As President and CEO of the National Council on Aging, Ramsey Alwin is leading a nationwide movement to ensure equitable aging for every American. 

Building on NCOA’s 70 years of service and advocacy for older adults, Alwin is renewing the organization’s commitment to improving the lives of millions, especially those who are struggling. She is sparking critical conversations about the resources every American deserves to age well—and what needs to change to ensure all have access.

A seasoned thought leader and policy advocate, Alwin has changed the way people think about older adult poverty and economic security. She designed a new measure of economic security for older adults that better accounts for out-of-pocket health costs and worked to introduce the Measuring American Poverty Act in Congress to redefine the federal poverty measure for the older population. Thanks to Alwin’s efforts, the U.S. Census Bureau formally implemented the Supplemental Poverty Measure nationwide, virtually doubling the elder poverty count and better demonstrating true needs among this population. 

Prior to leading NCOA, Alwin directed financial resilience global thought leadership at AARP and served as Director of National Economic Security Programs at Wider Opportunities for Women. Currently, she serves on the Executive Committee of the UN NGO Committee on Aging, the America250 Health and Wellness Advisory Council, and the National Academy of Social Insurance Finance Committee.

Alison Barkoff was sworn into office as the Principal Deputy Administrator on January 20, 2021, and currently is serving as Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging. In this capacity, she provides executive direction, leadership, guidance and coordination for ACL programs nationwide and advises the HHS Secretary on issues affecting individuals with disabilities and older adults.

Ms. Barkoff comes to ACL from the Center for Public Representation, where she served as Director of Advocacy. In that position, she led policy advocacy with federal agencies and Congress and legal advocacy nationally to advance community living and inclusion, including in the areas of healthcare, Medicaid home- and community-based services, employment, housing, and education. She led and participated in numerous coalitions with disability and aging organizations, including as co-chair of the Long-Term Services and Supports Task Force of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities. She has testified before Congress and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on disability rights and was appointed to serve on the federal Advisory Committee for Competitive Integrated Employment of People with Disabilities.

Ms. Barkoff previously served as Director of Advocacy at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, where she worked on a range of disability, healthcare, education and civil rights issues. In earlier government roles, she served as Special Counsel for Olmstead Enforcement in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, leading efforts to enforce the rights of people with disabilities to live, work and fully participate in their communities. She also worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services within the Department of Health and Human Services on policies related to Medicaid home- and community-based services and with the Department of Labor on issues affecting the workforce providing in-home services. She is a sibling to an adult brother with developmental disabilities and been involved in disability advocacy her entire life. She received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law.

Tom Coderre is the Acting Assistant Secretary for Mental Health andSubstance Use. With decades of public, private, and non-profit service, Tom isthe first person in recovery to lead the Substance Abuse and Mental HealthServices Administration (SAMHSA).  His career has been significantly influenced by his personaljourney and a philosophy that acknowledges the essential role peer recoverysupport services play in helping people with mental and substance use disordersrebuild their lives.  Coderre is a career civil servant who is on detail from his positionas SAMHSA’s Regional Administrator for New England. 

Coderre wasSenior Advisor to former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo where he helpedcoordinate the state’s response to the opioid crisis.  Prior to that, Tomserved as senior advisor and then chief of staff at SAMHSA as an appointee ofPresident Obama.  He worked to advance federal mental health and addictionpolicies and led the team that produced “Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol,Drugs, and Health,” the first report from a U.S. Surgeon General about thepublic health crisis. 

Tomis the former National Field Director of Faces & Voices of Recovery andappeared in the documentary film, The Anonymous People.  He also has anextensive background in government, serving as a member of the Rhode IslandSenate for four terms and as chief of staff to the Senate President for sixlegislative sessions.  He has been recognized on numerous occasions forhis dedication and advocacy efforts.  Tom is a graduate of both theCommunity College of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College.  

An internationally recognized expert on ageism, Ashton Applewhite is the author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism She speaks widely at venues that have included the TED mainstage and the United Nations, and is a leading spokesperson for a movement to make age discrimination as unacceptable as any other prejudice. 

Jim is a Certified Peer Specialist facilitator, an Advanced Level WRAP Facilitator and Certified Older Adult CPS trainer. He brings over 40 years of experience in human services and the workforce development field. Jim has worked with youth, welfare recipients, persons returning home from prison, and persons impacted by trauma, mental health, and substance related challenges. Jim is a CPS and brings lived experience, sharing his recovery journey openly as evidence that recovery and wellness are both possible and probable. Contact me at:  jklasen@mhphope.org. 

Dr. Ellen Flaherty is the Director of the Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging and Past President of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the 2020 recipient of the prestigious AGS Henderson Award. Dr. Flaherty is the Principal Investigator (PI) of a HRSA Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program and for an Administration for Community Living (ACL) Falls Prevention grant.  Dr. Flaherty is also a Co-Principal Investigator of the AGS National Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Coordinating Center. Dr. Flaherty’s work has focused on improving the care of older adults through the development of effective interprofessional teams and has developed a model for primary care known as  GITT-PC,  Geriatric Interprofessional Team Transformation in Primary Care.  

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.