EmergingAging NYC Leadership
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ALLISON COOK, Chief Strategist
Allison is an independent consultant on projects that seek to improve aging-related services and supports and recently founded Better Aging and Policy Consulting, LLC. She has been a part of EmergingAging since 2012. Prior to her work as a consultant, she was the State Policy Manager at PHI. While in college, Allison worked as a home health aide, driving her decision to improve the long-term services and supports system. In her free time, Allison enjoys playing soccer, spending time with her dog and cat, and volunteering as a friendly visitor to older adults. Allison has her Master’s in Public Health from Brown University.

JOELLE (LICHTMAN) MARGOLIES, Communications Coordinator
Joelle is a design consultant who creates environments to enhance user comfort, health and safety for older adults.  She has extensive experience performing home safety consultations for older adults in New York City, and providing them with simple and affordable solutions to create safer home environments.  Joelle often speaks on the topic of maintaining a safe home environment, previously at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the New York Public Library.  Joelle holds a Master of Arts in Interior Design and a Gerontology Certificate from Cornell University.  She is a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist, LEED Accredited Professional and is a member of the American Institute of Architects Design for Aging Committee.  ​

ILANA MITTLEMAN, Secretary
Ilana recently graduated from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health with a Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology and a certificate in health of an aging society. Ilana's master's thesis focused on social isolation and loneliness among older adults. Prior to Columbia, Ilana worked at JASA, a nonprofit agency serving seniors in NYC. She was responsible for coordinating volunteers and assisting with JASA’s advocacy program for seniors, facilitating trainings and workshops on civic affairs and leadership. Ilana first became interested in working with older adults during high school while volunteering with her dog at a pet therapy program in a nursing home.  

KRISTEN CRIBBS, External Relations Coordinator 
Kristen is a PhD in Public Health candidate at the CUNY School of Public Health, where she's focusing in Health Policy and Management. Her current research explores how hospital nursing culture impacts the quality of care older adults receive. Previously, she served as deputy director of educational services at the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in NYC, where she managed the Foundation’s professional training and education initiatives and was involved in capacity-building and outreach. She has also worked on a national Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) initiative to standardize palliative care practice across VA inpatient care settings and on the development and implementation of programs for the Age-friendly NYC Initiative, part of the World Health Organization’s Global Age-friendly Cities Project. She received her MPH, with a concentration in Aging and Health, from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and is deeply committed to improving the health and well-being of older adults.