The Coalition

Together, we’re improving aging for our communities nationwide.

As the fabric of our country is changing in texture, our communities will be the thread that sustains the future. The United States is becoming increasingly older and more diverse in its racial and ethnic composition. Further, generations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) people are aging. We know that addressing the health and economic security of older people will require dedicated attention from leaders in government, the aging and health fields, and from our everyday communities.

Founded in 2010, the Diverse Elders Coalition (DEC) advocates for policies and programs that improve aging in our communities as racially and ethnically diverse people; American Indians and Alaska Natives; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) people. In the decades to come, the communities represented by the DEC will collectively form the majority of older adults in the United States. The DEC is working to strengthen policies and programs to enhance the health and wellbeing of diverse elders, educating and connecting diverse older adults and their loved ones to key policy debates on aging, and increasing public support for issues that affect our communities.

Our member organizations — National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA), National Caucus and Center on Black Aging (NCBA), National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA), National Indian Council on Aging (NICOA), SAGE (Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders), and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) — are influential players in the federal advocacy arena and experts in the distinctive needs of the racial, ethnic, and cultural communities they represent. Together, we have an unusual degree of access to our communities in rural areas, cities and regions throughout the U.S. This translates into advocacy efforts that are informed by:

  1. Authentic expertise on the challenges diverse elders face
  2. The credibility to mobilize diverse elder communities on issues that affect them; and
  3. The skills to advance a federal agenda that promotes the health, economic security, dignity, and well-being of older adults across many different communities, thereby improving outcomes for all older people.

By leveraging the overlapping interests and complementary expertise of our member organizations, we are ideally positioned to deal with one of the pivotal issues of our time.

Find out how the DEC began and what it has accomplished.

Learn more about the issues facing diverse elders.

Experience the stories of diverse elders nationwide—and share your own.

To learn more about the Diverse Elders Coalition, please contact us.