Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors

Janet McUlsky

Chair

Former Senior Director, National Alliance Development, Pfizer (Retired)

Sandy Markwood, MS

Finance Committee Chair

Chief Executive Officer National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a)

James Murphy, MS

Nominations Committee Chair

Stefani Benefield

A senior executive with proven success in helping businesses grow, change and become more relevant to consumers. Deep focus solving for the customer while at the same time creating revenue…

Cindy Hounsell

Cindy Hounsell is the President of WISER, the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement. Ms. Hounsell has testified before Congress, served as a delegate for a number of White House…

Michele M. Oshman

Experienced, dynamic and dedicated leader with a demonstrated history of leading engagement with patient, professional and trade associations in the biotechnology industry. Well versed in Federal healthcare policy issues including…

Susan C. Reinhard, RN, PhD, FAAN

Scott T. Williams, MPA

Head, Global Public Affairs, Rare Diseases and Rare Blood Disorders Sanofi

Lakelyn Hogan, MA, MBA

I have dedicated my career to educating professionals, families and communities on how to navigate the unique challenges older adults and family caregivers face. I am a seasoned public speaker…

Regina Shih, PhD

James C. Appleby, BS, MPH, ScD

Chief Executive Officer The Gerontological Society of America

Grace Whiting, JD

Ex Officio, Non-Voting

At thirty-two, Grace followed in the footsteps of NAC Founder Gail Gibson Hunt to helm one of the nation’s leading public policy and advocacy organizations for friend and family caregivers.…

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James Murphy, MS

I am a senior-level professional with experience in development and marketing of highly-regulated products and services—with a focus on healthcare solutions for the 50+ population. I have a personal and authentic leadership style with an innate ability to create and nurture long-term relationships. I am adept at driving change within complex environments. I am a results-driven leader who enjoys working with diverse teams to make organizational goals a reality.

Specialties include:
• Strategic Marketing
• Reputation Management/Public Relations
• Product Development
• Innovation/Human-centered Design
• Healthcare/Medicare
• Financial Services/Insurance

Most recently, I was an Innovation leader within UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare & Retirement division. I am on the Board of Directors for the National Alliance for Caregiving and am also a member of the Corporate Leadership Council for the Caregiver Action Network. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a concentration in business and technical writing from the University of Delaware, and a Master of Science in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University.
Senior Vice President of Healthcare
Ageless Innovation

Stefani Benefield

A senior executive with proven success in helping businesses grow, change and become more relevant to consumers. Deep focus solving for the customer while at the same time creating revenue through new business models. Recognized for expertise in leadership, corporate strategy, business & product development, data & analytics, operations, consumer relationship management (CRM), and customer sales/service. Focused on finding new ways for our beloved older population to age at home while making life easier on their family caregivers.

Industry Specialties: Healthcare, Banking, Retail, Hospitality

Senior Vice President
Best Buy Health

Cindy Hounsell

Cindy Hounsell is the President of WISER, the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement. Ms. Hounsell has testified before Congress, served as a delegate for a number of White House Summits and conferences including the last two White House Conferences on Aging, the White House Social Security Conference and each of the National Retirement Saver Summits. She has written several chapters, columns, articles, op-eds, papers and booklets on women and retirement. Two booklets—What Every WOMAN Needs to Know About MONEY And RETIREMENT: A Simple Guide, and What Everyone Needs to Know About Money and Retirement—appeared as inserts in Good Housekeeping magazine to a readership of over 26 million.

Ms. Hounsell provides technical assistance to several national organizations, as well as provides training to leaders and grassroots advocates around the country as part of her role as director of the National Education and Resource Center for Women and Retirement Planning, funded by the U.S. Administration on Aging.

Ms. Hounsell was recently appointed by Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, to the ERISA Advisory Council to represent the general public. Ms. Hounsell was also appointed and served for two years on the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education (APME) representing the field of retirement and financial planning. She serves on the Boards of the National Alliance for Caregiving and STRIVE-DC, as well as on the Advisory Council of Wider Opportunities for Women’s Elder Economic Security Initiative, and the Financial Services Roundtable’s Retirement Advisory Council. Ms. Hounsell is a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Women’s eNews named her as one of 21 Leaders for the 21st Century. Recently, The National Adult Protective Services Association recognized Ms. Hounsell for her leadership and commitment to older women’s issues by presenting her with their 2011 NAPSA Collaboration Award.
President
Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement

Michele M. Oshman

Experienced, dynamic and dedicated leader with a demonstrated history of leading engagement with patient, professional and trade associations in the biotechnology industry.

Well versed in Federal healthcare policy issues including patient access, Medicare, Medicaid, PDUFA, 340B, value assessments, and intellectual property. Experienced in multiple disease areas, including lupus, psoriasis, arthritis, psychiatry, neurodegeneration, pain and osteoporosis. Strong, ethical and credible voice for patients with a background in both public policy and clinical development.
Vice President, External Affairs
Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

Susan C. Reinhard, RN, PhD, FAAN

Dr. Reinhard is a nationally recognized expert in health and long-term services and supports policy, with extensive experience in conducting, directing, and translating research to promote policy change.
Senior Vice President and Director, AARP Public Policy Institute
Chief Strategist, Center to Champion Nursing in America, AARP

Lakelyn Hogan, MA, MBA

I have dedicated my career to educating professionals, families and communities on how to navigate the unique challenges older adults and family caregivers face. I am a seasoned public speaker and expert on aging issues, appearing on conference stages such as Aging in America and Meals on Wheels, and programming such as Dr. Phil and the Hallmark Channel’s Home and Family Show. Outside of work, I am committed to volunteering for local and national causes including the Alzheimer’s Association, Dreamweaver Foundation (Vice President of the board of directors), National Alliance for Caregiving (member of the board of directors), the Junior League of Omaha and the American Heart Association Sweethearts Program. Currently, I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Nebraska – Omaha, working toward a PhD in Social Gerontology with a research focus on dementia family caregivers and in-home respite care.
Gerontologist and Caregiver Advocate
Home Instead Senior Care

Regina Shih, PhD

I am the Program Director of research at RAND that covers aging, retirement, disability, population health, prevention and social programs, and the well-being of children, youth, and families. I have over 15 years of research experience on the intersection between environment and health with a focus on mental disorders and dementia. My research broadly includes policy analysis, analysis of large datasets, study design, strategic planning, and program evaluation. My work is supported by grant and contract funding from the Department of Defense, CDC, private foundations, local and federal governments, and NIH (NIAAA, NIA, NIDA, NHLBI, NIMH, NIMHD).

I currently lead an NIH-funded project to evaluate Medicaid’s most comprehensive rebalancing effort to reduce institutionalization and increase access to home- and community-based long-term services and supports for dual-eligible beneficiaries. This project will examine racial/ethnic and rural/urban disparities in access and health outcomes, before and after Medicaid’s Balancing Incentives Program. Two CDC-funded projects that I recently completed involved developing public health tools to (1) prevent chemical exposures following climate change related events; and (2) help local public health and aging departments bolster preparedness for climate change-related events among older adults. Other recent projects include a national blueprint of policy solutions to improve dementia long-term services and supports; multi-method study resulting in policy recommendations for improving sleep in the U.S. military; evaluation of an RCT to prevent substance use among adolescents; and risk assessment to rank and prioritize environmental health risks in the U.A.E. and to develop metrics for meeting short- and long-term goals of a nationally-adopted environmental health action plan.
Program Director, Social and Behavioral Policy
RAND Corporation

Grace Whiting, JD

At thirty-two, Grace followed in the footsteps of NAC Founder Gail Gibson Hunt to helm one of the nation’s leading public policy and advocacy organizations for friend and family caregivers. With previous experience as COO and the Director of Strategic Partnerships, Grace has doubled the budget of the organization in her tenure to date and created the Hunt Research Program.

Grace led the nation’s first national policy study of 1,400+ rare disease caregivers with Global Genes. She has led other original NAC research including Sandwich Generation in the U.S. with Caring Across Generations; A National Study of Caregivers of Individuals with Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis with the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and ImproveCareNow; Cancer Caregiving in the U.S. with the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Support Community; and Dementia Caregiving in the U.S. with the Alzheimer’s Association, among others.

Grace has spoken on caregiving at national and international conferences, including the 7th International Carers Conference in Adelaide, Australia, and at multiple national summits at the National Institutes of Health. Grace has also served as a resource to major media on the topic of caregiving and aging, including C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Oprah Magazine, Women’s Health Magazine, and Kiplinger’s Retirement Report. Grace represents NAC and the United States on the Governing Board of the International Alliance for Carer Organizations and offers ex officio support for NAC’s role as Secretariat.

A licensed attorney with the D.C. Bar, Grace was named an “Outstanding Law Student” by the National Association of Women Lawyers after earning her law degree from the University of Memphis. She is a proud graduate of the Louisiana State University Honors College in communication studies and philosophy. Grace lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband, writer Geoffrey Whiting, and their distinguished pug, Chief Justice.