Board of Directors

Eileen McAnneny formed the Employer Coalition on Health (ECOH) in 2024 after a long career in public policy. ECOH is a coalition of employers advocating more affordable commercial health insurance. As ECOH’s President, McAnneny represents ECOH members on Beacon Hill, conveying the impact that the cost of health insurance has on their cost structure, competitiveness and ability to offer a generous benefit package.

Prior to leading ECOH, McAnneny served as the President of the of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) from 2015 until 2022. Founded in 1932, MTF is widely recognized as the state’s premier public policy organization dealing with state spending, tax and economic policies, providing high quality research and non-partisan analysis to Beacon Hill, the media and across the state.

McAnneny is also the Executive Director of Government Relations for Encore Boston Harbor and Principal of EPM Consulting LLC.

Ms. McAnneny, an attorney, with more than 30 years of government relations, public policy, advocacy and managerial experience in both the public and private sectors in Massachusetts. She held executive level positions at the Massachusetts Society of CPAs, serving as its President and CEO; at Fidelity Investments as a Director of Public Policy; and at Associated Industries of Massachusetts as its Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Associate General Counsel, where she focused on health care and tax policy issues for the employer community. In recognition of her expertise, McAnneny has served as an appointee on several government commissions.

Ms. McAnneny worked in the public sector a staff attorney for the Joint Committee on Revenue of the Massachusetts legislature, playing a key role in numerous significant tax policy changes, including reforms to the corporate tax code, an overhaul of the Appellate Tax Board, amendments to DOR’s administrative practices, and updates to unclaimed property collections.

In 2018, McAnneny served as the Vice Chair of the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Transportation, a body charged with planning for a 21st century transportation infrastructure. She is former Board member of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, the Cooperative Central Bank, the New England Legal Foundation and the Massachusetts Health Quality Partnership and a current Board member of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston and a Commissioner of the Group Insurance Commission.

Ms. McAnneny is a cum laude graduate of Tufts University from where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and earned her juris doctorate in law from Suffolk University Law School. Ms. McAnneny has volunteered her time as a writing coach at Citizen Schools, a Junior Achievement and confirmation teacher at St. Mary’s parish in Melrose and the BBJ’s Mentoring Monday and Career Spring.

Jon Hurst has served as President and CEO of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts (RAM) since 1990. RAM was established in 1918 as “The Voice of Retailing,” and today is a statewide trade association of approximately 4,000 member companies. The membership ranges from independent, “mom and pop” owned stores to larger, national chains operating in the general retail, restaurant and service sectors of the retail industry.

RAM has two equally important missions: 1. To provide public affairs leadership on behalf of all retail sector employers aimed at our public policy and opinion leaders, as well as to our consumers; and 2. To provide education, consulting and group buying savings for small employer members as they work to serve their customers, recruit and retain workforces, and to survive and thrive in the most competitive industry sector on the planet. The retail industry in the Commonwealth is the backbone of our local Main Streets, supporting over 928,000 jobs and operating in more than 73,000 brick-and-mortar establishments.

As CEO of RAM, Hurst manages the member services, education and public affairs missions of the organization, as well as day-to-day administration. Hurst also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Retail Merchants Workers Compensation Group, Inc., a non-profit group organized by RAM in 1991. He also heads the Retailers Association of Massachusetts Health Insurance Cooperative, the first non-profit small business health insurance cooperative authorized in 2012 by the state. Hurst has served on various state advisory boards, including the Economic Development Planning Council, the Statewide Healthcare Quality Advisory Committee, the Health Policy Commission Advisory Council, and the Workforce Competitive Trust Fund Advisory Committee. Hurst has served on numerous non-profit boards, including the Beverly YMCA, Beverly Main Streets, the National Retail Federation, and also served as Chairman of the National Association of State Retail Association Executives. Prior to serving at RAM, Hurst worked in public affairs roles for the Hershey Foods Corporation and the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, as well as at the Ohio House of Representatives. Hurst graduated from the Ohio State University in 1981. Hurst and his wife Jan have three grown sons and reside in Beverly, Massachusetts.