Bill Novelli is CEO of AARP, a membership organization of more than 35 million people age 50 and older, half of whom remain employed. He joined AARP in January 2000 as associate executive director. 

Prior to joining AARP, Novelli was president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, whose mandate is to change public policies and the social environment, limit tobacco companies’ marketing and sales practices to children and serve as a counterforce to the tobacco industry and its special interests. He now serves as chairman of the board. 

Previously, he was executive vice president of CARE, the world’s largest private relief and development organization, responsible for all operations in the United States and abroad. 

Novelli co-founded and was president of Porter Novelli, now one of the world’s largest public relations agencies and part of the Omnicom Group, an international marketing communications corporation. He retired from the agency in 1990 to pursue a second career in public service. He was named one of the 100 most influential public relations professionals of the 20th century by the industry’s leading publication. 

Novelli is a recognized leader in the international practice of social marketing, and managed programs in cancer control, diet and nutrition, cardiovascular health, reproductive health, infant survival, pay increases for educators, charitable giving and other programs in the United States and the developing world. He has written extensively on the application of social marketing to address health-related issues.