Martha Peláez served as the regional advisor on aging to the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) where she focused on building the knowledge base for health and aging in 28 Latin America and the Caribbean countries (LAC). Her work focused on developing policies and tools for creating age friendly primary health care services. She coordinated with the WHO Global Program on Aging and Health in Geneva, with the United Nations Program on Aging, and with the National Institute on Aging in the USA on several international projects and in resource mobilization to conduct population-based research across Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Peláez ran her own consultancy for network development and operations at Florida Health Networks, LLC, and has led the Healthy Aging Regional Collaborative (HARC) of the Health Foundation of South Florida. Her previous jobs included directing education and training programs at the Southeast Center on Aging at Florida International University, where she worked very closely with the Area Agencies on Aging and services providers in South Florida.

Peláez has worked in the field of Aging for 37 years, has written numerous publications on health and aging and has served on the boards of various national and international organizations focused on heath and aging. 

She received a B.A. from Manhattanville College, an M.A. in Theological Studies from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Tulane University in New Orleans.