Lina Walker

Lina Walker is Senior Vice President of Global Thought Leadership for AARP, where she heads the AARP International and Thought Leadership departments. She leads her team to inspire and catalyze opportunities from increased longevity so all can thrive with healthier, financially resilient, and connected lives. An economist, Dr Walker also co-leads AARP’s health care strategy on advocacy, policy, education, and outreach. Her purview covers the range of health care issues from private health insurance to Medicare to assure high-quality affordable care for the 50+ population.

Dr Walker has deep and broad knowledge of aging issues. She has spent her career in positions shaping state, federal, and private sector policies to strengthen access to healthcare, long-term care, and financial security. Dr Walker is a strategic thinker with multisectoral experience in academia, state government, congressional agency, and the non-profit sector. She enjoys tackling complex issues to uncover actionable solutions, build programs, and seed change.

Prior to joining AARP, Lina was Research Director of the Retirement Security Project at the Brookings Institution, where she worked on private-sector solutions to promote retirement savings. She was also research faculty at Georgetown University Public Policy Institute. Earlier in her career, Lina worked at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Social Security and disability proposals. She also worked for the Maryland General Assembly in the nonpartisan Office of Policy Analysis evaluating state legislative proposals on health and long-term care.

Dr Walker sits on the board of The Leapfrog Group, a non-profit, patient-safety and data transparency organization. She serves on the advisory board of the National Poll on Healthy Aging from the University of Michigan. She has a master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from the University of Michigan. She is an avid gardener, and lives with her family in Washington D.C.