory Board, the District of Columbia Bar and a recipient of the 2013 Gray Panthers Social Justice Award and 2014 Winn Newman Equality Award from Americans for Democratic Action. Richtman resides in Washington, D.C.

Jim Crounse – Chair

Jim Crounse is recognized as one of the top Democratic mail consultants in the country. In 2008 and again in 2012, Jim captained the team that did direct mail for President Barack Obama. Jim’s mail was used all across the country and specifically helped the President win the tough states of Virginia and Florida. After the 2008 election, Jim was called upon by the Obama transition team to head the confirmation team of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. Jim has also produced direct mail for President Bill Clinton, and scores of high profile statewide races including U.S. Senators Evan Bayh, Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, and Jack Reed. Read More.

Terry O’Neill – Vice Chair

Terry O’Neill is an attorney, law professor and activist for social justice. She taught at Tulane Law School for 12 years, was President of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 2009-2017, and later served as Executive Director of the National Employment Lawyers Association. She hosted the podcasts, “This is What Equality Looks Like” in 2020 and “Persisting” in 2021. She has consulted with a number of nonprofit organizations, including the African American Policy Forum, and currently serves as the Board Secretary of the Transformative Justice Coalition. Terry lives in Nashville with her Australian shepherd/poodle mix, Maddie.

Nicholas R. Smith – Secretary/Treasurer

Nicholas R. Smith is a co-founder and Principal of DSC Partners LLC. Prior to forming DSC, Mr. Smith was a co-founder of First Potomac Realty Trust (NYSE: FPO) and served as the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer from 1997 until 2015. He led First Potomac’s growth from four properties totaling 800,000 square feet in 1997, through its IPO and listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2003, to become one of the largest and fastest-growing real estate companies in the Greater Washington region with a portfolio valued in excess of $2 billion.

He recently served as Chairman of the Choral Arts Society of Washington and serves on the Council of Advisors for the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Graduate Programs in Real Estate.  He is also a member of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, the Urban Land Institute and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Mr. Smith is a graduate of the Catholic University of America.

Catherine Dodd PhD, RN, FAAN
Catherine Dodd is a nurse and health policy advocate. She has held numerous positions, including chief of staff to Nancy Pelosi, presidential appointee to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Director of the San Francisco Health Service System. She served as Director of Government Affairs for the California Nurses Association. President Clinton appointed her HHS Region IX Director, the first woman to hold that position. As Director, Dodd “brought consideration of the individual, family, and community to all policy tables.” Since 2019, she has worked with the Alliance of Nurses for Health Environments in California as a policy advisor, advocating on issues including pesticides, climate change, recycling, the drought and more.
Mitchell Kaplan
Mr. Kaplan joined the Board of Directors in 2006.  He is the co-founder of the Kaplan Stahler Agency, a boutique literary agency located in Beverly Hills that handles a diverse group of clients from motion picture /TV writers to reality TV producers. Mr. Kaplan is a graduate of the NYU School of Commerce.  He also served in the U.S. Air Force and the New York Air National Guard.  Mr. Kaplan is actively involved in many organizations.  Mr. Kaplan serves on the Boards of the Alliance for Children’s Rights, the National Committee for an Effective Congress, and ACLU Foundation of Southern California.  Mr. Kaplan resides with his wife, Marilyn Jones, in Hollywood.