Sharen K. Eckert joined Benjamin Rose as Vice President for Advocacy and Public Policy Development in January 2004. She is responsible for community advocacy and policy development initiatives that enhance services available to older adults and enhance organizational efficiencies. She also participates in efforts to coordinate and promote our work with foundations and other funding sources.

Sharen was affiliated with the Alzheimer's Association Cleveland Area Chapter for 17 years, 13 of them as the Executive Director. Under her leadership, the association grew from a staff of 4 to 40 to provide the many new programs and services needed by caregivers and persons with the disease.

Throughout this period, Sharen and her staff collaborated with Benjamin Rose to develop and evaluate new programs, some of which include the Getting Started Program, a statewide demonstration to help families facing caregiving transitions, the TOPS respite program, the highly regarded Benjamin Rose adult day program, the Cleveland Managed Care project, and the dementia care training program for nursing assistants.

Sharen was trained as a mechanical engineer (M.S., University of Arizona, Tucson; B.S. Mathematics, Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA). She was employed by Lockheed Martin as a Human Factors Specialist for over 15 years, and remains associated with the company in a consulting capacity.

“This background provides her with excellent analytic skills that draw upon systems analysis, data gathering, evaluation and implementation,” said Richard Browdie, President and CEO of Benjamin Rose. “We are delighted that Sharen has joined our organization to help us advocate for the interests of older people in Greater Cleveland. She is highly respected in the field of aging and is an asset to our organization.”

Email: seckert@benrose.org