A. Barry Rand and Bill Novelli on March 12, 2009. Photo by Andrew Cutraro

Now it’s official. A. Barry Rand is sporting his own AARP lapel pin. Doubters might also check his shirtsleeves. There he’s showing off cuff links with the “donkey-phant” symbol of the Divided We Fail alliance of business, labor and consumers that gained prominence during last year’s presidential campaign.

But what else do we see as Rand prepares to take the AARP leadership baton from CEO Bill Novelli next month?

Rand is serious and thoughtful, with a long record of accomplishment in the corporate world and with a consuming will to follow the lesson of his parents: to give back. The son of a Washington, D.C., postal worker and a schoolteacher, Rand attained stunning corporate success at Xerox, eventually supervising its $33 billion sales force of 33,000. He became the first African American to lead a Fortune 500 company when he became chairman and CEO at Avis Rent A Car in 2000.

Born and raised in segregated Washington, D.C., he was barred as a child from attending his neighborhood school. As an adult, he gained national acclaim for opening employment, promotion and later investment opportunities to minorities and women.

Rand, who will be 65 in November, is not steeped in policy as are many Washington-based advocates, lobbyists and lawyers. Instead, he’s efficient and quite matter-of-fact. Ask him a question, he digests it and responds with a thoughtful answer.

During an extended interview with the AARP Bulletin on his first official visit to AARP headquarters in Washington, he shared these insights:

He sees himself as an agent of social change. He has a vision of the critical moment the nation faces as he takes his new post. He has a vision of AARP’s strengths and its potential impact on current policy challenges. And he has a vision of how his past successes as a catalyst for change at two of the nation’s most prominent corporations can be applied to AARP.

Reinforce or Redefine the American Dream

A decade ago, he told an interviewer what he hoped his epitaph would be: “He stayed in the fight all the way. He kept pushing for social change. He made his contribution in his way, and he did it throughout his whole visit here.”

Asked what “his fight” was today, Rand replied: “My fight is for all Americans to have the opportunity to participate in the American dream. You cannot do it without affordable health care. You cannot do it without financial security. This affects everyone. But this is not just about our members. It’s about all Americans.”

He recognizes the peril of the current economic turmoil: “This is a critical, critical issue. We are at a point now where there is great hope that we can fix this. We’re going to reinforce that the American dream can be attained. And if we fail, we’ll redefine the American dream. …

“My passion has always been about social change. I grew up in the ’60s. I’m a son of the ’60s, and the transformational issue at that time was civil rights and inclusion. The question at that time was were we going to be, and how were we going to be, an inclusive nation. I started there. I happened to choose a path to make my contribution in the corporate world.

“But as we look at what’s the transformational issue now, it’s the American dream and whether we can achieve the American dream. Quality health care, affordable health care and financial security are the prerequisites for attaining the American dream. …

“What the nation is facing today is a glimpse of how it could be if we do not make the changes that allow every American to participate in that dream.”

AARP’S Role in the Health Care Debate

“We pledge our assets as part of the strategy. And our assets are the voice of Americans.

“We pledge the asset of deep knowledge in terms of policy. We clearly understand what levers inside of the policy are most important for the American people. We pledge our asset of being able to bring other people to the table.

“In the end, Congress is going to have to put together what the plan is. Our asset is helping to contribute to that plan. Always remembering that in a world of scarce resources economically, we can’t get everything we want. But our focus is getting as much for the American people as possible.”

Financial Security

“Financial security and health care are related. The cost part of this has to be part of our strategy and has to be what all of America must figure out a way to control, to make our businesses more competitive, so that we don’t have companies taking away health care and putting more of a burden on the individual.

“We all want to be able to gracefully have choices as we get older, including options of how you’re going to obtain financial security. For those who want to work well past retirement, we need to have a society that embraces it.

“We want to promote those policies that enable Work America to embrace older Americans.

“We know that Social Security is sort of a base line. There are three, four, five fronts that will determine whether we are moving toward a financially secure America.”

Politics

“I’m a Democrat. But my total belief system is that social change is both a contact sport and a team sport. Contact sport means that you have to get in and rough-and-tumble in terms in presenting your view. But a team sport in terms that you can’t win unless you’re doing team ball.”

Favorite Pastime

There’s another side to Barry Rand.

He loves to travel, especially exotic travel adventures. He once took a five-day elephant trek through Southeast Asian jungle, specifically a ride along the Thailand-Myanmar border in the middle of monsoon season. He’s also been on African safaris and mountain-climbing.

‘The Letter’

How did he react when he reached 50 and received the letter inviting him to join AARP?

“I joined,” he said. “I was in my 50s when I joined. But my reaction was personal because I had to acknowledge first of all that I had turned 50. …

“The reality was AARP offered some products I wanted. And it was an organization that focused on a voice for those who were being mature. So I joined.”

Jim Toedtman is the editor of the AARP Bulletin.