Caroline Ryskiewich, CEO and founder of Twined, a Durham-based geriatric care management service, has been part of DII for several years in both volunteer and paid roles. She is a Certified Geriatric Care Manager and dementia specialist and has long advocated for older adults, people living with dementia, and their families.

Caroline has been a long-time DII consultant, collaborator, and volunteer and has played a key role in DII’s annual Community Forum. Her experience with DII and her deep commitment to its mission make her a natural fit to help guide the organization during this transition.

Adam Hopler is an attorney and managing partner at Hopler Hanna, a Durham law firm focused on estate planning, probate, guardianship, fiduciary matters, and other legal issues affecting families.

His practice has a particularly strong elder-law and caregiving focus. He helps families navigate adult guardianships, powers of attorney, trusts, estate administration, and situations involving incapacity or the death of a loved one. He is also a member of the Durham County Adult Protection Multidisciplinary Team and serves on the Durham-Orange Estate Planning Council.

Shelisa Howard-Martinez is a longtime Durham community-health and nonprofit leader who serves as the founding Executive Director of Aging Well Durham.

Shelisa has more than 25 years of experience in community health, aging services, nonprofit leadership, and community engagement. She began her career working in the disability-services field and later worked with Meals on Wheels and the Triangle J Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging, giving her experience across both nonprofit and public aging-service systems.

She is deeply involved in Durham's aging and public-health infrastructure. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Partnership for a Healthy Durham and Co-Chair of the Durham County Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee.

At Aging Well Durham, Shelisa has been a central figure in developing and implementing the Durham Master Aging Plan, bringing together nonprofits, government, healthcare organizations, universities, older adults, and people with disabilities to improve how Durham supports people throughout the lifespan.

Rachel Dewees is a social worker and dementia/brain-health professional at Duke University, currently serving as Research Participant Concierge with the Duke–UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC).

Rachel has also been involved with the NC Registry for Brain Health, where she has worked in operations and community outreach related to brain-health research. She has participated in efforts to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s research and encourage participation from diverse North Carolina communities.

In addition to her time on the DII board, Rachel has also served in leadership with Meals on Wheels Durham.

Susan Sewell is a longtime Durham community volunteer and neighborhood advocate with deep involvement in local civic affairs. She is particularly active in Tuscaloosa-Lakewood Neighborhood Association, where she has served as treasurer and has been involved in neighborhood communications, community events, zoning issues, and quality-of-life concerns. She has helped produce the neighborhood's newsletter, The Porch Light, for many years.

Professionally, Susan has a background in accounting and business administration. She spent many years with Education and Training Systems International (ETSI), progressing from accounting roles to Business Services Systems Manager. Her experience includes accounting, payroll taxes, collections, financial statements, and business systems. She attended Emory & Henry College and Illinois State University.

Dosali Reed-Bandele is a longtime Durham community leader and nonprofit executive who serves as Executive Director of the West End Community Foundation (WECF) and the Community Family Life & Recreation Center at Lyon Park.

She has partnered with Duke University, Durham Parks and Recreation, Durham Public Schools/community organizations, and other local groups on programs addressing youth development, family support, community health, arts, and neighborhood revitalization. Duke has highlighted her work preserving and celebrating the history and experiences of Durham's West End elders.

Dosali was also selected as a 2024 Transforming Leaders Goodmon Fellow, recognizing her community leadership and commitment to helping Durham residents access resources and opportunities. She is described as particularly passionate about relationships, empowerment, community development, and collaboration among organizations serving Durham residents.

Kristen Patterson is a senior public health leader with Durham County, currently serving as Assistant Director of Public Health (also described in county materials as Deputy Public Health Director). She is part of the leadership team at the Durham County Department of Public Health.

Patterson has played a significant role in Durham's community health initiatives, including the county's Community Health Assessment and broader efforts to address health disparities and improve health outcomes. She was part of the leadership team supporting Durham's 2023 Community Health Assessment, working alongside the Health Director and other senior public-health administrators.

She has also been involved in Durham County's response to the opioid crisis and opioid settlement funding, including coordination among public-health program managers and division leaders and development of new community health initiatives. County reports identify her as one of the staff members leading this work.

Shauntae Gause is a registered nurse and care manager with DukeWELL, Duke University Health System’s population-health program. Her professional background is particularly focused on gerontology, dementia care, public health, and community health.

At DukeWELL, Shauntae works as a Care Manager in the Complex Care–Dementia Care Program within Population Health Management. Her work centers on helping older adults and people with complex health needs remain safe, healthy, and connected to their communities.

Sarah Wilbur is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Dance and Theater Studies at Duke University and a choreographer, performance researcher, and arts-and-health educator. She is also a faculty network member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences.

Her work is especially relevant to aging, dementia, healthcare, and creative engagement. For more than 25 years, she has worked as an artist and collaborator in healthcare, social-service, education, and performing-arts settings. At Duke, her research explores how dance and other creative practices can be used in healthcare and aging services.

Sarah currently facilitates a weekly adaptive, participatory dance program for older adults in the Adult Day Health Program at the Durham Center for Senior Life. Her approach emphasizes movement, creativity, participation, and social connection rather than traditional performance.

Kendra J. Pressley is a Durham community volunteer, nonprofit board member, and operations/vendor-management professional with more than 27 years of professional experience. She currently works with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) and has a professional background that includes operations, vendor management, organizational leadership, and program support. She earned her degree from UNC–Chapel Hill.

Kendra is particularly connected to Durham's dementia and aging community. She serves as a Director of Dementia Inclusive, Inc., a Durham nonprofit focused on creating a community that supports people living with dementia and their care partners. The organization's board roster lists her affiliation as Community Volunteer.

She has also been active in Durham civic affairs, having served on the City of Durham Civilian Police Review Board since at least 2018. In June 2026, the Durham City Council confirmed her reappointment to the board through June 30, 2030.

Her professional and volunteer work reflects a strong interest in community engagement, equity, organizational effectiveness, and improving services for Durham residents. Her LinkedIn profile notes her involvement with initiatives addressing inequities affecting Black communities and her participation on the Dementia Inclusive board.

Travis Williams is a human-services administrator and aging-services leader who serves as Assistant Director of the Aging and Adult Services Division at Durham County Department of Social Services (DCoDSS). He joined Durham County in 2024 after more than 20 years working in public human services.

In his current role, Williams oversees areas of Durham County's Aging and Adult Services system that include in-home services, home-delivered meals, crisis services, and other supports intended to help older and disabled adults remain safely in their homes. Durham County lists him as the contact for its Adult In-Home Programs.

Williams is also involved in Durham's broader community-services infrastructure. He has participated in the Durham Homeless Services Advisory Committee, and he is involved in administration of the county's Home and Community Care Block Grant, which funds services such as adult day care, senior-center operations, transportation, home-delivered meals, and in-home aide services.

Dr. Collin Elizabeth Burks, MD is a board-certified geriatrician and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. She also holds an appointment in Duke's Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. She practices at Duke Geriatrics North Durham.

Dr. Burks specializes in caring for older adults, with particular clinical interests involving memory loss and dementia, falls and balance problems, mood changes, and other complex issues associated with aging. She emphasizes listening carefully to both patients and their caregivers and helping older adults maintain the quality of life that matters to them.

Her academic work focuses on several important areas of geriatrics, including care transitions, advance care planning, blood-pressure management in older adults, nursing-home care, and malnutrition among older adults. She has published peer-reviewed research and educational work in geriatric medicine.

Dr. Marianne Chanti-Ketterl is a geroscientist, epidemiologist, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. She is also a Senior Fellow at Duke’s Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development.

Her research focuses on cognitive health, healthy aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and related dementias, with particular interest in how environmental exposures and life-course factors affect brain health. Her work examines pesticide and chemical exposure, traumatic brain injury, metabolic health, social determinants of health, cognitive resilience, and cognitive training.

Dr. Chanti-Ketterl has an important role in community engagement and dementia research. She is part of the Outreach, Recruitment and Engagement Core of the Duke-UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, where she works to expand participation in research and strengthen relationships with communities that have historically been underrepresented in aging and dementia studies.

She is also the Faculty Operational Director for the North Carolina Registry for Brain Health, a statewide initiative connecting North Carolina residents with opportunities to participate in brain-health research. In this role, she helps expand research engagement and community and institutional partnerships across the state.

Vish is the President of Duke’s undergraduate student organization HAND (Helping Hands for Alzheimer's and other Neurological Disorders).