Darlene Curley serves as Chair of the Utah Commission on Aging, reporting to the Governor and Legislature on the projected impact that the state's increasing aging population will have on government services, health services, social services, the economy, and society in general. In 2023, the Commission was charged to prepare a 10-year Master Plan on Aging for the State’s Health and Human Services Committee.
Since 2012, Darlene has been an advisor to the Center for Health Policy at Columbia University School of Nursing, as well as a national and global consultant to government, associations, higher education and philanthropic organizations. From 2009-2018, Curley was CEO of Jonas Philanthropies, advancing doctoral education, vision research, veteran’s healthcare, and environmental health. Signature accomplishments: supporting 1,200 doctoral nursing scholars and future educators in all 50 states, developing a public private partnership with the U.S. Veterans Administration (2016-21), and collaborating with 25 national/global funders.
Elected to the Maine State Legislature in 2002, she served on both the Joint Committee on Appropriations, charged to negotiate and balance the state budget, and the Health & Human Services Committee, responsible for combining and reorganizing the Dept. of Human Services and Dept. of Behavioral and Developmental Services into one HHS Agency. Curley co-chaired the State Long Term Care committee, Blue Ribbon Commission on Medicaid, and was appointed to the Health Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Darlene has given over 20 keynote presentations, published articles in the LA Times and Politico, and served on the Global Forum on Innovation in Health Professions Education at the National Academies of Sciences. She has been honored by the New York Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Nursing, the University of Maryland, and Columbia University.
The 2024 Fellows
