Michelle Matter
Director of Aging
SDSU
Bio
Michelle Matter is the Director of Aging for the SDSU Center for Excellence in Aging & Longevity, bringing over 25 years of experience in government, higher education, and the nonprofit sector. Michelle has a Doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership and a Master of Arts in Gerontology from the University of Southern California. Her dissertation was a promising practice study examining the benefits of senior nutrition programs as a cost savings to Medicare. Additionally, she holds an MBA with a healthcare specialization and a BA in Political Science, which provides her with a well-rounded skill set to address multidimensional challenges in the field of aging. Michelle currently serves as a Board Member for the California Collaborative for Long Term Services and the City of San Diego Senior Affairs Advisory Board.
Committed to community-based research, Michelle has collaborated on projects related to shared housing, nutrition, and transportation. As an American Society on Aging (ASA) RISE Fellow, she focused on diversity in aging, advocacy, and leadership development. Her research explored the root causes of inequity within a senior center in Los Angeles, revealing issues such as weight bias and stigma, unrecognized complexity in health needs, and the lack of integration between healthcare and community services.
Michelle is currently leading a research study exploring intergenerational housing models. This project examines the feasibility, sustainability, and scalability of this unique housing approach and aims to generate actionable insights to support the development of intergenerational solutions that address both housing insecurity and social isolation.
Primary Email: [email protected]