February 24, 2026, Washington, DC—LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit and mission-driven providers of aging services, today announced that Dr. Robyn I. Stone, DrPH, senior vice president of research and co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, is now a strategic advisor to the association following her mid-February retirement. In this new role, Dr. Stone will continue to support LeadingAge’s mission and strategic priorities.

A health services researcher by training, Dr. Stone, a nationally and internationally recognized authority on aging and long-term care policy, has conducted applied research in both the public and provide sectors. She joined LeadingAge in 1999 after work at what is now the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and serving as a political appointee in the Clinton administration.

For more than two decades, Dr. Stone has been a driving force behind the association’s research, policy, and thought leadership efforts, helping to shape national conversations around and understanding of aging services, long-term services and supports, and the needs of older adults and their families. As senior vice president of research, she led and expanded the association’s applied research portfolio, ensuring that evidence-based insights informed policy development and practice across the aging services continuum.

Dr. Stone also served as co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, where she helped build a nationally respected research center dedicated to bridging policy, practice, and research. Under her leadership, the LTSS Center advanced work focused on improving quality in aging services, strengthening and professionalizing the workforce, educating consumers, and expanding affordable housing with services for older adults.

Selected Research and Policy Leadership Highlights:

• Led the Better Jobs, Better Care initiative, a nationally influential research and demonstration effort that reshaped how policymakers and providers understand, invest in, and strengthen the long‑term services and supports workforce.
• Advanced foundational research on the direct care workforce, including widely cited reports examining workforce turnover, staffing stability, and the link between job quality and quality of care in aging services settings.
• Produced policy‑relevant analyses on financing and quality in long‑term care, helping policymakers and providers understand how payment structures, staffing, and accountability affect outcomes for older adults and families
• Elevated the role of family caregiving and paid care through research and issue briefs that informed national conversations about care integration, caregiver support, and system design.
• Built and led the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston, establishing it as a trusted source of applied research translating evidence into policy and practice across workforce, nursing home quality, home‑ and community‑based services, affordable housing with services, and LTSS financing.
• Strengthened LeadingAge’s position as a research‑driven policy leader, ensuring that the association’s advocacy and member support were grounded in rigorous, actionable evidence focused on equity, quality, and the lived experience of older adults.

“Robyn’s impact on LeadingAge and on the field of aging services cannot be overstated,” said LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan. “Her ability to connect rigorous research with real-world solutions has elevated our advocacy and helped providers, policymakers, and communities better serve older adults—particularly those with the greatest needs.”

In her new advisory role, Dr. Stone will continue to lend her expertise to LeadingAge, supporting key initiatives, mentoring emerging leaders, and advising on research and policy priorities that advance high-quality, equitable aging services.

“LeadingAge’s provider members are the heart of this field, and it has been an honor to work alongside organizations that show, every day, what it means to serve older adults with dignity, compassion, and purpose,” said Dr. Stone. “Their commitment to quality, equity, and innovation has inspired my work for decades, and I am proud to continue supporting them and the association in an advisory role as they lead the future of aging services.”

A search is underway to fill Dr. Stone’s position. LeadingAge will share additional details in the coming months.