Lisa M. Gables, CPA, is Chief Executive Officer of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA). Previously Gables was AAPA’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Development Officer, and from May 2012 to July 2015, Gables also served as Executive Director of the PA Foundation. Prior to joining AAPA and the PA Foundation, Gables was Executive Director of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) Foundation and the Chief Development and Program Officer of ASCP. Before that she served as Executive Director of the National Adult Day Services Association, and as the Chief Financial Officer of the National Council on Aging and Vice President of Finance and Business Development for Active Services Corporation. In addition to her career in aging and health services, Gables is past treasurer of the Fairfax County Law Enforcement Foundation and serves as a volunteer with the Fairfax County Adult Protective Services Agency.
Robert Espinoza is the Chief Executive Officer at the National Skills Coalition, which fights for state and federal policies that promote inclusive, high-quality skills training so that more people have access to a better life and more local businesses see sustained growth. In addition, Robert serves as a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and sits on the board of directors for the National Academy of Social Insurance, the FrameWorks Institute, and the American Society on Aging, where he holds the position of Chair Elect. In 2020, Robert was selected for the inaugural CARE100 list, recognizing him as one of the most forward-thinking individuals reshaping the landscape of caregiving in America, and as one of Next Avenue's 2020 Influencers in Aging. Since 2023, he has hosted A Question of Care, a widely syndicated podcast exploring the many challenges facing our country's caregiving system.
Rani Snyder, MPA, has more than 25 years’ experience working with preeminent healthcare institutions across the nation improving the care of older adults, identifying and guiding healthcare programs that have set the standard for medical best practices, increased medical education opportunities and maximized resources to improve healthcare broadly. She brings that experience to The John A. Hartford Foundation, where she coordinates initiatives that foster collaboration among academic institutions, hospitals and healthcare providers to build Age-Friendly Health Systems, support family caregivers and improve serious illness and end-of-life care. She also chairs the board for Grantmakers in Aging, is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, and previously served as a volunteer Long-Term Care Ombudsman for the State of Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division.
Jeffrey B. Klein, MBA, FACHE, is the President/CEO of Nevada Senior Services Inc., operating adult day healthcare centers, caregiver support services, in-home respite, home modifications and geriatric assessment clinic and wellness programs. As a consultant, Klein has been a Founder and Principal of Altila Associates, conducting and supervising extensive engagements for hospitals, medical groups and academic centers. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of Premier Hospitals Alliance of New York, CEO of CRCA (international consulting and management firm) and Corporate Vice President at Daniel Freeman Medical Center. He is board-certified in Healthcare Management as a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives. He has chaired the Nevada Commission on Aging Legislative Subcommittee and is an active member of the public policy committees of the American Society on Aging and is Board Vice Chair of NANASP.
Najja Orr, MBA, assumed the role of president and CEO of Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) during an unprecedented time in PCA’s history as services had to quickly adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his direction, services are continuing to meet the ever-evolving needs of Philadelphia’s older adults. This includes delivering more than 1.9 million meals to older Philadelphians through home-delivered and community-based meal programs in the last 11 months. Orr in 2017 joined PCA as its Chief Strategy Officer, leading the agency’s planning department. Prior to coming to PCA, Orr worked for the Bucks County Area Agency on Aging starting in 2002, serving as the agency’s director from 2011 to 2017. Orr has served on several boards during his tenure in the aging field and held a number of positions. Currently he sits on ASA’s Board, and has chaired the Pennsylvania Department of Aging Cultural Diversity Advisory Council, PCA Care Connections and the Bucks County Commissioners Senior Task Force; as well as having been president of the Bucks County Foundation on Aging and Innovations Home Care.
Ginna Baik has had over a decade in senior care and technology experience with a mission to provide scalable technology and services to underserved populations. Prior to her work in senior care, she worked years with title one projects with Sylvan Learning in Chicago Public Schools. As she transitioned from serving the nation’s youth to the nation’s older adult population, she has established a social platform startup, led innovation and resident technology with a national senior care provider, Brookdale Senior Living, and most recently built the senior care business practice at a national technology solution provider, CDW. With her role at Amazon, she is leading Alexa smart properties business focused on senior living and pioneering voice technology with older adults. Ginna is an executive board member at America’s Society on Aging, member of Board of Directors at Leading Age California, and the Chairman of the board at OATS (Older Adults Tech Services), an affiliate of AARP. Ginna lives in sunny San Diego with her husband, two young adult children and her dog Lily.
Joon Bang is the CEO of Iona Senior Services. Prior to joining Iona, he served as President and CEO of the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging and Executive Director of the Korean American Coalition (KAC) in Los Angeles. That city’s leaders honored him as a 2018 Impact-Maker to Watch, recognizing his skill “building consensus and coalitions to ensure the rights we all fight for regardless of ethnicity, faith, gender, sexual orientation, or political affiliation.” Under his leadership, KAC was selected as a 2017 California Nonprofit of the Year. Bang is a graduate of Biola University and began his career with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He is an appointed working group member of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC).
Amy Herr is an expert in state and federal health policy analysis, focusing on Medicare and Medicaid program policy development and implementation, specifically related to integrated care models for older adults. Herr is Director, Health Policy, for the nonprofit, nonpartisan West Health Policy Center. West Health is dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. Before joining West Health, Herr was a managing consultant with The Lewin Group, and prior to that she was a health policy analyst for the National Association of State Medicaid Directors and a legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate.
Melissa Tischler, MBA, leads innovation strategy in Lippincott’s New York office. With more than 20 years of such experience, she has created products, services and experiences across a range of industries. Tischler has a strong track record of bringing new products and experiences to market for a range of clients including Citi, Airbnb, Nestle, Marriott, Virgin, Office Depot and ASA. Prior to joining Lippincott, she spent nearly a decade as the Head of Strategy at Fahrenheit 212, an innovation consulting firm, where she shaped Fahrenheit’s approach to strategy and led the firm’s engagements in retail and consumer packaged goods. Previous to that work, Tischler was an entrepreneur, designing and launching the personal care brand, EOS. Tischler also co-founded Women in Innovation, a nonprofit focused on building the skills of women in the innovation industry
Maria Henke is the Senior Associate Dean of the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and the Co-Director of the Andrus Gerontology Center. She is a recent past president of the California Council on Gerontology and Geriatrics. Previously, Henke directed operations and communications at the National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification.
Simona Valanciute, MBA, is Vice President and CEO of San Diego Oasis, a regional nonprofit with more than 51,000 members. The Oasis team has launched its first Tech Tank in partnership with Cox Communications and is working on creating a first-of-its-kind Oasis Innovation Institute. Prior to Oasis, Valanciute was a senior executive at The San Diego Foundation, where she worked with community leaders and donors. Valanciute serves the community outside of San Diego Oasis as a board member of Rotary 33, San Diego Senior Alliance and San Diego State University's CEAL. She is also a strategic advisor at California Software Inc. and Founder and Director of the San Diego Lithuanian School, working closely with Ministry of Education and major universities in Lithuania. She is an active host and member at the San Diego Diplomacy Council, and other international organizations.
Joyce L. Walker, MSSA, is Vice President of Community Development for PK Management, LLC, responsible for conceptualizing, developing and facilitating the implementation of projects related to her department, where she manages a budget in excess of $4.7 million. She is board-eligible for the Licensed Independent Social Worker (L.I.S.W.) Psychotherapy designation. She is a board member and advisor to the All Ways Up Foundation, and contributes to community organizations and boards regarding housing issues, community resources, mental health issues and marketing. Walker from 2013 to 2016 served as National Chair of the ASA Diversity and Inclusion Committee and was Co-Chair of the 2017 ASA National Conference on Aging. She also was chosen in 2013 as a “Woman of Outstanding Leadership” by The International Women’s Leadership Association.
Davis Park, MA, has been developing and managing Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing’s (FPCIW) technology initiatives and programs since 2011. The FPCIW is a center of excellence within Front Porch, a Southern California nonprofit provider of retirement living communities and affordable housing. Park has more than two decades of program development experience in technology program design, testing and implementation among older adult, low-income and other underserved communities to explore and deploy innovations to improve access to digital solutions. Park is the former director of Community Technology Programs at the Little Tokyo Service Center, where he managed several community-based initiatives that focused on bridging the digital divide. He also is an inaugural member of the Zero Divide ZFellows, a program developed to facilitate technology adoption and social justice in underserved communities. He has served on several boards and committees dedicated to promoting technology access, adoption and policy.
Benjamin W. Veghte, MPA, PhD, is Director of the WA Cares Fund, the nation's first universal long-term care insurance program in Washington State. He is also an MIT CoLab Mel King Community Fellow and member of the Care Guild, a group of 125 innovators redesigning care for the 21st century. Previously, he was Vice President for Policy at the National Academy of Social Insurance and led the research portfolio at Caring Across Generations, where he led design of Universal Family Care. Veghte studied the history of European social policy at the University of Chicago and holds a MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Vincent Tilford has 30 years’ experience in the not-for-profit and for-profit housing and community development sectors. He has worked as an investment professional and a banker. Additionally, he has been the CEO of four nonprofit/public sector organizations, including the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Habitat for Humanity Detroit and now the Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation (Hannan). At the Hannan Foundation, Tilford leads a team whose mission is to improve the quality of life for older adults throughout Michigan. Tilford has served several boards, including the Center for Community-Based Enterprise, the Wayne State Institutional Review Board, and the Council of Michigan Foundations. He also has served on the Grant Makers in Aging board of directors, where he was treasurer for four years.
Stephen Farber, JD, MBA, has a background in law and investment banking. He left his career as the Global Co-Head of Project Finance Advisory at Barclays Capital when his mother developed pancreatic cancer. His experience with the healthcare system, caregiving and care management refocused his professional goals to address problems he encountered with his mother. Farber built UltraLinq, a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) company that improved clinical imaging workflow and accessibility. Following the sale of UltraLinq, Stephen found his passion building HealthHive, PBC. This early-stage digital platform creates a “community of caring” around older adults, empowering improved care coordination by sharing communication, data, social information, resources and knowledge, resulting in improved care and reduced costs.