Mary Kaschak – Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Kaschak is Chief Executive Officer of the Long-Term Quality Alliance in Washington, DC. She comes to the Alliance with 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). At the Business Institute, Ms. Kaschak played a lead role in advancing the readiness and business acumen of community-based organizations (CBOs) to successfully engage in the design and delivery of integrated care systems for older adults and younger adults with disabilities. Ms. Kaschak’s responsibilities at the Business Institute included business development, grant management, and oversight of day-to-day operations.
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Christina Wu – Research and Policy Director
Christina Wu is Research and Policy Director of the Long-Term Quality Alliance, where she develops and implements LTQA’s research agenda to advance long-term care policy. Ms. Wu brings multiple years of experience in research, government, and health care consulting. As a consultant at the Lewin Group, Ms. Wu supported clients including the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to implement multi-year federal demonstrations testing new models in end-of-life care and supportive housing for older adults. She also worked with several state Medicaid agencies on rebalancing their Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) systems.
Most recently, Ms. Wu worked to improve care coordination for individuals with complex health and social needs in the Massachusetts Medicaid Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program, both at a health plan and at the state. She also completed a Fulbright fellowship researching dementia care in China. Ms. Wu has a Master of Public Health in Health Policy from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.
Claire Jensen – Policy and Communications Manager
Claire Jensen is Policy and Communications Manager of the Long-Term Quality Alliance, where she supports LTQA research and manages member engagement and communication. Ms. Jensen brings several years of experience in policy, research, and advocacy spaces both domestically and internationally. She previously worked at LTQA as a Policy Analyst in 2016-17.
Prior to her current role at LTQA, Ms. Jensen supported public health policy research projects at the African Institute for Development Policy in Malawi after completing a Global Health Corps fellowship there. She was also a 2015 National Academy of Social Insurance intern at the Social Security Advisory Board. Ms. Jensen has a Master of Social Work with a concentration in Policy Practice from Columbia University School of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts from Bryn Mawr College in East Asian Studies with a minor in Sociology.
Nora Super – Senior Fellow
Nora Super is the CEO of NS Ideas, LLC, a boutique consulting firm she leads together with her husband, health economist, Len Nichols. Nora is an internationally recognized thought leader on healthy longevity and the economic and social impact of global population aging. She is a well-known expert and prolific writer on health, long-term care, and retirement public policy. In 2022, Nora was named one of Forbes’ 50 over 50 women making an impact.
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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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G. Lawrence Atkins – Consultant
Dr. Atkins is a Consultant for the Long-Term Quality Alliance in Washington, DC. He previously served as the Executive Director of Long-Term Quality Alliance and the National MLTSS Health Plan Association. He is a Board member and former President of the National Academy of Social Insurance. He was recently the Staff Director of the federal Commission on Long-Term Care, which issued its final report in September 2013. Prior to that, he was Executive Director, U.S. Public Policy at the global pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck.
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.
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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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