RAISE Family Caregiving Advisory Council Meeting

September 21, 2021

Speaker Biographies

Administration for Community Living 

Alison Barkoff

Acting Administrator & Assistant Secretary for Aging

Alison Barkoff was sworn into office as the Principal Deputy 

Administrator on January 20, 2021, and currently is serving as 

Acting Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging. In this 

capacity, she provides executive direction, leadership, guidance 

and coordination for ACL programs nationwide and advises the 

HHS Secretary on issues affecting individuals with disabilities and older adults.

Ms. Barkoff comes to ACL from the Center for Public Representation, where she served 

as Director of Advocacy. In that position, she led policy advocacy with federal agencies 

and Congress and legal advocacy nationally to advance community living and inclusion, 

including in the areas of healthcare, Medicaid home- and community-based services, 

employment, housing, and education. She led and participated in numerous coalitions 

with disability and aging organizations, including as co-chair of the Long-Term Services 

and Supports Task Force of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities. She has 

testified before Congress and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on disability rights 

and was appointed to serve on the federal Advisory Committee for Competitive 

Integrated Employment of People with Disabilities.

Ms. Barkoff previously served as Director of Advocacy at the Bazelon Center for Mental 

Health Law, where she worked on a range of disability, healthcare, education and civil 

rights issues. In earlier government roles, she served as Special Counsel for Olmstead 

Enforcement in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, leading efforts to 
enforce the rights of people with disabilities to live, work and fully participate in their 

communities. She also worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 

within the Department of Health and Human Services on policies related to Medicaid 

home- and community-based services and with the Department of Labor on issues 

affecting the workforce providing in-home services. She is a sibling to an adult brother 

with developmental disabilities and been involved in disability advocacy her entire life. 

She received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her Juris Doctor 

from Emory University School of Law.

Greg Link, MA 

Director of the Office of Supportive and Caregiver Services

Greg Link is the Director of the Office of Supportive and Caregiver 

Services with the Administration for Community Living/U.S. 

Administration on Aging, which oversees programs funded under the 

Older Americans Act (OAA), including Title III-B in-home supportive 

services, Title III-E National Family Caregiver Support Program as well 

as ACL’s Alzheimer’s disease programs. Greg and his team also 

provide general oversight and technical assistance to the aging network on a range of 

program areas, including Information and Referral, family caregiver support programs 

and policies, housing, employment, transportation, LGBT aging, and Holocaust 

Survivors. 

Before coming to ACL/AoA, Greg worked at the National Association of State Units on 

Aging where he provided technical assistance and training to states on family care 

giving, consumer direction, and transportation. Greg has also worked at the community 

level as a case manager and social services manager at Senior Friendship Centers in 

Fort Myers, Florida. There, he oversaw the social services staff and the delivery of 

services funded by the Older Americans Act, state funds and Medicaid waivers. 

Greg holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Central Florida and 

a Master of Arts in Government from Johns Hopkins University.
White House Domestic Policy Council 

Jessica Schubel, Director of the Affordable Care Act and 

Health Care

Before joining the Domestic Policy Council as the Director of the 

Affordable Care Act and Health Care, Jessica worked at the 

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) where she 

examined issues related to Medicaid and other coverage 

issues. Prior to her role at CBPP, Jessica served as the Senior 

Policy Advisor to the Director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services at CMS 

during the Obama Administration and previously worked at the District of Columbia’s 

Medicaid agency. Born and raised in western New York, Jessica graduated from 

Syracuse University and the George Washington University.

National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) Presentation

Grace Whiting, J.D.

At thirty-two, Grace followed in the footsteps of NAC Founder Gail 

Gibson Hunt to helm one of the nation’s leading public policy and 

advocacy organizations for friend and family caregivers. With 

previous experience as COO and the Director of Strategic 

Partnerships, Grace has doubled the budget of the organization 

in her tenure to date and created the Hunt Research Program.

Grace led the nation’s first national policy study of 1,400+ rare disease caregivers with 

Global Genes. She has led other original NAC research including Sandwich Generation 

in the U.S. with Caring Across Generations; A National Study of Caregivers of 

Individuals with Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis with the Crohn’s and Colitis 

Foundation and ImproveCareNow; Cancer Caregiving in the U.S. with the National 

Cancer Institute and Cancer Support Community; and Dementia Caregiving in the U.S. 

with the Alzheimer’s Association, among others.

Grace has spoken on caregiving at national and international conferences, including the 

7th International Carers Conference in Adelaide, Australia, and at multiple national 

summits at the National Institutes of Health. Grace has also served as a resource to 

major media on the topic of caregiving and aging, including C-SPAN, The Wall Street 

Journal, Time Magazine, Oprah Magazine, Women’s Health Magazine, and Kiplinger’s 
Retirement Report. Grace was chosen as one of twenty PBS Next Avenue 2020 

Influencers in Aging.

A licensed attorney with the D.C. Bar, Grace was named an “Outstanding Law Student” 

by the National Association of Women Lawyers after earning her law degree from the 

University of Memphis. She is a proud graduate of the Louisiana State University 

Honors College in communication studies and philosophy. Grace lives in Silver Spring, 

Maryland with her husband, writer Geoffrey Whiting, and their distinguished pug, Chief 

Justice.

Michael Reese Wittke, BSW, MPA

Michael Reese Wittke leads the national and federal engagement 

strategy for the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and 

oversees the National Caregiver Advocacy Collaborative—a 

network of nearly 100 national, state, and local family caregiver 

advocates from across the country. Mike works directly with 

policymakers on Capitol Hill, federal agencies, the White House, 

and participates in national coalitions advocating on behalf of family 

caregivers across the lifespan.

In this role, Mike has directed three National Conferences of Caregiver Advocates held 

in conjunction with the American Society on Aging at the annual Aging in America 

Conference. Under his leadership, NAC has co-hosted a national Hill briefing on 

Congressional Caregiving Stories with the Gerontological Society of America, AARP, 

and the John A. Hartford Foundation and provided testimony in a hearing to the United 

States House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor (Subcommittee 

on Civil Rights and Human Services) Examining the Older Americans Act: Promoting 

Independence and Dignity for Older Americans. Mike has led national coalition efforts to 

support key pieces of legislation directly impacting family caregivers, including the 

R.A.I.S.E. Family Caregivers Act and reauthorization of the Older Americans Act. He 

has directly participated in the implementation of the B.O.L.D. Act and the national 

“Caregiving Corps.” After joining NAC in the spring of 2015, Mike supported the 

organization’s transition in leadership and laid the foundation for growth within NAC’s 

public policy and advocacy strategy to address caregiving as a public health issue.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Mike was the Associate Director of Government Affairs at 

the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). In this role, he worked 

under the President/CEO and V.P. of Government Affairs supporting policies related to 

Medicare/Medicaid, long-term supports and services, and home and community-based 

care. While at NAHC, Mike directed a special event on Capitol Hill recognizing the 50th 

Anniversary of Medicare, Medicaid, and Older Americans Act sponsored by the 

Leadership Council of Aging Organizations, which featured more than 200 national 

stakeholders, policymakers, and members of Congress.
Mike has previously served as Chair of the National Association of Social Workers 

(NASW) Political Action for Candidate Election Committee and as a member of the 

NASW Metro Chapter Board of Directors and is currently on the Board of Friends of 

Theodore Roosevelt Island. He came to Washington through an internship with the 

Hinckley Institute of Politics. Mike earned a bachelor’s degree in Social Work with 

honors from the University of Utah and a master’s degree in Public Administration with a 

concentration in non-profit management from the American University.