Center For Healthy Aging

Center for Healthy Aging is a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to integrating public, private and philanthropic resources to help educate and train caregivers, enhance wellness and provide models of care that demonstrate efficiencies and cost savings while improving the quality of life for elders.

Meet our Board of Directors

Lawrence Weiss, Ph.D.

Founder/President

Dr. Weiss has been committed to improving the quality of life for elders for more than 45 years. In 1989, Dr. Weiss moved to Reno to take the position of Director for the Sanford Center for Aging at the University of Nevada, Reno.  He held that position for 15 years prior to founding the Center for Healthy Aging. He has developed many programs for elders in our community over the past 28+ years. He is renowned in the field of aging throughout the country and notably in our local community. Dr. Weiss’ philosophy is not to promote anti-aging, but to focus on maintaining a good quality of life until the end of life. He lives the Center for Healthy Aging’s mission: Adding life to years!

Marsy Kupfersmith

Secretary

Marsy moved to Nevada from New York in 2004 after a 30-year career as a legal secretary. Since then, she has dedicated her time to advocacy and community service, particularly focusing on affordable senior housing and resources for older adults.

She currently serves as the Secretary and a board member of the Senior Coalition of Washoe County and is an active member of the Nevada Housing Coalition. Her past leadership roles include serving as the Vice President of the Sparks Senior Citizens Advisory Committee, Secretary for Friends of Washoe County Library, and a volunteer with the Alzheimer’s Association.

Marsy has been a dedicated participant in Senior Day at the Legislature, advocating for policies that support older adults. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she took an active role in combating senior isolation by making weekly wellness calls through the Senior Friendly Visitor Phone Program, ensuring that vulnerable seniors felt connected and supported.

Her unwavering commitment to affordable senior housing and community engagement continues to make a meaningful impact in Washoe County.

Kyle Waxman

Treasurer

Currently serving as the Treasurer and a board member of the Senior Coalition of Washoe County, Kyle has also held leadership roles as the former Vice President and board member of Friends of Washoe County Library, a former board member of the Sparks Senior Citizens Advisory Committee, and a volunteer at the Sierra View Library. Her dedication to senior issues is evident in her long-standing participation in Senior Day at the Legislature, where she advocates for policies that support older adults.

A strong proponent of public libraries, Kyle believes that healthy and well-funded libraries play a crucial role in enhancing the lives of seniors by providing access to computer technology, knowledgeable librarians, and opportunities for social engagement. Libraries serve as welcoming spaces that help combat isolation and foster meaningful connections through community events.

Her commitment to senior welfare and public resources continues to make a lasting impact in Washoe County.

Diane Ross, MS

Director

Diane is the founder and CEO of The Continuum, which she started in 1993. The Continuum is an intergenerational community rehabilitation agency providing Speech, Occupational and Physical Therapy. A child care center and adult day program are also part of the services. The Continuum also contracts with Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) to provide eligibility information for Washoe County citizens seeking to use the paratransit system. Diane has worked in most health care settings as a speech-language pathologist and director for over 30 years. She has a BA in Education and MS in Speech and Language Pathology from the University of Nevada-Reno.  Diane created and currently manages the statewide website which provides resources and information for people with disabilities, caregivers and seniors with a grant from the Nevada Aging and Disability Services Department (ADSD). She created a home safety and modification program for low income seniors that is funded by the Independent Living Grant funds from the ADSD.

Caroline Ford, MPH

Director 

Caroline Ford has more than 20 years experience in rural health issues. She was instrumental in crafting the legislation that created the Nevada Health Service Program, where rural health professionals receive education loan debt repayment in return for service to their rural program. This program is responsible for many physicians and nurse Practitioners to stay in Rural Nevada and this program led to the creation of the physician assistant training program for rural residents. Thus the majority of the geriatric rural care in Nevada is an outgrowth of programs created and/or maintained through the Office of Rural Health within the School of Medicine under the direction of Caroline Ford.

Mary Liveratti

Director

Mary has 39 years of professional experience in the field of health and human services and more than 25 years as a licensed social worker in Nevada. Mary came to Nevada in 1974 as a VISTA volunteer for the senior center at the Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County and later worked at the Southern Nevada Catholic Charities Senior Nutrition/Meals on Wheels Program. She then worked for 33 years with the State of Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. During that time, she worked 24 years for the Division for Aging and Disability Services, including four years as Administrator and nine as the Deputy Director for the Department of HHS. She was responsible for a number of programs for older persons and persons with disabilities, including home and community based services, elder protection, grants  management, suicide prevention, prescription programs, consumer health assistance, and minority health. Since her retirement, Mary volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Association and AARP. She serves on the Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders, Advisory Council for Oral Health and the Governor’s Council on Food Security.

Donna Clontz

Director

Donna practiced criminal, juvenile, labor and school safety law for 23 years in Ventura County, California. She was a prosecutor and managed a large law enforcement labor union there. She was a successful lobbyist at the California Legislature for changes in juvenile law. She retired, moved to Reno and dived headfirst into volunteering in the community for women, girls and elders. She’s an active community elders advocate who has held leadership roles with AAUW Nevada, AARP Nevada, Reno Senior Citizen Advisory Board, and Washoe County Senior Citizen Advisory Board. As an active member of the Senior Coalition of Washoe County, she has helped create Senior Days at the Nevada Legislature, Senior Candidate Forums, and taught elders how they can become citizen advocates at local, state and federal levels. She writes a monthly column for Northern Nevada’s Senior Spectrum magazine and believes that the best way to improve the lives of seniors is to give them the information and access to resources they need to age successfully in their communities.

Steven L. Phillips, MD

Director

Dr. Phillips has worked in the field of geriatric medicine for the past 35 years as a clinician, researcher, and administrator. He remains involved at a local, state, and national level with an interest in healthcare policy development, quality improvement and alternative payment models that address the total cost of care as defined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). He has served on the NCQA Geriatric Measurement Advisory Panel (GMAP) since 2001.

He serves as a consultant for the Sanford Center for Aging and a subject matter expert for Project ECHO Nevada with an emphasis on dementia, nursing facilities, and age-friendly health systems. When not practicing, he enjoys being with family, playing guitar and spending time on his ranch near Pyramid Lake.