Communities around the world are being presented with an emerging opportunity to consider how we meet the needs of our aging residents as the population grows in unprecedented ways. Recognizing this opportunity, the World Health Organization (WHO) uses the Age-Friendly environments framework to encourage communities to consider these opportunities. In early 2016, Columbus joined the Age-Friendly Communities Network through the support of Mayor Ginter and expanded to Franklin County in 2018 with the support of the Board of Commissioners. Since that time, the Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County have assessed, planned, and implemented strategies in alignment with the WHO domains that range from practice, policy, and research. Hear from leaders in Central Ohio about how they approach the Age-Friendly work within their organization and provide practical guidance for planners to implement within their communities.
Marisa Sheldon | Marisa Sheldon (she/her), MSW, LISW-S is the Director of the Age-Friendly Innovation Center and Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County. After completing her undergrad and graduate program at the Ohio State University College of Social Work, Marisa spent the start of her career with a focus on clinical services to older adults and caregivers. Marisa then moved towards more macro focused social work, joining the Ohio State University College of Social Work Office of Field Education, expanding her knowledge beyond the aging network and identified her interest in working with students. She joined the Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County team in 2018, allowing her to engage her passion for working with older adults, students, and community organizations.
At Age-Friendly, she acknowledges what a privilege it is to have the opportunity to inspire the next generation of those working in aging. As someone who aspires to grow old, she is dedicated to ensuring the voice of older adult’s ground community change to create more livable communities for all people. Marisa has two young children and believes building a better community for older adults will also mean a better community for her children
Michael Stinziano | Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano took office on March 11, 2019. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from George Washington University and graduated from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. For the last five years, as your Franklin County Auditor, Michael has brought a broad range of innovations to the office using the guide points of connect, protect and reassess.
Prior to his role as Auditor, Michael served as the Director of the Board of Elections, as a representative in the Ohio General Assembly, and as a member of Columbus City Council, where he was elected President Pro Tem in 2018. Michael is currently an Adjunct Law Professor at Capital Law School.
Dr. Holly Dabelko-Schoeny | Dr. Dabelko-Schoeny is a community-engaged social work scholar and educator committed to improving the lives of older adults and family caregivers through community-based interventions identified and developed with older persons, practitioners, students, and other faculty. She is the Director of Research for the Age-Friendly Innovation Center and strives to improve the service, social and built environments that support the inclusion of older adults. Her work is deeply collaborative, relying on multiple methods and community-based participatory research approaches.
She is a team scientist and teacher who believes answers to our most challenging questions exist in the intersection between our empirical and theoretical understandings and the lived experiences of older adults, practitioners, and students. Her passion rests in preparing future scholars and practitioners who are enthusiastic, compassionate, and armed with the skills necessary to develop and implement evidence-informed practices that support older adults in their ability to age in community
Katie White | Katie White serves as Executive Director of the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging where she leads the execution of federal, state, and local programs for older adults and people with disabilities across eight counties. She has worked in nonprofit, government, and university roles while also serving on numerous boards to add the aging and accessibility lens across public and private sectors. Katie completed both her undergraduate degree in Gerontology and graduate degree in Social Work at The Ohio State University. With a dedication to grass-roots, inclusive-planning, Katie has led a successful career as founding director of the Age-Friendly Innovation Center, founding executive director of Village Connections, strategic leader at the Alzheimer’s Association, and valued team member among various home and community based service organizations.