Ms. Elinor Ginzler is responsible for the development of multi-year strategic plans to achieve social impact goals for AARP in the areas of Mobility and Housing, and driving the execution of annual operational plans, using matrix management cross association working groups.

Since joining AARP in 1998, Ms. Ginzler has been a key leader in AARP independent living/long-term care efforts and has been instrumental in planning, designing, coordinating and overseeing programmatic work in these areas.

With over 20 years experience in service delivery systems to the elderly, she has an extensive work history in program management and development, as well as experience in working collaboratively with public, private non-profit and community-based organizations.

Ms. Mia Oberlink is currently managing the AdvantAge Initiative, a data-driven community development project that helps communities measure their elder-friendliness and develop strategies to sustain older residents' independence and allow them to age in place. To date, 26 communities around the U.S. have participated in the AdvantAge Initiative.

Ms. Oberlink is also directing the CHCPR portion of the Health Indicators in NORC Programs Initiative, a collaborative project with the United Hospital Fund. The Initiative will help Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities Supportive Services Programs (NORC-SSPs) identify health needs in their communities, develop health interventions targeted to identified needs, measure the impact of these interventions on NORC residents over time, and generate a body of evidence regarding the efficacy of NORC-SSP services to advance health aging in place.

Ms. Janice Blanchard is a gerontologist, with a rich diversity of educational, professional and life experience. In addition to her current post as Director of the Office on Aging, Ms. Blanchard is an active member of the Advisory Committee on Aging for Denver Regional Council of Governments; Co-Chair of the State of Colorado Delegation for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging; and member of the State of Colorado Policy Academy on Civic Engagement and Workforce Issues. Ms. Blanchard also serves on the Board of a number of local and national innovative organizations that address the challenges of aging and capitalizes on the strengths of older adults.

Ms. Janet Stambolian has dedicated herself to learning how to create sustainable communities that address environmental, economic, cultural, spiritual, political, recreational, civic, creative elements that comprise conscious living, She is committed to implementing through the Aging in Community Network all the dreams and hopes she has for the future of aging in community.

For over 30 years, Janet has worked in construction, project management, business development, and marketing. She is a builder by trade (after getting a Masters Degree from Boston University in Educational Media and Technology) and is also a relationship builder. Janet represents her firm, Mackenzie Architects, and she represents her mother, who at 86 is passionately committed to the creation of new models for aging in community.

Dr. Bill Thomas is an international authority on geriatric medicine and eldercare. He is a professor at the Erickson School and has been heavily involved in the culture change movement to promote elderhood as an honorable and valuable position in our society. He is the founder of the Eden Alternative, a philosophy and program that de-institutionalized nursing homes world-wide over the past 20 years. Most recently he developed the Green House, a radically new approach to long term care where nursing homes are torn down and replaced with small, home-like environments where people can live a full and interactive life. In 2005, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced a five-year ten million dollar grant to support the launch of Green House projects in all fifty states.

Ms. Fredda Vladeck is the director of the United Hospital Fund's Aging in Place Initiative. Ms. Vladeck was the founding director of the nation's first comprehensive NORC supportive service program (SSP) and worked with others to translate and replicate this innovative model. In addition to her work on the NORC Blueprint project, Ms. Vladeck’s efforts at the Fund have focused on developing quantitative performance indicators for NORC programs and improving linkages between aging services and the health care system.

While based in Washington, DC, from 1993 to 1998, she served as advisor on aging and health policy to the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, as a consultant for health policy to the National Council of Senior Citizens, and as a White House delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. She is the author of the Fund's publication, A Good Place to Grow Old: New York's Model for NORC-SSPs.

Ms. Vladeck received her B.A. in social work from the University of Michigan, and an M.S. in social work from Columbia University. She is a trustee of the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, a director of the Union Health Center, a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, and a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine.

In an age-segregated society which views the elderly and children as groups with separate needs, Ms. Nancy Henkin is restoring the vital connections among generations, re-building human connectedness and a weakened social contract of mutual care. Ms. Henkin founded the Center for Intergenerational Learning, promoting a new Communities for All Ages (CFAA) approach to community-building that has an explicit life span perspective, targets neighborhoods or geographic areas rather than specific populations, and focuses broadly on all age groups. Her goal is to improve the quality of life for entire communities by helping diverse age groups support each other and become political allies, opening avenues for civic engagement.

Ms. Henkin works with voluntary CFAA communities to assess their needs and resources, partnering with foundations and other donors to give these communities the financial resources to carry out their intentionally intergenerational plans. Ms. Henkin’s pilot programs are underway in rural and urban communities in Arizona, New York and Maine.

Dr. Elise Bolda is the National Program Director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Community Partnerships for Older Adults initiative hosted by the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. While at Muskie, she has conducted applied policy analyses for Maine's Bureau of Medical Assistance and Maine's Bureau of Elder and Adult Services. She has also served as a principal investigator for the Maine Rural Health Research Center rural long-term care research projects.

Professor Bolda teaches Health Care Planning & Marketing and Long Term Care Policy. She has more than 30 years of experience in long-term care development and evaluation.

Kathryn Lawler –Director, Aging Atlanta - Lifelong Communities in Atlanta, GA
Aging Atlanta is a partnership of 50 public, private and nonprofit organizations in the Atlanta region to create an age-friendly community in the region.

Ms. Sandy Markwood has twenty-five years experience in the development and delivery of aging, health, human services, housing and transportation programs in counties and cities across the nation. Prior to coming to n4a in January 2002, Ms. Markwood served as the Deputy Director of County Services at the National Association of Counties where she took a lead role in research, training, conference planning, program development, technical assistance and grants management.

As CEO, Ms. Markwood is responsible for n4a's overall management. She sets strategic direction for the staff, oversees the implementation of all policy, grassroots advocacy, membership and program initiatives. She also leads n4a's fund-raising efforts and engages corporate sponsors to support critical initiatives, including an aging awards/best practices program and the planned creation of a Leadership Institute for Area Agency on Aging staff. Externally, Ms. Markwood forms strategic partnerships with federal agencies and organizations in aging, human service and health care arenas to enhance the role and recognition of Area Agencies on Aging and Title VI programs.

Ms. Markwood holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Virginia.