Who is Lisa M. Gomez?
The Honorable Lisa M. Gomez, former Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration under President Biden, is a nationally respected expert in employee benefits, retirement equity, health plans, multiemployer and other collectively-bargained plans, plan governance, fiduciary responsibility, workplace mental health, and worker empowerment. She spent nearly 30 years before her Senate-confirmed service representing Taft-Hartley benefit plans and advising trustees, plan sponsors, and other stakeholders on the legal, operational, and fiduciary challenges that shape employee benefits.
With decades of experience at the intersection of law, leadership, and lived experience, Lisa brings strategic insight and uncommon candor to every conversation, whether advising organizations on fiduciary responsibility, guiding regulatory and congressional engagement, speaking on mental health and workplace policy, or helping shape the systems workers and families rely on every day.
What makes Lisa different?
Lisa brings a rare perspective shaped by decades of experience advising plan sponsors, leading the nation’s employee benefits regulatory agency, and working with stakeholders across the retirement and health benefits ecosystem. Her background includes leadership in government, deep legal expertise, and decades of work shaping employee benefits policy, governance, and worker protections.
What makes her experience especially relevant?
Served as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employee Benefits Security for the U.S. Department of Labor, leading the Employee Benefits Security Administration
Co-led the employee benefits practice at a New York City law firm
Practicing attorney with more than 3 decades of experience
Deeply active in the employee benefits, labor organization, mental health, employee ownership, LGBTQIA+, and worker protection communities
Repeatedly called on to testify before Congress, advise national leaders, and speak on the country’s most consequential workplace and benefits issues
As a partner and owner of a midsize law firm who served on its management committee, Lisa understands firsthand the challenges employers, plan sponsors, and plan fiduciaries face as they work to do right by the workers and participants who rely on them.
Credentials
Bar Admissions
- New Jersey
- New York
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New Jersey
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Honors & Awards
- Excellence in Mental Health Leadership Award, National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2025
Organizations
- Fellow and Member of Board of Governors, American College of Employee Benefits Counsel
- Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
- National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO)
- International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
Volunteer Leadership
- Chair, Board of Directors, Harbor of Hope NJ
- Treasurer and Vice Chair, Employee Ownership Expansion Network
- Board Member, Cover My Mental Health
- Advisory Board Member, Peggy Browning Fund
Why does Lisa do this work?
Decisions about benefits strategy and policy, workplace protections, health care, retirement security, equity, and worker ownership may be made in boardrooms, government offices, legislative chambers, negotiating rooms, and courtrooms, but their consequences are deeply personal. They affect whether someone can retire with dignity, access the care they need, feel protected at work, and build a more secure future.
Because of her unique background spanning legal, practical, and government solutions for the workforce, Lisa acts as a bridge between employers, plans, service providers, labor organizations, policymakers, and individual workers. She understands the responsibilities, pressures, and constraints each group faces, and she helps them find practical paths forward without losing sight of the people the system is meant to serve.
Benefits decisions are high-stakes decisions. They involve serious legal, financial, and reputational implications, and they require guidance that is clear, practical, and grounded in how the system actually works. They shape access to retirement security, benefits equity, affordable health care, mental health care, LGBTQIA+ and transgender health coverage, strong fiduciary governance, worker ownership, and fair treatment at work. They also affect how organizations prepare for regulatory change, manage risk, build trust, and respond when the pressure is high.
Whether the issue is retirement policy, health policy, fiduciary process, access to mental health care, workplace culture, worker protection, labor policy or expanding access for communities that have historically been left out, Lisa’s goal is to help decision-makers move forward with more clarity and confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lisa M. Gomez’s Benefits and Labor Consulting Services
Q: I’m looking for help with a DOL EBSA audit or investigation, or making a request to EBSA. Can Lisa advise?
A: Yes. Lisa can help organizations think through regulatory pressure, organize the issues, and bring a former Assistant Secretary of Labor’s perspective to the problem. Her background includes leadership at the Employee Benefits Security Administration and decades of work with employee benefit plans, fiduciaries, and labor organizations.
Q: I need help understanding fiduciary risk. What does Lisa do?
A: Fiduciary risk is the risk that a benefits or retirement decision, process, or oversight practice could fail to protect participants, be hard to defend later, or expose the organization to challenge, scrutiny, or loss.
When you hire Lisa, she can:
- Review governance practices
- Examine plan documents and oversight records for inconsistencies
- Assess vendor arrangements to see whether service providers are being monitored appropriately
- Evaluate participant access
- Prepare you for regulatory scrutiny
In some situations, Lisa can also serve as an independent fiduciary and make decisions with impartial judgment in the best interests of participants.
Q: What types of organizations does Lisa help?
A: Lisa works with worker advocates, employers, plan sponsors, labor organizations, fiduciaries, trustees, service providers, and benefits professionals. Her experience also extends to organizations navigating retirement policy, health benefits, workplace mental health, and employee ownership.
Q: How can Lisa help when we're navigating a complex benefits issue?
A: She can help identify where the process is breaking down and what needs to happen next. Her work is rooted in practical guidance, clear decision-making, and helping people move from confusion to action. Whether you’re facing a complex fiduciary issue, navigating regulatory change, evaluating a strategic decision, responding to a governance challenge, or simply want an experienced sounding board before making an important decision, Lisa provides independent, practical guidance grounded in decades of experience across government, private practice, and the employee benefits community.