Working with Culturally Diverse Organizations to Reach Limited English Speakers

Xavier Vaughn is a Program Manager of Medicare at the AARP. He also provided technical assistance for Benefits Enrollment Centers and Senior SNAP Grantees in the Midwest and Southeast. Prior to AARP and NCOA, Vaughn was the MIPPA Coordinator for the SHIP in Missouri. He currently serves on the board for the Paula J. Carter Center on Minority Health and Aging at Lincoln University. Vaughn received his Bachelor of Science in Health Science from Truman State University and his Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama – Birmingham.

As the Illinois Pathways to Health Programs Manager at AgeOptions (The suburban Cook County AAA) Kathryn oversees the integrated statewide network hub for health promotion programs for Illinois. She is a Master trainer in CDSMP and Diabetes Self-Management leader. Kathryn has experience in community and social services program management, partnership development, coalition building, logistics and operations management, budget and resource allocation, and problem solving.

Jaime Peña CHC, LMPNLP has worked in the field of aging for over 7 years. Jaime is the Health Promotion Programs Coordinator at AgeOptions (The suburban Cook County AAA in Illinios). Jaime has experience in outreaching, promoting, recruiting and coordinating all the evidence-based health promotion and falls prevention programming. Jaime is bilingual in Spanish and has a lot of experience working with the Latinx Community and has built strong relationships with many organizations and continues to expand AgeOptions’ Spanish-language suite of evidence-based health and falls prevention programs. 

Nina Xiaohong Shi, PhD, has worked in the field of aging for over 5 years.  Nina is a Trainer in CDSMP, DSMP, and a coach for PEARLS program. She also works as Memory Café coordinator for Xilin Association. She is doing outreaching, promoting, recruiting and coordinating for Xilin’s AgeOptions  health programs. Nina puts great efforts in increasing access to evidence-based health promotion programs to limited-English speaking and other health disparity communities. Nina is bilingual in Chinese and has a lot of experience working with the Chinese Community.

Roshita Pandey has 13 years of work experience with a proven track record in fundraising for non-profits in India and the US. She displays demonstrated strengths in fundraising, grant writing, grant management, program implementation, communications and public relations. She has a master’s degree in Marketing Communication Management and Certification in Fundraising Development. As Grants Director at MAFS, she performs the dual role of raising substantial funds through grants as well as implementing the grant funded programs to achieve the desired outcomes. She finds it thoroughly gratifying to raise funds for programs that empower and transform the lives of countless immigrants from the South Asian community. She lives by the motto- “if you do good to the world it comes back to you in much greater measure”!

Eunji Lee is Director of Healthy Aging at Hanul Family Alliance, which mainly serves Korean American seniors to provide comprehensive community-based services. As Director of Healthy Aging, Eunji works with AgeOptions to carry out community health projects, coordinate and implement various health education workshops, seminars, and vaccination events. She also leads congregate dining and home-delivered meal programs, public benefit application assistance and outreach, case management, Memory Cafe and memory care programs, and workshops for seniors. First generation Korean immigrant herself, Eunji holds a Master of Social Work degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked as a conference interpreter and linguist in South Korea before coming to the United States in 2018.