Kick-Off Webinar: 2024 Prevention and Public Health Fund CDSME and Falls Prevention Grantees

Donna Bethge is an Aging Services Program Specialist in the Office of Nutrition and Health Promotion Programs at the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Administration on Aging.  She serves as the lead for the Falls Prevention grant program and as the Program Officer for the Chicago Housing Authority’s grant. Before joining the team at ACL, Donna worked in the Aging Network in Maryland for 10 years with Area Agencies on Aging and an assisted living community, developing and implementing programs for older adults, as well as supporting and promoting evidence-based programs.  She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management from Northern Kentucky 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.

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.