Jerry D. Klepner

Jerry Klepner is Immediate Past Chair of the American Kidney Fund (AKF) Board of Trustees.

Klepner is a specialist in health care, human services and labor relations and is CEO of JK Consulting. He was managing director and head of the health care practice at Prime Policy Group for 13 years before retiring from the firm and forming JK Consulting.

Prior to joining the firm, Klepner was a senior vice president in the Washington, D.C., office of a major public relations firm. Before that, he served for three years as Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the Clinton Administration's principal advocate before Congress on health and human services initiatives, including health care funding, pharmaceutical pricing, Food and Drug Administration reform, insurance reform, Medicaid and Medicare, and welfare reform. He also served as acting chief of staff and transition director for Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and as a senior advisor for domestic policy to the Clinton-Gore transition team.

Before serving in the Administration, Klepner was director of legislation for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), where he was responsible for developing legislative and public affairs strategies for Medicaid and Medicare, child care, unemployment benefits, civil rights, family and medical leave, rights of the disabled, and labor-management issues. Prior to this, he directed the health care, retirement and compensation practice at the firm of Anderson, Benjamin, Read & Haney.

Between 1984 and 1986, Klepner served as staff director for the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Compensation and Employee Benefits, where he was responsible for policies affecting compensation and benefit programs for more than 6 million federal employees and annuitants.

Klepner has earned perennial listings in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Politics and Who's Who in Medicine. He has served as a commissioner of the Virginia Statewide Health Coordinating Council, as a member of the board of directors of the Health Systems Agency of Northern Virginia and as an advisor to the General Accounting Office. He also served on the board of directors of the Food Research Action Council.

He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, where he also studied law. He has been an instructor and guest lecturer at American University, The George Washington University, Syracuse University, the University of Texas and other noted institutions of higher learning.