Serena Worthington

Serena Worthington is the Director of Community Advocacy and Capacity Building at Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), where she oversees SAGE’s policy advocacy efforts at the national, state and local levels and enhances the capacity of partner organizations across the country working with LGBT older people. In this role, she oversees the National LGBT Aging Roundtable and SAGENet, SAGE’s network of 24 affiliates across the country. Serena’s most recent position was as the Senior Director of Public Programs of Chicago’s Center on Halsted, the Midwest’s largest LGBT community center. Prior to this, Serena was the founding director of SAGE Center on Halsted, which during her tenure received a $475,000 federal grant to support a variety of projects designed to improve the lives of LGBT older adults.

Before joining Center on Halsted, Serena served as the Life Enrichment Director at Norwood Crossing, a non-profit assisted living and long-term care facility where she founded a comprehensive Expressive Arts program.

Serena is a frequent presenter on LGBT aging topics and has taught at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Art Therapy department. She attended Fairhaven College where she completed an interdisciplinary bachelor’s in art and cross-cultural psychology. Serena received her Masters of Art in Art Therapy from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She lives in Chicago with her partner.