Elaine M. Ryan is the Vice President of State Advocacy and Strategy Integration (SASI) in the Government Affairs Department of AARP. Elaine leads a team of legislative staff who work with our 53 AARP state offices to advance AARP’s state advocacy agenda with Governors and state legislators throughout the nation to enable individuals age 50+ and their families attain and maintain their long-term financial security and health. Elaine has been involved in the enactment and implementation of a number of landmark laws, such as the Affordable Care Act, the creation of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Welfare Reform, the Medicare Modernization Act, the Ticket to Work Act for persons with disabilities, the McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth and the creation of the first federal office of Women’s Health Research.Prior to joining AARP in 2007, Elaine served as Deputy Executive Director of the American Public Human Services Association—a bi-partisan membership organization representing the 50 state Governor’s cabinet officers of health and human services agencies and the National Association of State Medicaid Directors.  Elaine also served as Chief of Staff and House Budget Staff Associate for U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter and she served on the senior staff of New York State Governor Mario Cuomo for nine years.  Elaine earned her Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and her undergraduate degree in Economics from Fordham University.