Staff

Gail Hunt

Gail Hunt is President and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving, a non-profit coalition dedicated to conducting research and developing national programs for family caregivers and the professionals who serve them. Prior to heading NAC, Ms. Hunt was President of her own aging services consulting firm for 14 years. She conducted corporate eldercare research for the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration, developed training for caregivers with AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association, and designed a corporate eldercare program for EAPs with the Employee Assistance Professional Association. Prior to having her own firm, she was Senior Manager in charge of human services for the Washington, DC, office of KPMG Peat Marwick. Ms. Hunt attended Vassar College and graduated from Columbia University in New York. She served on the Policy Committee for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, as well as on the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education. She is chair of the National Center on Senior Transportation. Ms. Hunt is also on the Board of Commissioners for the Center for Aging Service Technology and on the Board for Long-Term Care Quality Assurance. Additionally, Ms. Hunt is on the Governing Board of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).

Russell Mark

Russell joined the Alliance in April 2011 after spending several years as a successful independent fundraising and marketing consultant for non-profits and, prior to that, serving on the senior management teams of several leading national healthcare organizations as chief development officer.

Those organizations include National Spinal Cord Injury Association (where he has also served on the Board of Directors); National Mental Health Association; National Osteoporosis Foundation; and the Trust for America’s Health. Russell’s focus is to expand, enrich and diversify the funding relationships of the Alliance, along with cultivation of other strategic resource-partnerships that will provide even more opportunities for NAC to improve the lives of family caregivers and care recipients.

Russell brings an extensive knowledge of the advocacy and philanthropic communities, as well as the business sector. In the early 90′s, Russell was a part of the pioneering team that developed the first, national, commercial cable television network serving the disability community, called Kaleidoscope Network. Russell worked directly with top national health associations, along with numerous advocacy leaders like Justin and Yoshiko Dart, Paul Hearne, Ginny Thornburgh, Tony Coehlo, Carl Augusto and Lex Frieden, and with major corporations, foundations and federal agencies to develop cutting-edge programming that was syndicated on several television networks, including the Discovery Network. Russell is particularly proud of developing the first US broadcast of the Paralympic Games from Atlanta. Working with the Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee, Turner Sports and CBS Sports, these shows introduced America to a new kind of elite sports competition with high inspiration and entertainment value. Also, in partnership with Easter Seals, Russell helped develop and market some of the nation’s first television programming that targeted family caregivers. A family caregiver himself, Russell has worked with numerous disability/caregiving coalitions around the country on various advocacy issues.

Russell is looking forward to working with our members to creatively form mutually beneficial partnerships with current and new corporations, foundations, federal agencies, individual donors and others to achieve a diversified portfolio of funding streams that supports the mission of the Alliance.

Emily Lubin

Emily Lubin is the Alliance’s new Program Assistant. As the Program Assistant, Emily maintains relationships  with   our  members, compiles presentations, and coordinates meetings, along with supporting our various research projects.

Emily recently graduated from Miami University with a B.A. in Gerontology and a minor in History. While in  college Emily interned with the Hamilton County Developmental Disability Services in Cincinnati and planned  age- appropriate activities for older adults. Emily interned at the Jewish Council for the Aging (JCA), in Rockville, Maryland, where she assisted a social group for individuals with early stages of dementia, as well as, assigned cases in the database.

Stien Vandierendonck

Stien moved from Belgium to the US in July 2011. Before joining NAC, she worked at the Oncology Center of the Ghent University Hospital as a research assistant in a study which focused on adolescents and young adults with cancer and their family caregivers. Prior to working as a research assistant she was project assistant at the Flemish Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Brussels where she worked together with school boards to make the transition from a smoking to a non-smoking school. Stien also worked as a communications staff member at the non-profit Association for Alcohol and Other Drug Problems. There, she was responsible for the dissemination of their documentation and research reports.

Stien has a Master in Health Promotion and Health Education from Ghent University and a Bachelor in Nursing from Arteveldehogeschool Ghent (Belgium).