Olena Berg Joins Common Cause National Governing Board

Olena Berg, a veteran adviser to institutional investors in the public and private sectors, has been elected to Common Cause’s National Governing Board.

“We’re delighted Olena is joining us,” said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. “She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience on the financial challenges facing millions of Americans as they deal with changes in the employer-supported retirement plans they depend on for their future security.”

A resident of Placitas, NM, Berg is a former chief deputy treasurer for the state of California. During the Clinton administration, she served as Assistant Secretary for the Employee Benefit Security Administration at the US Department of Labor; she was responsible there for the enforcement of ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry.

More recently, from 2006-12, Berg served on the board of voluntary employee beneficiary associations, or VEBAs, for General Motors and the United Auto Workers. The VEBAs are retirement trust funds created to cover medical costs.