Elana Kieffer, MBA
Elana Kieffer is Acting Director for the Center for Healthy Aging. She has nearly 15 years of experience working in a wide range of older adult services, with a focus on project management, program development, and sales and marketing. Prior to her time at the Academy, Elana worked at The New Jewish Home and at MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care. She also worked in affordable and market-rate senior housing for two Boston-based organizations, The Community Builders and Hebrew SeniorLife. Elana has an MBA in nonprofit management with a concentration in aging services from the Heller School at Brandeis University.

Carolyn Stem
Carolyn Stem is a Project Assistant for the Center for Healthy Aging. She has been with The New York Academy of Medicine’s Healthy Aging team since 2008, first as a volunteer and then as a ReServist. She helped manage questionnaire and survey responses for Age-friendly NYC and aided in sector roundtable discussions and community forums and frequently gives presentations about the initiative. Prior to her time at NYAM, she worked with the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) as a ReServist in the Intergenerational Division, encompassing the Intergenerational Work-Study Program and the Volunteer Support Program. She also edited and prepared Good Practices in Intergenerational Programming for publication, a PDF version of which can be found on the DFTA website. She attended Mannes College of Music and was a Fulbright Scholarship recipient to Vienna, Austria. She received her Diploma from the Hochschüle der Darstellende Kunst. She is currently a member of the JASA/JPAC Advisory Committee, a graduate of the Institute for Senior Advocacy (IFSA), a member of NYSIgN-New York State Intergenerational Network, and was formerly a member of the Manhattan Borough President’s Senior Advisory Committee.

Diane Kolack, MPH
Diane Kolack, Program Officer, currently manages the New York Academy of Medicine’s technical assistance program for Health and Age Across All Policies in New York State. She has 12 years of experience in health advocacy and community organizing, as well as in New York City and State policy. Through the Academy’s Advancing Prevention Project, Diane developed and implemented webinars, learning collaboratives, and convenings to support local health departments, health systems, and community coalitions in their local implementation of the New York State Prevention Agenda. Prior to her work in public health, Diane spent a decade managing a community-based law firm as a paralegal focused on services for older adults. She holds an MPH degree with a concentration in Community Health from the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy and a BA from Hunter College.

Judith A. Salerno, MD, MS
Judith A. Salerno, MD, MS, is President of The New York Academy of Medicine and is leading its strategic vision to advance health equity. A physician executive and one of the nation’s pre-eminent leaders in health and healthcare, Dr. Salerno most recently served as President and CEO of Susan G. Komen ™, the world’s largest breast cancer organization. She also served as the Leonard D. Schaeffer Executive Officer of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Deputy Director of the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health, and Chief Consultant for Geriatrics and Extended Care for the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. Dr. Salerno is board-certified in internal medicine and holds an MD degree from Harvard Medical School and a Master of Science in Health Policy from the Harvard School of Public Health. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2018.