Justice in Aging creates fellowship with LTSS Center to focus on data and equity

Justice in Aging, a national legal advocacy nonprofit that fights senior poverty through law, has formed an innovative partnership with the Gerontology Institute’s LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston to support research while enhancing the nonprofit’s capacity to interpret data. The Justice in Aging Data for Equity Fellowship will provide annual support for a UMass Boston gerontology graduate student whose research aligns with Justice in Aging’s priorities and who will train the organization’s staff members on data literacy and analysis.

“I’m so excited about this partnership with UMass Boston Gerontology. The LTSS Center’s long-standing commitment to building an equitable, person-centered LTSS system through applied research will bolster the work of Justice in Aging as well as the entire community of aging and disability advocates,” says Kevin Prindiville, executive director of Justice in Aging.

“We are proud to launch this new partnership,” says Marc Cohen, PhD, co-director of the LTSS Center. “The fellowship allows us to support Justice in Aging’s mission, which is closely aligned with ours, while supporting a doctoral student and faculty member with a unique applied research and mentorship opportunity.”

Mentorship is at the heart of the Justice in Aging fellowship. Doctoral candidate Andrew Alberth, MS, MPH, the inaugural fellow, will be mentored by Jeffrey Stokes, PhD, assistant professor of gerontology and director of the graduate program. In turn, Alberth will work with the Justice in Aging staff on analyzing and interpreting data, skills he has gained since coming to UMass Boston, beginning with his statistics class with Stokes.

Alberth has experience in community activism and coalition building, including community health work with the AmeriCorps VISTA program. “I came into the program understanding the worth of data,” Albert says, “but Jeff makes it interesting, more approachable than many professors do.” The two have since collaborated on research and Alberth has served as a teaching assistant for Stokes’ statistics class. Alberth’s research has focused on health disparities in aging, particularly in the LGBTQ+ community.

“Andrew’s work has been very translational, because he’s had one foot in each of these worlds, academic research and advocacy,” says Stokes. “He’s a great fit for this fellowship because he sees statistics and data analysis as an opportunity to get a better understanding of where things are and how we can use data to inform better decision making, especially with regards to equity and inclusion, where we see a lack of data.”

“We’re incredibly grateful for this opportunity to partner with the team at UMass,” says Denny Chan, Justice in Aging’s managing director of equity advocacy. “Strong, actionable data is critical for our work to advance equity in aging and will be a powerful tool for us to create and recommend policies to target resources to older adults facing structural discrimination.”