2023 Programs of Excellence Series - Modernization

Dianne Stone has more than 20 years of experience with senior centers and aging issues, primarily as the Director of the Newington Senior and Disabled Center in Newington, Connecticut. Stone has also worked, volunteered, and held leadership positions with a variety of organizations in Connecticut, including Connecticut AgeWell Collaborative, the ADA Coalition of Connecticut, Connecticut Medicaid Oversight Council, and the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity. She joined NCOA in January 2022, as a member of the Center for Healthy Aging, where she is primarily focused on supporting senior centers throughout the country through the ACL-funded Modernizing Senior Centers Resource Center and NISC. 

Jim Dalbec is the Assistant Director at the Ela Township Community Center in Lake Zurich, IL. He has been heavily involved in planning and programming for Ela 55+ for the last 10 years and lives in Cary, IL with his wife Kristin and two sons Cameron and Carter.

Kristin Crockett first began 'working' in Elder Services as a young child who looked forward to visiting her great aunt at a country nursing home in New Hampshire.  After pursuing her BA in sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Kristen began working for the city of Peabody Council on Aging in the outreach department and eventually served the community as the Coordinator of the Trask Adult Day Health program. She completed her MS in gerontology as part of the inaugural class at the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and recently complimented those studies by earning a Municipal Leadership Certificate from Suffolk University.

In 2015, Kristin was hired as the first staff member and first director of the Essex Council on Aging. Working with dedicated volunteers, and Outreach Coordinator Tess Leary, she transformed the Essex Council on Aging into a vibrant, well respected community resource.  

Since November 2023, Kristin has continued her advocacy journey as the Director of the Georgetown Council on Aging in Georgetown, Massachusetts. Her unwavering commitment to serving the community, particularly its senior members, remains the cornerstone of her professional ethos.

Kristin resides in a quaint Town in Eastern Massachusetts with her husband of 19 years and three teenagers—Patrick, Cecilia, and Riley. She enjoys visiting off-the-beaten-track destinations throughout the United States.

Tess directed the physical creation of the Gallery, coordinated with the Eastern Essex District Veterans’ Service Officer, and managed the event details.