TORRINGTON – Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) President Dr. Lesley Travers, was appointed to the Wyoming Retirement System (WRS) Board by Governor Mark Gordon on March 23.
The appointment is the fourth time Travers has been appointed to a state position by a sitting governor.
“I was on a disability committee in the ‘80s,” Travers said. “I was on the Wyoming Mental Health Professions Licensing Board for 12 years, which is also a government appointed position.”
The board is comprised of 10 governor appointed selections who are confirmed by the senate and the state treasurer.
According to the press release, five members are appointed from constituent groups with some connection to the system and five are at-large members who are known for their public spirit and business or professional ability and at least two of who have professional expertise in investments and finance.
“This is an incredible opportunity to belong to a board that is so vibrant and active in Wyoming,” Travers said. “This is a remarkable value to Wyoming employees in which only 30% of the benefits paid come from contributions and 70% comes from investment earnings. This is a very active and knowledgeable board.”
While serving on the board, Travers will be representing the higher education membership. There are over 70 thousand members in the Wyoming Retirement System with the largest contingency of those members coming from the education field. Members also come from career fields such as law enforcement, fire departments and state government jobs.
Travers will be joining 10 other members to form the 11-member board. She will assist in the decision-making process that will have an impact on approximately 74,000 members both active and retirees who are on one of the eight defined benefit plans and the deferred compensation program that make up the Wyoming Retirement System.
The board is responsible for controlling $9 billion in pension assets and $900 million in deferred compensation assets. The WRS pays out over $557 million per year with 80% of those funds going back into the state of Wyoming economy.
“The neat thing about this is, they are really an economic driver because when somebody retires, they stay in Wyoming, they get their retirement dollars and they go right back into the state of Wyoming,” Travers said.
While Travers is serving on the board, she will be mainly serving on the Legislative and Benefits Committee and the 457 Deferred Compensation Committee.
“I’ll be on two different committees, the first is deferred compensation and one is going to be legislative,” Travers said. “They were pretty excited because of my legislative knowledge.”
The Wyoming Retirement System is governed by the 11-member board, whose duty is to manage the WRS assets and liabilities to keep the retirement plans financially sound. Board members are required by law to act in the best financial interests of WRS members.
Travers said she applied for the position because she likes to get involved and learn new things.
“One of my friends told me, ‘you need to get on the retirement board since you’re going to retire one of these days’,” Travers said. “And so, I thought to myself why not.”
The appointment to the Wyoming Retirement System board is for two-years and runs through 2023.
