After a successful 25-year medical sales career, Alyss Amster felt called to tap her creative genius to develop helpful and artistic programs for aging seniors. In 2013, with a goal-oriented desire to serve others at the forefront of everything she does, Amster made her entry into the senior care market as a certified Zentangle instructor, teaching at Cobb Senior Wellness Center and Enrichment of Life Movement.

Amster joined the Dementia Spotlight Foundation (DSF) leadership team in 2021, assuming the role of Associate Executive Director. She will support the foundation by increasing the awareness and reach of memory cafes, a safe and comfortable space where caregivers and their loved ones can socialize, listen to music, play games and enjoy other appropriate activities. Amster will support DSF’s mission by offering educational support to the community through community outreach; collaborating with local businesses; and providing social and educational events for families, caregivers, and their loved ones to remain connected within their communities.

A meaningful path of prior work brought Amster to DSF. Following her success as a Zentangle instructor, she served as the assistant director at Enrichment Life Movement, and in 2015, she purchased a ComForCare home care franchise, where she received a DementiaWise certification. This led Amster to get certifications as a Partner in Readmission Prevention and as an Alzheimer’s Educator. Amster conducted training for ComForCare caregivers on program specifics and consultations with families before she sold the franchise in 2017.

Amster’s next chapter led her to join Amy’s Place as the program director, where she was promoted to director in 2019. At Amy’s Place, Amster focused heavily on memory cafes since the organization was the first and only free-standing memory café in the US at the time. Additionally, Amster helped lead efforts to provide socialization, education, and valuable connections for families, caregivers, and their loved ones with dementia-related diseases.

Amster resides in Marietta, Georgia with her husband, Dave, and enjoys spending her free time catching up with her grandchildren, participating in creative crafts, and working out to maintain an active lifestyle. Amster is an active member of Georgia Gerontology Society and Senior Services North Fulton Partner Program.

In 2020, Oeltmann was invited to serve on the board of Georgia Gerontology Society for her dementia care advocacy in Georgia. She currently leads Georgia’s Dementia Friendly Initiatives workgroup within the Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementia Collaborative (GARD) and is one of the first Dementia Friends Champions trainers in Georgia. Through a partnership with DeKalb County, Oeltmann championed a grant to help DeKalb become the first dementia-friendly county in Georgia – an accomplishment she hopes to help other municipalities in the metro-area also reach – and has led Dementia Friends sessions in senior services case management, youth services, library services, and adult care facilities. Beginning in March of 2021, Oeltmann will help train local law enforcement recruits in a first ever 2-hour dementia-specific training.

Oeltmann lives in the Brookhaven suburb of her hometown Atlanta with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not spearheading the next initiative for Dementia Spotlight Foundation or spending time with her family, she enjoys reading, cooking, and birdwatching. Oeltmann is an active participant in the community, as she is a member of the GA Center for Nonprofits as well as the Georgia Council on Aging (CO-AGE).