external Advisory Council

Andy Chandler (aqchandler@gmail.com ) is a retired Cybersecurity Professional.  He was security manager and advisor for banks and corporations, most recently for Tyler Technologies, where he worked for almost ten years. On behalf of the Cybersecurity profession, Andy wants to apologize to you, the user of all things Internet. You shouldn’t have to be so super-cautious about using the Internet, but due to the way it was designed, you must be “Cyber Aware”.

As an individual with a life-long hearing loss, Andy has always been fascinated by technology that helps him “hear” better. With the advent of Computers & the Internet – Texting! Email! Caption apps! – he was enthralled. He is also fascinated by Internet scams and is fully aware that he is only a click away from being scammed himself.

Andy loves educating users on Internet Scams and hopes to leave his audience with a jaundiced eye. Did you really win the lottery? Is your grandchild really in jail? Is your new overseas romantic partner real? Nope, nope, nope. Quick lesson: “Be Skeptical. Always 

Jessica Fay (jfay@mainecouncilonaging.org) joined the Maine Council on Aging (MCOA) in October 2024 as Policy Director. She is a former Maine state representative. During her eight years in the Legislature, Jess worked on passing bills that improved the lives of older Mainers including positive changes to Medicare eligibility and to reimbursement rates for essential support workers. She has been honored for her work with older Mainers, for her work on behalf of victim/survivors of domestic violence and on behalf of Maine’s environment. Jess has owned her own flower shop and volunteered in her local library as well as with Age-Friendly Raymond. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence and for Raymond Waterways Protective Association. Jess graduated from Simmons University in Boston with a degree in sociology. She is a member of the Leadership Exchange on Ageism Cohort 3.

Jessica and her husband Kevin reside in Raymond where they were caregivers for Kevin’s mother as she lived with dementia. In search of life balance, Jess also spends time cooking, gardening, walking in the woods with and training and her 2 Labrador Retrievers. She also enjoys swimming, sailing and kayaking at her family camp.

Deborah Gardner

Elizabeth Gattine (Prior to joining the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, Elizabeth Gattine was a Senior Policy Associate specializing in disability and aging issues at the Catherine Cutler Institute, part of the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. Elizabeth has extensive knowledge and experience in the design, implementation, and evaluation of policy and programming for older adults at the national, state, and local level, particularly in the delivery of long-term services and support. Prior to joining the Catherine Cutler Institute, she spent over fifteen years in state government, including as program manager in the Office of Aging and Disability Services overseeing Maine's system of long-term services and supports for older adults and adults with physical disabilities. Elizabeth also served as Maine's Legal Services Developer, a position established by the Older Americans Act to help coordinate and promote the state's legal and advocacy services for older adults. Elizabeth is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Columbia University School of Law. 

Jill Johanning (JJohanning@alphaonenow.org) is a Maine Licensed Architect who specializes in accessible and inclusive design at Alpha One Disability + Aging Solutions. As a part of the independent living center at Alpha One, Access Design has been a core service of Alpha One for more than 40 years, providing ADA technical assistance, training, and consulting on designing facilities for universal access. Before joining Alpha One, Jill was a project designer for an A/E firm in Maine. She has design and construction experience in public and private building projects, with a focus on educational and universal design campus facilities for users of all abilities. Her strong accessibility background developed from working with children and adults with disabilities while studying architecture in college.

Kayla Lewis (upwardconsultingllc@gmail.com) is a community engagement consultant and civic leader in Biddeford, Maine. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Lewis served five years in the U.S. Navy after graduating high school in 2012. Following her military service, an unexpected inspiration—the film "Manchester by the Sea"—led her on a cross-country road trip to New England, where she had never been before. She earned an associate degree from Manchester Community College in New Hampshire, where she met her husband at a spoken word event, and later completed her bachelor's degree at the University of Southern Maine.

In 2023, Lewis founded Upward Consulting, specializing in community engagement, program design, and qualitative research. She is deeply involved in Biddeford's civic life, volunteering with Biddeford Community Gardens—which donates over 1,000 pounds of produce annually to local food programs—and serving on the city's Planning Board. Lewis is passionate about making local government more accessible to residents and views active civic participation as essential to democracy. After years of military service without feeling rooted to a place, she found her sense of community in Biddeford and is committed to empowering others to engage in shaping their city's future.

Mary Beth Mitchell (Mary.E.Mitchell@maine.gov ) hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from St Thomas University in New Brunswick, A Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Maine.

Mary Beth Has worked in both the field of Social Work as well as Elementary Education and Early Childhood Special Education.

Mary Beth has extensive history working over the past 20 years within Hancock and Washington counties working with diverse populations from residents of remote islands to Tribal communities. Working as a School Social worker for the Mount Desert Island School systems, working as a program manager for the Infant Family Support Program at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital as well as with Community Health and Counselling as a social worker for Adults with major mental illness.

Mary Beth was employed at Child Development Services, a quasi state agency within the Department of Education for almost 10 years working directly with infants, toddlers and their families to support parents and caregivers in working with their child with disabilities within the natural environments. Mary Beth was a supervisor for 3 years for the Hancock and Washington counties Early Intervention program prior to joining the Maine State police in 2023

Mary Beth’s work as a Behavioral Health Coordinator with the Maine State Police utilizes many of the skills developed during her time working with diverse populations over the years in Hancock and Washington counties, an area of Maine that faces a great deal of issues related to substance use disorder, generational poverty and child abuse.

Mary Beth resides in Surry Maine with her husband Greg. She is the proud mother of two adult children.

Mary Barrett Prybylo, PhD, RN, LFACHE is Chief Research & Innovation Officer for the Community Care Partnership of Maine (CCPM), an accountable care organization supporting federally qualified health centers and community hospitals serving rural communities across the state. She is a nurse leader and healthcare executive with more than 30 years of experience across clinical care, hospital and system leadership, and accountable care organizations, with a focus on primary care transformation, longitudinal care management, and value-based models that improve outcomes for older adults.

Dr. Prybylo earned her PhD in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina, where her research examined self-reported health and hospital utilization among older adults in Medicare populations. Her current work centers on designing and scaling nurse-led, community-based models of care, including rural adaptations of the Transitional Care Model and Age-Friendly Health System initiatives, through strong academic–practice partnerships.

Jean Saunders (Saundersjean75@gmail.com),RN ,MSN, MPH is originally from the Central Maine area but now lives in Saco and is Vice-President of the Age-Friendly Saco Board. She spent her career both as a Nurse and hospital administrator in New Hampshire, NYC and most recently at Maine Medical Center helping to initiate such projects as Turning Point, a Cardiac Rehab program.  Her interest has always involved building new programs and she became very interested in helping the City of Saco join the Age Friendly Network.  Since starting in 2016, Age Friendly Saco has developed multiple service programs such as a program to assist homeowners with small home modifications and repairs in addition to a Technology Handy Helper group that has helped older residents become more digitally connected.  In conjunction with the City of Saco, Age Friendly Saco helped produce a video on how a simple echo dot might function as a virtual personal assistant.  Most recently Age Friendly Saco has created a volunteer driver program  to provide rides to medical appointments for our older residents. In 2018,  Age Friendly Saco was able to make their public beach accessible with the support of an AARP Challenge Grant to place beach mats at the beach.   In addition to her Age Friendly work, Jean enjoys supporting her husband’s electronics manufacturing company as well as spending time with her 3 children, dog, and 2 cats.   

Anne Schroth (aschroth@healthypeninsula.org) is the Executive Director of Healthy Peninsula, a job she came to after working with the team for seven years as the Healthy Aging Coordinator, a role which supported Healthy Peninsula's  leadership role in community planning and collaboration. Initially, Anne coordinated Thriving in Place Downeast (TiPD), which developed strategies and partnerships to help older community members and those with chronic health conditions remain healthy and thriving in their own homes and communities. Building on TiPD, Anne coordinated the region-wide Age-Friendly Coastal Communities initiative, whcih she still leads. Anne grew up in Maine but left to practice poverty law in Washington, D.C. and Ann Arbor, Michigan, most recently as a Clinical Professor at the University of Michigan Law School.

Darren Smart (darrenjsmart@outlook.com ) is an occupational therapist and assistive technology professional with clinical experience in skilled nursing facilities, a neurological rehabilitation hospital, and home health. He moved to Austin, Texas after graduating from USM and returned to Maine in 2022, where he became the program manager for Spurwink ALLTECH, a nonprofit storefront in Portland offering second-hand medical equipment and assistive technology device demonstrations and loans. He is also the owner of a private practice called Technology Helps ME that offers in-person technology lessons. 

Dr Susan Wehry is a nationally recognized speaker and workshop facilitator on depression, dementia, and healthy aging and her presentations combine over 30 years of experience with wisdom, compassion, and common sense, to engage attendees, help build skills, and use proven techniques. She has authored research and articles on aging and mental health, including the Oasis 2.0 curriculum and a recent study published in JAMA, “Association of a Communication Training Program with Use of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes.” Recently retired as Chief of Geriatrics, University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, she continues to educate medical students and other professionals in Maine and across the nation.