Renee Harris

PBGC trustees and administers private-sector defined benefit pension plans ensuring that retirees, current and future, receive their promised pension benefits when a company terminates the plan. As a PRO, I handle complaints when a participant feels that their issue has not been resolved satisfactorily. I work with the participant and several departments within the agency to resolve the issues.

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I began working at PBCG after college. Within a few months I understood the mission and I was hooked. I was moved by the stories of the people who had worked for their companies for 30 or 40 years and lost their jobs, health benefits and pensions. They would then look to the federal government to restore their pensions. I thought about my parents, who were public servants and worked in our community to help others. These workers were devastated and many could not go back into the workforce or find other jobs in their communities. It was important to me to ensure that they received what they earned because many would not be able to live on Social Security alone. Our agency is the lifeline to many workers when the companies they worked for are no longer able to pay promised pension benefits.

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After 34 years, the work still doesn’t get old. In my time with PBGC, I’ve been a customer service representative, a benefits processor and now a PRO. Every day, I go to work hoping to help someone gain their benefits and restore what they worked so hard to achieve.

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