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Nelda Barnett of Owensboro, KY, is a member of the AARP Board of Directors, Class of 2008. During this biennium, Ms. Barnett chairs the AARP Foundation Board and is a member of the Board Governance Committee and the AARP Financial Board. Previously, she was on the Board Governance Committee, the AARP Foundation Board and the AARP Insurance Trust as well as numerous subcommittees.
Prior to her election to the Board, Ms. Barnett was AARP Kentucky State President and was honored with a resolution from the Kentucky Senate and House of Representatives for 25 years of outstanding service in the aging field. Ms. Barnett was twice a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging and an official observer to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, has been a spokesperson and keynote speaker at numerous events around the country, and is active in her church on the local, regional, and national levels. She recently was appointed to serve on an advisory committee to the Kentucky Institute on Aging. She also serves on the boards of the Elizabeth Munday Senior Citizen Center and Audubon Area Community Services.
In her professional career, Ms. Barnett has 38 years of experience in human services with 30 years devoted to the aging field, including 20 years as director of the Area Agency on Aging (AAA). Ms. Barnett retired as director of Maplebrook Village, Christian Care Communities, Inc. where she currently serves as chair of the Board Governance Committee. Prior to that, she was in public relations and marketing for the Lifeline Home Care, Inc. and was founder and director of the Voluntary Action Center.
Ms. Barnett has received numerous awards including recognition for her outstanding work with volunteers from the Department of Health and Human Services. She also received The Mayor's Award for Excellence, the highest honor bestowed upon an individual or organization by the City of Owensboro; the Elizabeth Munday Award in recognition of her work with seniors; and the Thoroughbred Award issued by Kentucky Association for Gerontology. In 2000, she was sent to Vietnam by the Woman-to-Woman program to study the culture of Vietnamese women. | 