Tara Cortes, PhD, RN, FAAN: Dr. Tara Cortes is the Executive Director for the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and a professor of Geriatric Nursing at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Dr. Cortes’ distinguished career spans executive leadership, nursing education, research and practice. She has provided significant contributions to advancing health care, particularly for those people with limited access to the health care system. Significantly, she has developed collaborative models with advanced practice nurses and physicians in traditional as well as non-traditional settings to enhance the care of the American older adult population.

Robyn I. Stone, DrPH: Robyn I. Stone, DrPH, is Senior Vice President for Research at LeadingAge and Co-Director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center at UMass Boston. She is a noted researcher and internationally recognized authority on long-term care and aging policy, and has been engaged in policy development, program evaluation, large-scale demonstrations and other applied research activities in these areas for over 40 years. Dr. Stone has held senior research and policy positions in both the federal government and the private sector, including serving in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Disability, Aging and Long-term Care Policy and Assistant Secretary for Aging in the Clinton administration.

Ann Kolanowski PhD, RN, FAAN: Ann Kolanowski PhD, RN, FAAN is Professor Emerita at the Penn State College of Nursing. She conducts research on non-pharmacological interventions for symptoms of distress and delirium in people living with dementia in nursing homes. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Nursing Research, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Hartford, Commonwealth and Neuroscience Nursing Foundations. She has published over 165 papers on dementia care in scientific journals and serves on many scientific advisory boards. Dr. Kolanowski was the founding director of the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence at Penn State University.

Representative Jan Schakowsky: Jan Schakowsky was elected to represent Illinois' 9th Congressional District in 1998, after serving for eight years in the Illinois State Assembly. In Congress, Schakowsky focuses on health care and senior issues. Schakowsky was responsible for provisions in the law to require improved review of insurance company premiums, nursing home quality protections, and initiatives to increase the number of health care providers, which benefit seniors and all Americans. A champion for the nation's seniors, Schakowsky continues the fight to prevent the privatization of Social Security and Medicare, and to make prescription drugs more affordable. She spearheaded the creation of the Seniors Task Force in the 111th Congress and continues to serve as Co-Chair in the 117th Congress in the now-renamed Task Force on Aging and Families.