Mary Holden, community liaison for the Center for the Study of Aging, was awarded the Justice Alliance for Vulnerable Adults Service Award during the 2015 Summit on Elder Abuse and Exploitation. Holden is also a graduate of Boise State’s School of Social Work (1991) and the Gerontological Studies Graduate Certificate program (2012). The summit was hosted by the Justice Alliance for Vulnerable Adults (JAVA), a program of the Center for the Study of Aging at Boise State University, on June 19 in the Student Union.
“Mary Holden represents the best of Boise State University,” said Sarah Toevs, director of the Center for the Study of Aging. “She is engaged in the community, committed to making good things happen, and strives for excellence. Her leadership of the Justice Alliance for Vulnerable Adults (JAVA) has been outstanding. Results include the delivery of over 50 monthly educational sessions designed for service providers and other professionals and the development of the annual Idaho Summit on Elder Abuse and Exploitation into a valued interdisciplinary event.”
The focus of the summit, “Overcoming Barriers to Successful Identification of Elder Abuse Crimes,” featured expert interdisciplinary panel discussions and two keynote speakers: Paul Greenwood, deputy district attorney from the Family Protection Division in San Diego, California, and Nora Carpenter, president and CEO of United Way Treasure Valley.
Greenwood has been a prosecutor since March of 1993. He is the head of the Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit for the San Diego, California, District Attorneys office. The San Diego DA’s Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit was awarded the California State Association of Counties’ Challenge Award for innovation and creativity in 1998. Greenwood has been involved in the prosecution of over 500 felony cases of elder and dependent adult abuse, both physical and financial. He assisted with the drafting of Elder Abuse legislation for California Evidence Code actions and has been featured on both CBS’s “Eye on America” and NBC’s “Nightly News.” Greenwood was inducted into the Elder Rights Advocacy Hall of Fame in 2011 by the National Association of Legal Services Developers.
Carpenter is the president and CEO of United Way of Treasure Valley and a well-known leader in Idaho’s nonprofit community. An Idaho native, originally from Caldwell, Carpenter is a recent addition to United Way, having joined the organization in late 2012. Throughout her career, Carpenter has focused her energy on building and inspiring emerging leaders to channel their talents toward positive, meaningful impact for themselves and their community.