COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio legislature has appointed a financial tech executive to the retired teachers’ pension fund ahead of the vote for a new executive director.
Lynn Beal has been appointed to STRS Ohio by House Speaker Matt Huffman and Senate President Rob McColley.
Beal is the vice president and head of implementation and customer success at Upstart, an AI platform that “partners with banks and credit unions to provide consumer loans,” according to her LinkedIn profile.
Having previously working at JP Morgan, she specializes in data science, analytics and insights.
I asked McColley why he chose Beal.
"She presents what we want to see in a board member ... When we look into an awful lot of what's happening with any board, really, not just the pension boards, it's important for us to understand what's going on because oftentimes we're the insurer of last resort," McColley said. "We've got to know what's going on with all of this stuff, to understand the decisions that the board is making, and frankly, as I pointed out before, it's not easy to find people who want to do this, and so we're thankful that people are willing to step up."
This position has remained vacant since Claudia Herrington finished her term in the winter.
The decision comes at a time when lawmakers are going back and forth with STRS board members. In emails obtained by News 5, McColley, Huffman, Gov. Mike DeWine and Treasurer Robert Sprague asked the board not to move forward yet on a new director.
"We respectfully request that the Board hold on scheduling the vote for the new executive director until the June 11-13, 2025 meetings," the leaders said in a joint letter on May 8. "This will ensure that the legislative leaders can make their appointment and that individuals can have time to become acclimated before further leadership decisions are made."
This comes after a year of controversy in which elected and appointed educators are accused of participating in a $65 billion corruption scheme. The board chair denies all allegations, and some retired educators are accusing the Statehouse Republicans of trying to stop transparency.
I have covered all different angles of this story, including ones focusing on the educators and their lack of COLA, how lawmakers are responding, and investigations into archived meetings, conflicts of interest, and resignations. For a recap, click here.
The board did not select an executive director during its last meeting, but it may make a decision in its upcoming meeting in June. The finalists are Steven Toole, former head of the North Carolina Retirement Systems and Greg Samoryski, the head of Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
