Empowering Change: Promoting and Expanding Evidence Based Programs in Rural Communities

Tom Kamber is the founder and executive director of Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) and Senior Planet. He is a leading expert on aging and technology and is regularly featured in national media. Under his leadership, OATS and Senior Planet have developed award-winning programs for older adults across America and are now charitable affiliates of AARP. Tom has taught courses on technology, urban studies, and philanthropy at Columbia University, is widely published in professional and academic journals, and has presented his work on five continents. He is also a co-founder of the Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance (which has won multiple Grammy awards) and serves on several nonprofit boards of directors and public commissions. 

Jen Paquet serves as the Director of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at Healthy Living for ME®(HL4ME®), Maine's Community Care Hub, a division of Spectrum Generations. She began her journey with Spectrum Generations, the Central Maine Area Agency on Aging, in 2014.

In her present capacity, Jen oversees the statewide implementation of HL4ME’s Network of Community Partners' Evidence Based Programs. Her responsibilities include overseeing network performance, ensuring quality assurance, identifying, and promoting best practices, and upholding program fidelity.

In 2020, she was honored with Spectrum Generations ‘Distinguished Employee of the Year’ award. Spectrum Generations has also been awarded several grants from Administration for Community Living, including 2016, 2018, and 2021 Chronic Disease Self-Management Education awards, the 2019 Falls Prevention award, and the 2021 Community Care Hub award.

Ashley Washington serves as the Senior Director of Aging Initiatives at Lutheran Services in America. In this role, Ashley supports the work of members who provide home- and community-based programs to support the healthy, independent aging of older adults in America. 

In this role, Ashley leads the Rural Aging Action Network, our national collaborative dedicated to expanding sustainable community-based services and supports for older adults who are underserved in rural Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. 

Ashley previously served as the Director of Healthcare Forums at The Health Management Academy where she managed peer-learning programs for C-suite healthcare executives. Prior, she was a Health Systems Manager for the American Cancer Society where she co-led a national workgroup working with VA Medical Centers on veterans' cancer care and partnered with health systems to identify interventions for their patient populations. Ashley also served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant with the U.S. State Department in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. 

Ashley has a Master of Public Health from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and a B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Kathleen Zuke was privileged to grow up with eight loving grandparents and developed a passion for supportive services for older adults as a caregiver for her grandfather. She has been a Senior Program Manager with the Center for Healthy Aging since 2015. In this role, she works collaboratively with community-based partners across the country to identify, implement, and sustain evidence-based programs that support older adults in staying well and aging in the community, including chronic disease self-management education, falls prevention, and behavioral health. She has a Master’s degree in Public Health from Hunter College and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Patty Keane is a registered dietitian nutritionist with a diverse, cross-sector background and a passion for building on community strengths to advance nutrition and health equity. Patty joined ACL in March 2024 as the National Nutritionist, and her role encompasses the Older Americans Act Title III-C Senior Nutrition Program and Title III-D Evidence-Based Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Services. She serves as the Project Officer for the National Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) Resource Center and for several CDSME and Innovations in Nutrition grantees. Before joining ACL, Patty held consulting roles advising USDA NIFA Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) grantees and supporting the cultural adaptation of diabetes prevention curricula for American Indian and Alaska Native populations. In previous municipal and state government roles, Patty managed senior nutrition and transportation programs for the City of Albuquerque and advised New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham’s interagency food security initiatives and COVID-19 response. Patty served as an Associate Scientist and Principal Investigator at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Prevention Research Center and as Nutrition Faculty for the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the UNM Center for Development and Disability. At UNM, Patty led chronic disease prevention and health promotion research and programs and provided nutrition, policy, and leadership expertise. Patty has served as a federal grant reviewer for ACL and in volunteer professional leadership roles at the local, state, regional, and national levels.