As a Program Manager at the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Maggie Flowers manages two national grant programs that provide education and assistance for older adults and people with disabilities related to Medicare and low-income benefit programs. She is responsible for the day-to-day oversight and administration of the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) and the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) program. She has extensive experience in program management, evaluation, and grants administration for programs serving older adults who are struggling financially. Prior positions include Associate Director, Economic Security at NCOA, Interim Director of the Elder Economic Security Initiative at Wider Opportunities for Women and IAHSA Services Manager at LeadingAge. She received her Master of Public Service and Administration from Texas A&M University and her Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Texas at Austin.

Erin Kee McGovern, JD, is a Director of Programs, Center for Benefits Access at the National Council on Aging (NCOA).  Erin oversees NCOA’s Benefits Enrollment Centers and Senior SNAP Enrollment Initiative. These two programs are aimed at significantly increasing older adults’ participation in Medicaid, Medicare Savings Programs (MSP), Extra Help (Part D Low Income Subsidy/LIS), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through community-based outreach and enrollment initiatives. Erin provides training to a nationwide network of social service providers on eligibility and application guidelines for these key benefits programs. Erin also provides recommendations on proposed federal legislation and regulations, particularly on how changes will impact the most vulnerable people. In 2013, she published an article on increasing SNAP participation at farmers’ markets in the Clearing House Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy. Erin graduated with honors from the College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, earned her Juris Doctor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, Columbia, SC, and her Master’s in Environmental Law and Policy at Vermont Law School, South Royalton, VT.

Brandy Bauer is Director of the Center for Benefits Access at the National Council on Aging, where she works with community organizations and state agencies across the country to promote benefits for older adults, identify strategies to improve the financial security of vulnerable seniors, and educate consumers about scams targeting older adults. She has worked in the field of aging for 11 years. Prior to that, she spent a decade in the international health and human service sectors, working on improving access to services for vulnerable and marginalized populations, including refugee and war trauma survivors in Europe, and as a humanitarian aid worker in Afghanistan.