Amanda Phelan is a Professor in Ageing & Community Nursing in the School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin. She is a registered nurse, midwife and public health nurse. Amanda was the Deputy Director of the National Centre for the Protection of Older People, UCD, from 2015-2020 and currently serves as a Board member in Third Age and Safeguarding Ireland. Amanda also sits on the NMBI Fitness to Practice committee, is a member of the Sage Advocacy Policy & Procedures committee and is the Irish representative and General Secretary for the International Network for Older People. Her research interests are elder abuse, adult safeguarding, older person care, integrated care, child protection, missed care and public health. Amanda has numerous peer reviewed publications and conference presentations and has edited three books, two on the topic of elder abuse.
Chair WEAAD Summit
Betty Malks is the WEAAD chairperson, with more than 30 years of experience in adult services. Since 1997, as department director, she has spearheaded the creation of the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency’s Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS), bringing together all adult programs under one umbrella.
Director, Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy
Lori Schock was named director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy in October 2009. She previously was associate director at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation and Office of Investor Education, and before that, was director of outreach at the Center for Audit Quality.
Creator and Founder of WEAAD
Dr. Elizabeth Podnieks is a professor emerita at Ryerson University Toronto.
Her research includes the National Survey of Elder Abuse in Canada (1991) and elder abuse work in faith communities and raising awareness among children and adolescents. Currently she is working with Pamela Teaster and Georgia Anetzberger on the Worldwide Face of Elder Abuse.
Awards include the Order of Canada , the Rosalie wolf Award . She is the founder of WEAAD ( World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD).
In closing remarks she will encourage conference participants to look
more closely at the role of the victim in elder abuse , suggesting a reframing of that role to one of shared power and partnership.
Lisa J. Bleier is Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at SIFMA, and head of the Private Client, Retirement & State Government Affairs teams. In this capacity, she supervises and coordinates SIFMA’s outreach to members of Congress and government regulators on retirement and senior investor matters, as well as managing the teams engaged in state issues and retail issues.
Ms. Bleier is also on the Board of the NAPSA National Institute on Elder Financial Exploitation and Co-Chair of SIFMA’s Senior Investor Protection Initiative.
Previously, Ms. Bleier held positions with the American Bankers Association, the American Society of Pension Actuaries, and Congresswoman Marge Roukema of NJ.
Ms. Bleier holds a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.
Michael Tracey is the Senior Advisor, Behavioural Insights at the Ontario Securities Commission. He provides thought leadership on behavioural insights at the OSC and conducts applied research projects to help the organization achieve its mandate. As a behavioural scientist, Michael uses advanced research methods to uncover the science behind human decision-making. Prior to joining the OSC, he worked in economic consulting and managed a university research lab. He has an MSc in behavioural science from the London School of Economics and an MA from the University of Windsor.
Executive Director
Consumer and Community Banking
Regulatory Operations – Program Governance Office
Lynda MacDougall has been with JPMorgan Chase for 25 years, with 10 additional years in the banking industry. She is the Executive Director in charge of Regulatory Operations firm wide programs – such as the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and the Elder Vulnerable Persons (EVP). The Regulatory Operations Programs support all of the lines of business and functional areas across the firm to ensure they have everything they need to comply with the laws, rules and regulations.
Lynda’s previous roles at JPMorgan Chase include Controls, Third Party Management, Finance Project Management, Mortgage Sales and Mortgage underwriting. She works in our Wilmington, DE Corporate Center.
Managing Director and Head of Business Practices
Chase Consumer Banking
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Mr. Kingsley is responsible for managing the implementation, monitoring and continuous improvement of Chase's consumer banking business practices, including sales practices, culture and conduct, and treatment of unique customer segments. This includes firmwide strategic direction for the protection of Chase’s elder and vulnerable customers.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Kingsley was the General Counsel for Mortgage Banking and Auto Finance at Chase from 2013-2016. Prior to joining Chase, from early 2009 through mid-2013 he served in the Obama Administration at the U.S. Department of the Treasury on various financial crisis programs, including the bank bailouts, the auto company rescues and various housing finance reform efforts. From 1995 through 2009 he was a law firm partner in Washington, DC and London, England, specializing in mortgage finance.
Senior Vice President, Programs for AARP Foundation
Throughout her career, Ms. Allen’s primary passion has been on serving the needs of those most at risk in our communities. She has served in a number of capacities in the non-profit, education and workforce development arenas both internationally and in the U.S. and has worked across the generations to ensure vulnerable and at risk individuals have access to the resources and services they need to thrive.
Beginning her career as a special education teacher and school administrator on Andros Island, Bahamas, Ms. Allen later held positions with the AARP enterprise including Director, Economic Security and Workforce Programs and Vice President, Income Security before being named Senior Vice President for Programs for AARP Foundation in 2016.
In her current role, Ms. Allen is responsible for overseeing AARP Foundation’s programmatic portfolio that focuses on equity in increasing economic opportunity and social connections for low income older adults. Through innovation and the development and implementation of programs and interventions, the Foundation’s collective work focuses on ensuring that low income older adults are able to secure the essentials in life.
Ms. Allen holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Westminster College and a Master’s Degree in Human and Organizational Learning from The George Washington University.
Relationship Executive
Community Outreach Coordinator
Bank of the Rockies
Jennell joined Bank of the Rockies in September of 2003 where she currently serves as a relationship executive, community outreach coordinator, and as the coordinator for financial literacy. Mrs. Huff is the driving force behind Bank of the Rockies’ CONversations About Cons and Senior Champions programs, which serves to educate staff and the public in all things elder fraud prevention related. In 2017, Bank of the Rockies was awarded top honors in the Protecting Older American category from the American Bankers Association Community Commitment Awards for its Conversations About Cons program. The program is a large part of Bank of the Rockies’ Rock Solid Community Commitment outreach program, which she also helps to facilitate. She helps coordinate training within the offices, as well as facilitating and supporting professional cross training whenever possible.
In addition to her work at Bank of the Rockies, Mrs. Huff is the chairperson of the Montana Elder Fraud and Exploitation Prevention Network, a cooperative multiagency network whose mission it is to work together to detect and prevent elder fraud and empower Montana’s professionals and citizens by giving them the tools needed in this area. The network is a direct result of her work with the Montana Financial Education Coalition, of which Mrs. Huff is currently the Vice-President. She is the past president and current treasurer of the Wilsall Foundation, Inc., a local non-profit in her area, a volunteer with AARP, and serves on multiple other volunteer organizations.
Physician and author Jason Karlawish reads from his book The Problem of Alzheimer’s: How Science, Culture and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It. The chapter – “Not (legally) Dead Yet” – recounts a not too distant history when guardianship was grossly misused and abused and the standards for capacity assessment were truly idiosyncratic and thoughtless. It is an inspiring story of academics, activists and journalists who were determine to change this. Listeners will be inspired by haw far we have come and prompted to take action to advance the mission and values of adult protective services.
CEO
Cindy Cox-Roman is the CEO of HelpAge USA, a global nonprofit organization that advances the wellbeing and inclusion of older people in low- and middle-income countries and in the U.S. Cindy previously served as board chair of the organization, as well as board chair of HelpAge International in London. Cindy has spent her career in the fields of strategic research, communication, and advocacy for older people. In 2001, she founded WIT Consulting LLC, market research firm in Washington, DC, which helps organizations understand their target audiences and develop relevant strategies. Prior to founding WIT Consulting, Cindy was a partner at Yankelovich Partners, the social trend research firm, and a vice-president at Y&R, the global ad agency. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a Master of Arts in Gerontology from the University of Southern California.
Dr. Gary R. Mottola is the research director for the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and a social psychologist with over 25 years of research experience. In his role at the FINRA Foundation, he oversees and conducts research projects aimed at better understanding financial capability in America, protecting investors from financial fraud, and improving financial disclosure statements. Dr. Mottola received his B.A. from the University at Albany, M.A. from Brooklyn College, and Ph.D. from the University of Delaware. He was a visiting scholar at Wharton in 2006 and is an adjunct professor of statistics in Villanova University’s MBA program.
Dr. Patricia Boyle is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Neuropsychologist with the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL. Dr. Boyle received her PhD from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University in Providence, RI. Her research focuses on the prevention of cognitive decline and dementia in old age. Her studies examine age-related changes in cognition, financial and health decision making, and psychological well-being, with an emphasis on identifying factors that promote independence and wellbeing in old age. Dr. Boyle’s research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for two decades and she has published extensively, with more than 200 publications. Dr. Boyle also is the director of Research Education at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and serves on national advisory committees on aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Christopher Stewart is Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine. He obtained his Ph.D. in Medical/Clinical Psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in adult neuropsychology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Board certified in clinical neuropsychology, he maintains an active clinic schedule and particularly enjoys contributing to the care of older adults with cognitive and emotional concerns. He also enjoys training the next generation of clinical neuropsychologists through Indiana University’s postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology. With respect to research, Dr. Stewart seeks to better understand how diverse resources (cognitive, emotional, social, neurologic) support healthcare and financial decision making later in life. The goal of this work is to inform the design of interventions that preserve decision making into older adulthood.
Dr. Olivia M. Valdes is an associate principal research analyst for the FINRA Investor Education Foundation. Her role includes leading and conducting research projects that pertain to the promotion and understanding of financial capability in America, the protection of consumers against financial fraud and exploitation, and the improvement of financial disclosure statements. Dr. Valdes obtained her B.A from University of South Florida and her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Florida Atlantic University
Senior Director, Bank Community Engagement
American Banker Association
Samuel Kunjukunju is the Senior Director of Bank Community Engagement at the American Bankers Association. He is a mission-oriented public health professional, who has worked to support older Americans for more than a decade.
He joined ABA in 2018 to work with the ABA Foundation to design and implement programs to advance the banking industry’s efforts to address affordable housing and support older customers. Sam directs the Safe Banking for Seniors campaign, a program created to connect bankers with their communities to educate them on strategies to prevent elder financial exploitation.
Sam’s prior roles included expanding affordable housing, improving health care access, and influencing aging policy at both state and national levels to benefit seniors. Sam also spearheaded community-based participatory research programs and led neighborhood-based initiatives to cultivate environments that encourage seniors to age in place.
Sam holds a Master of Public Health as well as a Master of Business Administration from the University of Rochester.
Debbie Gulan has been in the financial industry for 32 years and currently serves as the Regional Community Bank Manager at IncredibleBank. In her role, Debbie oversees both operational and retail components of community banking. She directs bank sales and service activities, focuses on developing new consumer and small business relationships, plans and directs bank operations to ensure the bank complies with established policies and procedures. Her passion for her customers and community permeates all her work and drives her success at IncredibleBank.
Assistant Vice President
Community Relations
Mizuho Americas
Meghan is Assistant Vice President for Community Relations at Mizuho Americas. She joined Mizuho in 2013 and is responsible for organizing volunteer opportunities for Mizuho’s employees throughout the Americas, helping ensure the firm complies with the Community Reinvestment Act and other federal regulations, and managing its corporate contribution program and cultural benefits programs.
Meghan also assists with the day-to-day administration of the Mizuho USA Foundation, the firm’s philanthropic entity, whose mission is to strengthen and sustain our surrounding communities by supporting small businesses, workforce development, and career readiness in local and low-income neighborhoods.
She is a member of the Associate Board for Urban Pathways, which ensures that homeless and at-risk New Yorkers have the housing, services, and support they need to be self-sufficient.
Meghan graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She lives in Queens and enjoys yoga, hiking, reading, and traveling.