2026 Programs of Excellence Series

Product not yet rated

The NISC Programs of Excellence are an opportunity to celebrate, promote, and share the outstanding efforts made by senior centers across the nation to improve the lives of older adults in the community. This year's top programs cover the following categories:

1. Visibility and Communications 

Recognizes strategies that increase the visibility of senior centers and strengthen how they are understood and valued in their communities. This includes outreach and storytelling, branding and partnerships, reframing aging, and how a center presents itself through ambience and programs. 

2. Social and Support Services 

Recognizes programs and approaches that address economic security and basic needs, including benefits access, housing, food security, case management, transportation, legal or financial navigation, and systemic strategies that expand reach and access to services. 

3. Health, Wellness, and Nutrition 

Recognizes programs and approaches that improve older adults’ physical and/or mental well-being. This includes nutrition initiatives that expand or go beyond traditional congregate meals, fitness, disease prevention, mental health supports, and creative or expressive wellness programming 

4. Cross-Generational Connections 

Recognizes programs and approaches that build meaningful connections across generations through events, ongoing programming, shared learning opportunities, shared spaces, or service-based models. 

5. Social Connection and Engagement 

Recognizes innovative approaches that strengthen social connection and reduce isolation among older adults. This includes in-person, virtual, and hybrid models, as well as efforts that increase access to technology and build confidence in using digital tools to support participation and connection. 

6. Modernizing Senior Centers Innovation Award 

Recognizes transformative approaches that position a senior center to remain relevant and responsive to changing generations of older adults. This includes planning, adaptations to programs, operations, spaces, partnerships, or models of service that support long-term relevance and impact.

  • Product not yet rated Contains 3 Component(s)

    This category recognizes strategies that increase the visibility of senior centers and strengthen how they are understood and valued in their communities. This includes outreach and storytelling, branding and partnerships, reframing aging, and how a center presents itself through ambience and programs.

    This category recognizes strategies that increase the visibility of senior centers and strengthen how they are understood and valued in their communities. This includes outreach and storytelling, branding and partnerships, reframing aging, and how a center presents itself through ambience and programs.  In this webinar you will hear from the following programs: 

    Top program:  
    • MiGen - Inclusion, Affirmation, Community, and News - the MiGen Communication Pillars
    Honorable mentions:

    Patricia Watts

    Patricia Watts

    Director of Senior Services, Municipal Agent for the Elderly

    Town of Colchester

    Patty Watts has served as the Director of Senior Services for the Town of Colchester since 2013.  Having worked in every sector of senior housing and services in her career, Patty feels most at home in the wonderful world of senior centers.  She is a passionate advocate for the community-based programs and services one can find at their local senior center, and believes that engaging with senior centers can help older adults remain socially engaged, physically active, and intellectually challenged all while being able to access information and services which can help them remain independent and connected within their community.  Patty serves as the President of the Connecticut Association of Senior Center Personnel (CASCP), the only professional organization specifically for senior center professionals in the State of Connecticut.

    Katie Migliazzo

    Katie Migliazzo

    Marketing and Communications Director

    MiGen

    Katie Migliazzo (she/her) is the Marketing and Communications Director at MiGen, Michigan's only community-based organization serving LGBTQ+ older adults and their caregivers. Since joining MiGen in 2023, she has led the organization's marketing and communications efforts, helping increase awareness of programs, services, and issues impacting LGBTQ+ older adults across the state. Katie brings nearly a decade of experience in nonprofit communications and community engagement and is passionate about creating communications that are authentic, accessible, and reflective of the communities they serve. 

    Lydia Gadd MA, LPCC-S

    Lydia Gadd MA, LPCC-S

    Community Services Director

    City of Westlake

    Lydia Gadd is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with Supervisory Endorsement.  She earned her Master’s Degree in Counseling from Ball State University in 1990 and for about 20 years provided direct clinical behavioral health services in both inpatient and outpatient settings, including hospitals, community mental health centers and private practice.  She transitioned from direct clinical work to program administration as she became the Director of Community Outreach for UH St. John Medical Center for 8 years before being appointed as the Director of Community Services for the City of Westlake where she has been serving since 2014.   The Westlake Community Service department’s mission is to engage, enrich and empower older adults and Westlake residents of all ages in need.  Services include but are not limited to:  Plus-Fifty Programming, Senior Transportation, Food Pantry, Social Service Outreach and Referrals, Volunteer program,  and youth diversion.  On a broader note, Lydia is a 2024 Fellow of Leadership Ohio.  She also served for over 10 years as the chair-person of the Cuyahoga County Senior Services Network where she remains active as a steering committee member.  She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Ohio Association of Senior Centers, and the (local) non-profit, Carolyn F. Farrell Foundation for Brain Health.  Born and raised in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood, she is the daughter of Slovenian immigrants and is still very involved in the Slovenian community.

  • Product not yet rated Contains 1 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 07/28/2026 at 3:00 PM (EDT)

    Recognizes programs and approaches that improve older adults’ physical and/or mental well-being. This includes nutrition initiatives that expand or go beyond traditional congregate meals, fitness, disease prevention, mental health supports, and creative or expressive wellness programming.

    Recognizes programs and approaches that improve older adults’ physical and/or mental well-being. This includes nutrition initiatives that expand or go beyond traditional congregate meals, fitness, disease prevention, mental health supports, and creative or expressive wellness programming. In this webinar you will hear from the following programs: 

    Top program:  
    • The Woodie Fite Senior Center - Grown Folks Talk: Sex Education for Older Adults
    Honorable mentions:
    • Colchester Senior Center - Unleash Your Joy
    • West Cobb Senior Center - Let's Have a Field Day
    Amanda Di Dio

    Amanda Di Dio

    Director of Social Services

    City of Katy, Texas

    Amanda Di Dio is the Director of Social Services for the City of Katy, Texas. She has the privilege of working from the Fussell Senior Citizen Center, where she collaborates with staff to ensure the city provides exceptional care and resources for its older residents. With more than 20 years of experience serving the aging population in various capacities, Amanda is committed to the overall well-being of Katy’s golden agers and to providing opportunities for continued growth, education, and fulfillment. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, two children, and two dogs, as well as trying new restaurants, working out, playing guitar, and reading.

    Jodi Savage

    Jodi Savage

    Program Coordinator

    Colchester Senior Cente

    Jodi Savage has been in the role of Program Coordinator for the Colchester Senior Center for the last 4 years. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Adulthood and Aging. She has worked in many fields over the years, including volunteer management, mental health, and youth and family services. Before accepting her current position, she spent 16 years managing a community outreach and leadership program for students at a high school in Norwich, CT.  Jodi finds inspiration in her love of art, travel and learning new things and enjoys using her creative talents to design programs and foster community collaborations that provide a fun and welcoming experience for all the members at the Colchester Senior Center. 

    April Anderson

    April Anderson

    Senior Center Manager

    West Cobb Senior Center

    With nearly two decades of dedicated service to Cobb County Senior Services, April Anderson is a compassionate leader, advocate, and the current Center Manager for West Cobb Senior Center. She is a fierce advocate in the fight against ageism, dedicating her daily work to dismantling stereotypes surrounding aging.

    April is passionate about empowering seniors, promoting active aging, and ensuring that every individual who walks through the doors of the West Cobb Senior Center is treated with the dignity, respect, and enthusiasm they deserve.

    Diane Sieverson

    Diane Sieverson

    Program Specialist

    West Cobb Senior Center

    Diane is a former teacher and school administrator who has been with Cobb County Senior Services for more than three years. She is dedicated to offering engaging programs at West Cobb Senior Center that support the physical, cognitive, and social well-being of older adults while meeting the diverse abilities, interests, and needs of the senior community.

  • Product not yet rated Contains 1 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 08/18/2026 at 3:00 PM (EDT)

    This category recognizes programs and approaches that build meaningful connections across generations through events, ongoing programming, shared learning opportunities, shared spaces, or service-based models.

    This category recognizes programs and approaches that build meaningful connections across generations through events, ongoing programming, shared learning opportunities, shared spaces, or service-based models.  In this webinar you will hear from the following programs: 

    Top program:  
    • South Morrow County Senior Matters - Students Writing Senior Stories
    Honorable mentions:
    • White Birch Center for Active Living - Active Living Program
    • Edna Burton Senior Center - Intergenerational July 4th BBQ
  • Product not yet rated Contains 1 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 10/22/2026 at 3:00 PM (EDT)

    This category recognizes transformative approaches that position a senior center to remain relevant and responsive to changing generations of older adults. This includes planning, adaptations to programs, operations, spaces, partnerships, or models of service that support long-term relevance and impact.

    This category recognizes transformative approaches that position a senior center to remain relevant and responsive to changing generations of older adults. This includes planning, adaptations to programs, operations, spaces, partnerships, or models of service that support long-term relevance and impact. In this webinar you will hear from the following programs: 

    Top program:  
    • Iowa City Senior Center - Parables of the Future: Black Future Fest - Celebrating Afrofuturism
    Honorable mentions:
    • Founders Hall Foundation, Inc. - Repositioning Aging: Redefining the 60+ Experience Through Branding and Community Engagement
  • Product not yet rated Contains 1 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 11/18/2026 at 3:00 PM (EST)

    This category recognizes programs and approaches that address economic security and basic needs, including benefits access, housing, food security, case management, transportation, legal or financial navigation, and systemic strategies that expand reach and access to services.

    This category recognizes programs and approaches that address economic security and basic needs, including benefits access, housing, food security, case management, transportation, legal or financial navigation, and systemic strategies that expand reach and access to services. In this webinar you will hear from the following programs: 

    Top program:  
    • Solon Senior Center - Safe & Sound
    Honorable mentions:
    • Edina Senior Center - Books & Brews
    • Amherst Center for Senior Services - Senior Center on the Move
  • Contains 1 Component(s) Includes a Live Web Event on 12/17/2026 at 3:00 PM (EST)

    This category recognizes innovative approaches that strengthen social connection and reduce isolation among older adults. This includes in-person, virtual, and hybrid models, as well as efforts that increase access to technology and build confidence in using digital tools to support participation and connection.

    This category recognizes innovative approaches that strengthen social connection and reduce isolation among older adults. This includes in-person, virtual, and hybrid models, as well as efforts that increase access to technology and build confidence in using digital tools to support participation and connection.  In this webinar you will hear from the following programs: 

    Top program:  
    • Whitney Senior Center - Dementia Friends Film Series
    Honorable mentions:
    • Preble County Council on Aging, Inc. - See The World from our Backyard
    • Gathering Place 50 Plus Community Centers - Veterans Peer-to-Peer Luncheon & Rural Access Hub Model