Glenda Chambers

For nearly 53 years, LASERS was led exclusively by men in the role of executive director. That changed in 1999 when Glenda Chambers, a native of Alexandria, Louisiana, became the first woman selected to lead the System.

Glenda was already a familiar and respected figure within LASERS. She joined the agency in 1988 as assistant executive director and served under two executive directors during the next 11 years before being selected to lead the System.

Her knowledge of retirement administration and state government was extensive, and under her leadership, LASERS experienced significant growth and modernization. During her tenure, the System’s assets grew to $6 billion, and LASERS developed and implemented its first five-year strategic plan focused on improving customer service and investment performance.

Glenda also championed operational improvements throughout the agency. Programs were established for staff training and fiscal accountability, and she oversaw implementation of the new Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), which provided members with an important new retirement benefit option. A pre-retirement education program (PREP) was also developed to help members better prepare for retirement.

In addition, Glenda directed major technology advancements at LASERS, including the design and implementation of local area network and telecommunications systems, an internal audit program, a new computer system for membership and benefits processing, and a fully integrated imaging system for document storage and retrieval. These efforts also included a reengineering of workflow processes to improve efficiency across the agency.

Glenda’s education and professional background helped prepare her for her leadership role at LASERS. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Finance from LSU in 1972 and later completed Duke University’s Executive Education program in policy analysis for state managers in 1985. She also earned certification as a Retirement Administrator through the International Foundation for Retirement Education.

She began her state government career in 1974 as an accountant with the Division of Administration before moving briefly to the Department of Health and Human Resources.

In 1976, Glenda joined the Louisiana Department of Revenue and Taxation as a Revenue Tax Auditor. She quickly advanced through the department, serving as Revenue Supervisor, Director of Income and Corporation Franchise Taxes, and eventually Assistant Secretary. In that role, she managed 14 state tax divisions responsible for collecting $1.5 billion in annual revenue and supervised approximately 400 employees.

Reflecting on the agency’s transformation during her career, Glenda once said:

“Things have changed so much since I started at LASERS in 1988. We didn’t even have voice mail or a fax machine. The total staff was 39 people. Most had started in the file room and progressed to other jobs, including in the Information Technology and accounting divisions. We wrote the first ever job descriptions to require degrees in most jobs, beginning with accounting and IT. There was no newsletter or membership handbook. We didn’t have a communications director, so I wrote The Beam for the first couple of years and developed the handbook. I was delighted when we finally added staff to handle those functions.”

After retiring from LASERS in 2002, Glenda continued her work in public retirement administration on a national level when she became executive director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA).

Under her leadership, NASRA emphasized providing timely, research-based information about the impact of public pensions on employees, employers, and the economy. She also served as a charter member of the board of directors for the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), a research and education organization established in 2007 by NASRA, the Council of Institutional Investors, and the National Council on Teacher Retirement.

Through her work with both NASRA and NIRS, Glenda helped shape retirement policy discussions and strengthen public retirement systems across the country.

Glenda retired from NASRA in 2011, but her influence on retirement administration continues to be felt nationwide.

Former LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou said:

“It is a rare individual who rises to prominence on both a state and national level with a passion to protect retirement benefits for state employees, but Glenda Chambers is such a person. Through her improvements to agency efficiency and service to our members, she set a high bar for all future executive directors.”

Today, Glenda and her husband reside in Tennessee, where they enjoy retirement and spending time with their seven grandchildren.