Staff

She joined LTQA and the MLTSS Association in 2018 with more than ten years of experience in aging and health policy, most recently as Deputy Director of the Aging and Disability Business Institute at the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). Mary studied Gerontology at Miami University.

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Nora provides strategic advice to leaders in the aging field, including the US Department of Health and Human Services, The John A. Hartford Foundation, the BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Early Detection of Dementia, and the Long-Term Quality Alliance. Nora is also an expert facilitator of major events and convenings, with proven skill in producing meaningful outcomes and actionable recommendations. She also is a dynamic motivational speaker, with a passion for mental health advocacy and improving the lives of older adults and their families.

Nora serves on several advisory boards, including the Columbia University Health and Aging Policy Fellow Program National Advisory Board, the Gerontological Society of America’s Editorial Board for Public Policy & Aging Report and Reframing Aging Initiative Advisory Board, the Healthy Aging Coalition, the Long-Term Quality Alliance, the Moving Forward Nursing Home Quality Coalition, the Retirement Income Institute’s Scholars Advisory Group, University of California San Francisco’s Living Alone with Cognitive Impairment Policy Advisory Board, and UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Brain Health Partnership.

Most recently, Nora was the Executive Director of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging, where she provided strategic direction for the three primary focus areas of the Center:  Healthy Longevity, Financial Security, and Improving Dementia Care. While at the Milken Institute, Nora created and launched the Alliance to Improve Dementia Care, which upon her departure included 100+ organizations, and seeks to transform and improve the complex health and long-term care systems that people at risk for and living with dementia must navigate.

In 2014, President Obama appointed her as Executive Director of the White House Conference on Aging, where she received wide recognition for her nationwide efforts to improve the lives of older Americans. She has also held leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, AARP, Kaiser Permanente, and USAging.

Nora received a certificate in gerontology from the University of Gerontology’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, completed her graduate work in public administration with a concentration in health policy at the George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, and received a BA in political science from Tulane University and the University of New Orleans.

She and her husband, Len Nichols, live in New Orleans, LA, with their Beagle, Philippe. They have three adult children.

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Dr. Atkins is a veteran of more than 30 years of health and social policy analysis, policy development, and legislative representation at the local, state, and federal levels. He directed Public Policy at Schering-Plough Corporation; was founder and President of Health Policy Analysts, Inc., a firm providing consultation on pharmaceutical, health benefits, and health care reimbursement issues; was Executive Director of the Corporate Health Care Coalition, an alliance of Fortune 100 companies on federal and state health reform issues; and headed a health and benefits policy practice in the Washington office of the New York law firm Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam and Roberts. During the 1990s, Dr. Atkins served on two quadrennial Social Security Advisory Commissions – 1991 as a Commission member and 1995 as a member of the Technical Panel.

During the 1980s, Dr. Atkins served on the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging as professional staff, Deputy Staff Director and Republican Staff Director for Chairman John Heinz (R-PA), and advised Senator Heinz as a member of the Senate Finance Committee on retirement income and health policy matters, and as a member of the 1983 National Commission on Social Security Reform. Prior to his work in the Congress, Dr. Atkins developed health and human services policy at the state and local government levels.

Dr. Atkins holds a Ph.D. from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, where he is currently a member of the Board of Overseers. He holds master degrees from the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky, and an undergraduate degree from Kenyon College.

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