Michele Brague
Executive Director
PHI/Sycamore Manor
Montoursville, Pa.

In the words of a colleague, Michele Brague "lives and breathes advocacy every day" and believes residents, families and staff should be advocates, too. When AAHSA and PANPHA send out "calls to action" on public policy issues, she responds immediately and encourages managers, staff and volunteers to weigh in, as well. She is active in PANPHA state and regional public policy committees and co–chairs her parent organization's new advocacy committee. She visits state and national legislators' offices often and takes advantage of every opportunity to discuss aging-services issues with policy makers.

Michele Brague makes it a point to engage policy makers during state capitol and Capitol Hill visits, at Chamber of Commerce events, at open houses and "swearings in" where legislators will be present, and at inaugural events. She has hosted state officials and PANPHA's legislative breakfast at Sycamore Manor and has testified at state Medicaid hearings. In addition, she sets an expectation that advocacy is everyone's responsibility and tirelessly organizes individuals and groups to advocate for positive change.

"Now is the time for aging services to be proactive," she says. "The legislators are aware of our aging population and that there are many voters in this group. They need experts in the field to keep them abreast of issues and changes to better serve their constituents."