Panelists

Samuel A. A. Levine has served as Commissioner of the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) since January 2026, where he leads efforts to advance the Mamdani Administration’s affordability agenda through consumer and worker protections, enforcement, financial empowerment, and business services.
From 2021 to 2025, Sam served as Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection under Chair Lina Khan. He led enforcement efforts addressing privacy abuses, gig worker exploitation, predatory lending, artificial intelligence, subscription traps, junk fees, impersonation fraud, and the misuse of children’s data.

Jaime Guzman, MSW, is a senior social work and clinical leader with more than 15 years of experience developing and leading programs that serve vulnerable and underserved populations. As Senior Elder Abuse Clinician and Program Coordinator at the Center for Elder Abuse Solutions, Jaime brings extensive expertise in elder abuse and elder justice, behavioral health, family services, healthcare, and supportive housing.
Prior to joining the Center, Jaime spent 13 years at Henry Street Settlement, including serving as Program Director of a congregate supportive housing program. Her experience also includes working with children, adolescents, families, and older adults, as well as providing services through Medicaid-managed programs and Health Homes. Jaime is trained in multigenerational family theory and Bowen Family Systems Theory, with a particular focus on three-generational family systems.

Dianne O. Woodburn, Esq., is the Legal Services Supervisor for the Senior Initiative and Home Retention Programs at JASA Legal Services for Elder Justice. Ms. Woodburn assists seniors who are victims of scams or who are at risk of foreclosure. Ms. Woodburn is also the Supervising attorney for Queens’ Legal Elder Justice Program, formerly known as “LEAP.” 
The Elder Justice program is an elder abuse prevention project that combines teams of social workers and attorneys to help senior citizens fight against physical and financial abuse and exploitation in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Ms. Woodburn also supervises the Family Caregiver Assistance Program “FCAP.”
FCAP is a collaboration of six agencies representing different disciplines and resources working together to support caregivers of any age.
Prior to joining Legal Services in 2003, Ms. Woodburn was employed at the trial litigation firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges. Ms. Woodburn is also an Adjunct Professor at St. John’s University School of Law. Ms. Woodburn graduated from New York University and St. John’s University School of Law.

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Dr. Dina Patel is a board-certified adult and geriatric psychiatrist dedicated to healthy aging, cognitive concerns, and mood symptoms in late life. She has a special interest in elder abuse and a passion for teaching.  As a consultant to the Center for Elder Abuse Solutions and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in Medicine for The Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, she performs elder abuse outreach and training to medical communities in NYC, participates in Enhanced Multidisciplinary Teams (EMDTs), and provides case consultations when needed. She trained in adult psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine while serving as chief of medical education. She then completed her fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital before founding Gramercy Psychiatry. In private practice, she cares for older adults of diverse backgrounds, including homebound seniors through her house call program.

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Margaret M. Woods, LMSW, ASW-G, ACSW, CCM, is a licensed social worker and a graduate of NYU Silver School of Social Work in 2015, a member of the Phi Alpha Honor Society, and a double recipient of the Silver Student Spirit Award. Margaret earned a post-master certificate from the NYU Zelda Foster Studies Program in Palliative and End-of-Life Care, as well as a Seminar in Field Instruction (SIFI) Certification from NYU in 2018. Margaret has experience in field instruction, clinical, community-based, and medical social work, which included a Fellowship at the VA Medical Center in Manhattan in Palliative and End-of-Life care, working with our nation’s veterans and their families.

Since graduation, she has been employed by the Carter Burden Network in the Geriatric Case Management Unit, assisting homebound older adults and their caregivers with direct services before being promoted to the director’s position for CEMAPP  (Community Elder Mistreatment  & Abuse Prevention Program) in June 2021. Margaret continues to be an active member of the National Association of Social Workers.

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Nic Shugar, Esq. is a Staff Attorney with the New York Legal Assistance Group's Family Caregiver Abuse Prevention Initiative, a multidisciplinary program that supports caregivers and older adults in living safely, independently, and with dignity, while working to prevent elder abuse, neglect, exploitation, and other forms of harm.
Nic provides legal services to older adults and their families in a variety of matters, including advance planning, home care and long-term care access, Medicaid and Medicare benefits, family offense petitions, consumer protection, fraud prevention, housing issues, and guardianship-related concerns. 
Before becoming an attorney, Nic spent more than a decade in social services, working directly with older adults, people with disabilities, and individuals with mental health needs. She served in case management, program leadership, and compliance roles, and trained interdisciplinary teams responsible for providing community-based services and support. This experience informs her client-centered approach to legal advocacy and her commitment to helping older adults maintain safety, dignity, and independence. 

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Meredith Levine, LCSW, APHSW-C, is the Senior Social Worker at The Weinberg Center for Elder Justice and the Coordinator of Westchester County’s Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team. Meredith has worked extensively with older adults in both long-term care and community- based settings. She is passionate about person-centered care for people living with neurocognitive disorders, neuropalliative care, and trauma-informed practice. She is an advocate for advance care planning as mechanism for preventing and addressing elder abuse and mistreatment. Meredith received her Master of Social Work from Columbia University, where she focused on Advanced Clinical Practice in Aging. She holds board certification in Palliative and Hospice Care, and in 2023, she graduated from NYU’s Zelda Foster Leadership Fellowship in Palliative and End-of-Life Care. Meredith has presented at international, national, and regional conferences about advance directives, elder justice, and end of life care.

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Jeanine Launay, JD, is the Chief of the Elder Abuse Unit for the New York County District Attorney’s Office.  Ms. Launay joined the District Attorney’s Office in 1989 and has worked in the Domestic Violence Unit, the Special Narcotics Bureau, the Child Abuse Unit and in Trial Bureaus handling a wide range of criminal offenses. She has investigated and prosecuted cases from intake through Grand Jury presentations and at trial.
In 2022 she was appointed Chief of the Elder Abuse Unit, in the Special Victims Division, where she supervises criminal cases committed against adults over the age of 60 including offenses resulting from domestic violence and financial exploitation.  From 2010 to 2022, she was Deputy Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit where she supervised the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence and stalking cases.  She participates in outreach and training both inside and outside the Office. Ms. Launay has presented nationally and abroad.  She has spoken to students, health care providers, community groups and at consulates about the work that the Office undertakes on behalf of victims of domestic violence and elder abuse.

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Arielle Basch, MBA, MPH, serves as JASA’s Chief Health and Business Development Officer and leads the development of partnerships and new models of care that bridge health and social services, improve health outcomes, and help older adults and their caregivers enjoy more good days in the community.

Arielle spearheads partnerships with hospitals, health plans, community organizations, and philanthropic funders to design and expand integrated models of care. Her work includes Age-Friendly transitional care, medication adherence, dementia and palliative care, and integrated mental health services. Programs developed through these partnerships have achieved measurable results, including reductions of more than 36% in preventable hospital readmissions and medication adherence rates above 90%. Under her leadership, JASA became the first community-based organization in the country to achieve Age-Friendly Health System designation from HANYS and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Arielle is also a strong supporter of JASA’s elder justice work and has helped advance RISE@JASA, the first implementation of this evidence-informed elder abuse prevention and intervention model in senior affordable housing, in partnership with the RISE Collaborative.