Gerald Kasunic
Member of the Board of Directors of Voices for Quality Care (LTC), Inc.
During the past 19 years, Gerald has progressed from smaller-scale health and mental health agencies to the role as AARP’s Legal Counsel for the Elderly, Senior Manager of the DC Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. In this capacity he supervised two federally granted programs within a pro-bono law firm, Legal Counsel for the Elderly (LCE). Currently, he is a co-owner of Northern Tides, Inc., an art and gift gallery located in Lubec, Maine, where his expertise is being used to seek government contracts, expand advertising and marketing, maintain financial records and create new business expansion opportunities.
For nearly 10 years, he worked diligently on local issues facing elder and disabled citizens in collaboration with the AARP DC, LCE, and DC government agencies, city council, and the Mayor’s Office. In addition, since assuming the mantle of the DC Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, he served as a federal liaison for the National Association of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs (NASOP) and co-created legislation, regulations and policies that affected state programs. In this capacity, he assisted NASOP in developing, researching and documenting the goals, objectives, benchmarks, and milestones that are necessary to effectively advocate on Capitol Hill for the vulnerable segment of our elder population.
When he transitioned to Maine, he continued his advocacy efforts by volunteering his time and support as a campaign assistant for Katherine Cassidy, Democrat, who ran for the District 32 seat in the Maine House of Representatives. His tasks included collecting and analyzing voters’ trends and issues through the use of the Voters Activation Network (VAN), co-strategizing the delivery of the candidate’s message, mapping key events for appearances in her District, and assisting with recruiting, organizing, and managing volunteers to develop a phone bank and door-to-door messaging.
His expertise includes:
- Team Management – He has trained, mentored, and evaluated individuals, programs, and program functions: internal, governmental, educational and private business.
- Bottom-Line Orientation – Utilizing funding growth opportunities, he has implemented program-building strategies which have been the basis and result of the success of the Program. The Ombudsman Program achieved significant savings through business partnerships and government contracts, thereby generating a bottom-line success.
- Program Strategy – He has identified systemic program barriers and consistently maneuvered resources and staff to ensure systemic success both locally and nationally.