Founder’s Playbook
Coalition Building
In 2010, leaders across the aging field recognized a hard truth: policies and programs were not keeping pace with a rapidly diversifying older population. Seven national organizations came together to change that. Building a coalition required more than alignment—it required structure, identity, and strategy. This work laid the foundation for collective power.
Strategy by Robert Espinoza; design by RD Design for the Diverse Elders Coalition, National Asian Pacific Center on Aging, National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, National Hispanic Council on Aging, National Indian Council on Aging, Inc., SAGE – Advocacy & Services for LGBTQ+ Elders, and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, with images courtesy of the Diverse Elders Coalition.
Designing What Comes Next
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When the field isn’t built for the people it serves. New coalitions often form in response to gaps that individual organizations cannot address alone. In this case, older adults from historically marginalized communities were largely invisible in aging policy and practice. The challenge was not only representation, but credibility—creating a coalition that could speak with clarity and authority in complex federal and state arenas.
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Aligning organizations around a common purpose. As a co-founder, Robert Espinoza worked closely with leaders from the six partner organizations to design the coalition’s earliest structures and strategic direction. The goal was to move quickly from shared concern to coordinated action—without losing the distinct perspectives each organization brought to the table.
This meant investing early in alignment, governance, and narrative clarity.
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A coalition built to last—and to lead. As one of the fifteen founding leaders of the Diverse Elders Coalition, Robert played a central role in shaping the coalition’s early architecture and coordinating its initial work. Alongside fellow founders, he helped establish a strong public identity, shared guiding principles, and a clear set of policy priorities that enabled diverse member organizations to align and act collectively. He also managed and coordinated key early efforts—from supervising the coalition’s first staff member to supporting the release of initial policy reports on health security and HIV and aging—ensuring the coalition launched with credibility and momentum.
With structure and strategy in place, the Diverse Elders Coalition emerged as a trusted stakeholder in national aging policy. The coalition strengthened coordination across member organizations, secured inclusion of seven recommendations in the official Older Americans Act reauthorization consensus, and increased visibility with federal agencies and congressional offices. Its early design choices created staying power—demonstrating how thoughtfully built coalitions can translate diverse community needs into a unified voice that carries weight where decisions are made.
“Robert Espinoza understood early on that opportunity in aging meant ensuring Black older adults had a voice in national conversations about policy and care. Through the Diverse Elders Coalition, he helped build a space where those perspectives could shape the future of aging in America.”
— Karyne Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, a nationally recognized nonprofit advancing policy, programs, and advocacy for Black older adults.
Meet the Founder
Robert Espinoza is a nationally recognized workforce and care economy strategist and CEO of The CareWorks Project, partnering with leaders to redesign long-term care systems so people live with dignity, workers thrive, and communities prosper.