The NISC Leadership Collaborative helps ensure senior centers are not just included—but are centered—in national aging conversations. By pairing grassroots experience with national insight, the collaborative helps shape a stronger future for aging in America. 

Celebrating leadership! 

The National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC) is proud to welcome Jenna Hauss, President & CEO of ONEgeneration in California, as the new Chair of the NISC Leadership Collaborative. Jenna brings deep experience, visionary leadership, and a strong commitment to equity and innovation in the senior center field. As chair, she will guide the collaborative’s efforts to amplify local voices, connect communities, and strengthen the national presence of senior centers. 

We also extend heartfelt thanks to Jill Hall, Senior Services Manager for the Highlands Ranch Metro District in Colorado, for her remarkable leadership over the past four years. Under Jill’s guidance, the Collaborative has expanded its reach, deepened its impact, and helped center senior centers in national conversations on aging. 

What is the Leadership Collaborative? 

Senior centers are the heart of community aging—offering connection, purpose, and programs that help older adults thrive. As the national leader in aging well, NCOA has long championed the critical role of senior centers through NISC. 

Founded in the early 1990s, NISC began as a grassroots effort to elevate senior centers and has since grown into a vibrant network of over 2,000 affiliate members nationwide. NISC provides resources, promotes standards of excellence, shares best practices, and ensures senior centers have a strong and unified voice. 

At the center of this work is the Leadership Collaborative—a peer advisory body that grounds NISC’s efforts in lived experience and real-world practice. It connects local realities to national priorities, ensuring strategies and innovations reflect what’s happening on the ground. 

The collaborative is a national group of senior center professionals representing states and territories across the U.S. It serves as a two-way conduit—bringing insights and challenges from the field to NCOA while distributing timely information, tools, and strategies back to local communities. 

Its mission is simple but powerful: to advise, collaborate, and foster communication between NCOA, senior centers, and their networks—ensuring policies and programs meet the evolving and diverse needs of older adults. 

Key objectives 

• Advisory guidance: Recommend strategies and policies that impact senior centers. 

• Field expertise: Share on-the-ground knowledge to inform national work. 

• Information-sharing: Elevate challenges, successes, and innovations. 

• Representation: Strive for at least one member from every U.S. state and territory. 

• Professional development: Identify and support leadership opportunities. 

• Volunteer engagement: Lead and contribute to national initiatives and resource development. 

States currently represented 

The collaborative currently has members from: Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Maryland, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

If your state or territory isn’t represented yet, now is the time to step up. Join a national network of peers committed to strengthening senior centers and improving the lives of older adults. 

Apply to represent your state or territory: 
NISC Leadership Collaborative Application 

Why serve on the Leadership Collaborative?

Members of the Leadership Collaborative gain: 

• National visibility and recognition as senior center leaders 

• Direct influence on national strategies and messaging 

• A peer network for sharing ideas, solutions, and support 

• Opportunities to shape national initiatives and resources 

• Professional growth and leadership development 

• A platform to amplify their state or territory’s senior center experience 

Together, we are shaping the future of aging—grounded in community and powered by leadership.