By Geralyn Magan
Amma Addo will participate in the American Society on Aging’s six-month leadership development program for emerging leaders of color.
Amma Addo, operations and services manager at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, has been selected to participate in ASA RISE, a six-month, equity-centered leadership program sponsored by the American Society on Aging (ASA). The program supports emerging leaders of color working to reimagine aging systems and reframe narratives and services in their communities.
ASA RISE empowers participants to “challenge inequities, shift narratives, and lead transformative change across the aging ecosystem.” The program provides 24 weeks of structured education in equity-centered leadership, systems transformation, and coalition building. Participants collaborate on a capstone project focused on anti-ageism and advocacy in communities of color. They also receive one-on-one mentorship and coaching from senior leaders across the aging, health, policy, and justice sectors.
Meet Amma Addo
Addo joined what is now LeadingAge’s Conferences and Brand Experience Team in June 2016, after 12 years at George Washington University, where she held mid-level management roles in the School of Medicine & Health Sciences and in the Campus Living and Residential Education department.
In February 2017, Addo became the executive administrator at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, where she now serves as operations and services manager. She oversees day-to-day operations, strategic commitments, and executive deliverables for the LTSS Center’s senior leadership team.
As an ASA RISE participant, Addo will focus on “ageism and culture,” a theme that resonates with her personal experience. Addo immigrated to the United States from Ghana as a toddler and is now navigating the realities of long-distance caregiving for her father, who returned to Ghana after retiring.
“His experience and conversations with friends in similar circumstances led me to think more deeply about transnational long-term services and supports,” she says. “I began asking how families abroad can help loved ones age with dignity and how stronger local resources can support them.”
In 2022, these questions became even more personal after Addo was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
“My work in aging services has taught me about the complexities of care,” she says. “Living with a chronic condition made those complexities deeply personal. I am a single person with a strong support system, but more and more adults don’t have traditional families or strong support systems as they age. That gives me a deeper appreciation for inclusive systems that help older adults and their families live with dignity, security, and a sense of belonging.”
Addo has high hopes that the ASA RISE program will help her find her unique place in the aging services field.
“I’m looking forward to identifying and working on my strengths and my weaknesses, learning more about the aging services field, growing as a professional, and figuring out what my next steps should be,” she says.
Addo says she is looking forward to meeting and learning from people outside LeadingAge who work in aging services and to receiving ASA’s support as she translates her personal interests into a long-term career plan. More immediately, she hopes her experiences in the ASA RISE program will inform her current work supporting the LeadingAge Leaders of Color Network.
“I liked working in higher education, and I enjoy my role with the Leaders of Color Network because I like helping people discover what they’re passionate about and find different ways to grow,” she says. “I like shepherding people through that process. I look forward to receiving the same help as I take this next step in my leadership journey.”