Jenefer’s 25-year elder justice career was launched in the mid 1990’s when she led a group of key community stakeholders, including 15 financial institutions, to establish the Marin Bank Reporting Project in Northern California. She then founded and went on to lead the non-profit Elder Financial Protection Network in California as founder and CEO for 10 years.
In 2011, she joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as Senior Program Analyst in Office for Older Americans. In 2012, she led the development and publication of the Money Smart for Older Adults program in collaboration with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). She developed and has led the Elder Fraud Prevention and Response Network program and its pilot Elder Financial Exploitation SAR Review initiative since 2013.
Jenefer has received numerous awards and commendations for her contributions to the field of elder justice including the 2004 Outstanding Service in Elder Abuse Prevention Award from the California Attorney General and the 2007 Beacon Award from the California Credit Union League. In 2009 she was presented with the FDIC’s 75th Anniversary Chairman’s Award for Excellence and Innovation in Financial Education. The Illinois Department of Aging and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation jointly recognized her contributions for the establishment the Illinois Financial Abuse Specialist Team (IFAST) in 2015.
More recently, the Money Smart for Older Adults program was presented with the American Society on Aging Gloria Cavanaugh Award for Excellence in Training and Education for Older Adults. And in 2019 Jenefer was presented with the CFPB Director’s Mission Achievement Award for her leadership of the Elder Fraud Prevention and Response Network program.
Jenefer is duty-stationed at the CFPB Headquarters in Washington, DC and resides in Central North Carolina.