Current Membership Biographies

George Dicks, BA, GMHS, RCMHP
Chair, MCAAE
George Dicks currently supervises the Geriatric Psychiatry Service clinic at Harborview Mental Health Services. The clinic provides psychiatric services to the greater Seattle community, including the African American community.  George has also been a faculty member at the University of Washington, School of Social Work, and at the Edmonds Community College in the Social & Health Sciences Department, teaching courses on Gerontology, Psychiatric Consultation, and Mental Health. George has been actively involved with the African American community for over twenty years through a variety of groups and organizations. George’s motivation for being on the Council is to inform the community about mental health for successful aging.

Dot Jose
Secretary, MCAAE
Dot Jose' is employed as a Sports Model and Personal Trainer. She is currently expanding her business to incorporate motivational speaking as her main focus. Dot graduated from Washington State University with a B.A. in Speech Communications while competing on the track team. This solidified her belief that movement is one of the key elements to healthy aging. She was drawn to the MCAAE because of her desire to see her parents age gracefully. Dot is the mother of three children, ages 17, 15 and 11.

Merlin Rainwater, ARNP
Treasurer, MCAAE
Merlin has worked as a Registered Nurse for the past 25 years. Her areas of interest are home-based health services and end-of-life care. She earned her Masters of Nursing from the University of Washington in the specialty area of Home Health Nurse Practitioner. Her Master's thesis is entitled, "Support at the End of Life in Seattle's African American Churches." She is one of the founders of the Diversity Outreach Project, a component of Providence Hospice of Seattle, where she works as Clinical Field Educator.

Margaret Boddie, Director – African American Elders Program
Margaret retired from the City of Seattle, Aging and Disability Services, Case Management Program, as a Human Services Program Supervisor for 22 years.. Margaret is currently the Program Director for the African American Elders Program at Catholic Community Services.

Karen A. Clark, Esq.
Karen is an attorney who has been practicing in Washington State for 11 years. Her specialty areas are criminal defense for the mentally ill, guardianships, and elder law. Karen is also the Volunteer Legal Services Attorney for the King County Bar Association.

Reverend Gwendolyn Phillips Coates
Gwendolyn has been active in the Seattle area through Christian ministry and health services for the past seven years. She currently works as a Diversity & Multicultural Outreach Coordinator with Providence Hospice of Seattle. Gwendolyn also has acting experience and is a singer with production and recording experience.

Carol A. Kemp, BSN, RN, BC
Carol is a certified gerontological nurse with nine years of experience. Nursing is her second career. She is currently the Director of Health Services at the Norse Home Retirement Community in Seattle. Carol is also a doctoral student in gerontological nursing with a focus on chronic pain at Oregon Health & Science University. Her work and educational background have allowed her to develop skills in health care, collaboration, project management, and research. Through her experiences as a clinician, researcher, and doctoral student, she is familiar with the barriers that older people of color experience.

Arthur R. Lee
Arthur has been the Executive Director of the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County since 1991. Before working there he worked with the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Arthur has served as President of the National Association of Ecumenical and Interreligious Staff (NAEIS), and has been recognized for his work in the Faith Community.

Juana Royster, Ph.D., CFCS
Juana earned her Doctorate Degree in Higher Education from the University of Washington.  She is currently a Community Health Educator with the Washington State University Extension (WSUE). Juana manages the WSUCE Diabetes Education Program which targets people who have or are at-risk of diabetes and its complications in King County. Juana also has vast experiences in program development, conducting education programs, training, and program evaluation.  Through her work, Juana has established valuable relationships with the UW and the African American community.

Charlotte Ruff, RN
Charlotte is a retired registered nurse, formerly employed with the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health. She has worked in the field of public health for over 20 years in Washington and in California. She also taught community health nursing for 10 years at the University of Washington and at Seattle Pacific University. In her position as a Health Services Supervisor in the Department of Public Health, she helped establish the nursing guidelines for the AAEP, and supervised the first public health nurse assigned to the project. Charlotte is actively involved with seniors in the community through involvement with her church, sorority, the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, and committees of several other community organizations.

Anthony H. Shoecraft
Anthony is originally from Seattle and is a concurrent graduate student in both the School of Social Work and the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. In both schools he is specializing in policy analysis in both domestic and international settings, including issue areas that impact the quality of life for elderly persons of African heritage. Anthony received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Hampton University, a historical black college. His professional background includes program development, strategic planning and community partnerships consulting, mental health practice and case management in diverse community settings.

Jonathan Warren, M.A., Ph.D.
Jonathan has been an Associate Professor of Latin American and International Studies, at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, at the University of Washington for the past seven years. He currently serves as Chair and Director of Latin American Studies. He has published widely on questions of racial formations and antiracism in the Americas – with special attention to the African Diaspora. Jonathan has expertise with matters of quotidian and structural racism and how it affects African Americans in general, including the elderly. He has also worked as a consultant for a number of years for LaSalle Equity Group, a business that builds and manages assisted living facilities for individuals with dementia.