Get Ready for Falls Prevention Awareness Week 2024

Angela Bonham is the Program Associate for NCOA’s Center for Benefits Access, where she works closely with Benefits Enrollment Centers to develop effective strategies to improve outreach and expand access to Medicare beneficiaries. In this role, she provides technical assistance to Benefits Enrollment Centers and SNAP partners in the Northeast region of the United States through one-on-one technical assistance, quarterly regional convenings, site visits, and professional development opportunities. Angela previously worked as Community Impact Manager at United Way of the National Capital Area, spearheading the organization’s economic opportunity programs serving working adults who are challenged by everyday living expenses. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Hearing Sciences from George Washington University, a Certificate in Project Management from Georgetown University, and currently pursing a Certificate in Community and Economic Development from Penn State University.

Kathleen Cameron, BSPharm, MPH, has more than 25 years of experience in the health care field as a pharmacist, researcher, and program director focusing on falls prevention, geriatric pharmacotherapy, mental health, long-term services and supports, and caregiving. Cameron is Senior Director of the NCOA Center for Healthy Aging, where she provides subject matter expertise on health care programmatic and policy related issues and oversees the Modernizing Senior Center Resource Center.

Hayat Essa, M.S. is a Program Specialist for the Center for Healthy Aging at the National Council on Aging. In this role, Hayat provides technical assistance to U.S. Administration for Community Living grantees implementing evidence-based falls prevention and chronic disease self-management education programs. Additionally, she assists in developing resources for professionals and older adults. 

Hayat previously worked as a Program Coordinator at the National 4-H Council. While there she coordinated a national effort in collaboration with the Cooperative Extension and 23 Land Grant Universities to strengthen the implementation of policies, systems, and environmental changes in food security, obesity reduction, and substance misuse across 53 rural and urban communities in the United States. Hayat also worked as an Administrative Coordinator at Bella Home Care Service, a Travel Auditor at Strategy and Management Services, a COVID-19 Case Investigator at the Institute for Public Health Innovation, a Quality Performance Institute Travel Coordinator at University Research Co., and a Security Specialist at Security Industry Specialists, Inc. Hayat earned her master’s degree in Health Education and Promotion from Marymount University, and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Washington. 

Emily Nabors is the Program Manager of the Fall Prevention Center of Excellence (FPCE) at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Her work aims to educate service providers and professionals on fall prevention with a focus on home modification and aging in place. She instructs an online course about building local home modification coalitions and increasing community awareness, develops educational resources for professionals and consumers, and presents at professional conferences. At FPCE since 2008, Emily co-led the Los Angeles Falls Prevention Coalition and co-facilitates the National Home Safety and Home Modification Work Group with partners from NCOA. She has a Master of Science degree in Gerontology from the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and an undergraduate degree from Vassar College. 

Marci Phillips is the Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at the National Council on Aging.  She is responsible for federal advocacy efforts regarding legislation and appropriations affecting the Older Americans Act, economic security, hunger, older workers, elder justice, and other community services for older Americans. 

Before joining NCOA in 2008, Ms. Phillips was the Legislative Policy Analyst at the National Community Action Foundation (NCAF), where she advocated on behalf of the nation’s 1,100 Community Action Agencies, and she served on the personal and committee staff of a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.