Modernizing the Older Americans Act – What it means and how you can comment

Dianne Stone has more than 20 years of experience with senior centers and aging issues, primarily as the Director of the Newington Senior and Disabled Center in Newington, Connecticut. Stone has also worked, volunteered, and held leadership positions with a variety of organizations in Connecticut, including Connecticut AgeWell Collaborative, the ADA Coalition of Connecticut, Connecticut Medicaid Oversight Council, and the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity. She joined NCOA in January 2022, as a member of the Center for Healthy Aging, where she is primarily focused on supporting senior centers throughout the country through the ACL-funded Modernizing Senior Centers Resource Center and NISC. 

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.

As Director for the Center for Regional Operations, Amy Wiatr-Rodriguez leads ACL's team of 10 regional administrators who represent ACL in each HHS regional office, serving as liaisons to state, tribal, and local aging and disability stakeholders. She also works with and connects stakeholders to other HHS divisions and federal agencies to help advance the development of programs and activities serving older adults, people with disabilities, and family caregivers.

Since joining federal service in 2007, she has served as a liaison to tribal and state aging programs, a program officer for various grant projects, and a resource for technical assistance on a wide range of Older Americans Act and aging policy issues. 

Previously, Ms. Wiatr-Rodriguez worked for AgeOptions, an area agency on aging serving the suburban Chicago area. She also has experience in nursing homes and other settings. Ms. Wiatr-Rodriguez has a Bachelor of Arts in social work and English from Concordia University Chicago, and a Master of Social Work with a management concentration from the State University of New York at Albany. 

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.

Genevieve Waterman serves as the Director of Corporate Partnerships & Engagement at the National Council on Aging (NCOA), where she leads initiatives on economic security, housing, and employment in later life. During her tenure at NCOA, Dr. Waterman has led innovative programs to help low-income older adults create customized plans to achieve financial security and curriculums that educate older adults to avoid scams and financial exploitation. Dr. Waterman also developed the strategic vision of NCOA’s Age Well Planner, a digital tool that guides individuals through key decisions designed to make their money last longer and address health care needs.

Genevieve holds a Doctorate of Social Work from the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. She also holds a Master of Aging Services Management from the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology and a Master of Applied Gerontology from Towson University’s Center for Productive Aging.