Office of the Secretary

Carmel Roques, Secretary

Carmel Roques, Secretary of the Department of Aging, is a visionary leader dedicated to improving the lives of older adults and their families. She is known for her multi-sector, collaborative approach to planning and preparing for healthy longer lives in Maryland. She is an accomplished healthcare executive with more than 30 years of experience leading and transforming non-profit organizations, building strong cultures of service excellence and innovation. Her expertise includes dementia, palliative care, strategic planning, organizational development, community health and service delivery models for older people.

Roques served for a decade as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Keswick Multi-Care Center in Baltimore, a 138-year-old not-for-profit community healthcare provider. Roques served as CEO throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, creating the emergency response infrastructure required to successfully keep residents , families and employees safe and healthy. As CEO, she also led the creation of Keswick Community Health’s Wise & Well Center for Healthy Living.

Before serving as CEO of Keswick, she was Chief Operating Officer for Virginia United Methodist Homes, and prior to that, she worked for twelve years at the Episcopal Ministries to the Aging in Eldersburg, Maryland, culminating in over three years as COO. Her early career roles included Director of Adult Day Care and Director of Home Care Services for Catholic Charities in Baltimore . She has proudly served on many community boards including The Village Learning Place, The Maryland American Diabetes Association, Friends and Foundation of Howard County Library and currently Maryland Humanities. She has also served older people and their families on the Maryland Commission

on Aging, the Maryland Medicare/Medicaid Advisory Committee, the Maryland Coalition on Mental Health and Aging, Maryland CARE Transformation Steering Committee, she is also past Chair of both the

Maryland Philanthropy Network and LifeSpan Network. She has been recognized by the Daily Record among Maryland Top 100 Women, Top CEO, and Influential Leader in Health Care.

She has a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland, California.

Jennifer Crawley, Deputy Secretary

Jennifer Crawley, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Aging, brings to the department 25 years of combined experience in local government and the private healthcare industry, including program administration, population health, patient advocacy, building and facilitating collaborations, stakeholder engagement, care coordination, and leading cross-functional teams.

Prior to joining the department as the Director of Multisector Planning for Aging, Jenna served as the Area Agency on Aging Administrator for Howard County, where she oversaw programs and services for older adults, caregivers, and individuals living with disabilities, including establishing and directing pandemic response services and initiating Howard County Age-Friendly.

Before serving in Howard County, Crawley oversaw daily operations of Medicaid home and community-based long-term care services for the District of Columbia Department of Healthcare Finance and was the Chief Social Worker for a home-based primary medical care team. Crawley earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and her Bachelor of Science in Family Studies from UMD, College Park.