Sacramento, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/16/2015 -- Melissa C. Brown, a practicing partner at Fraulob, Brown & Gowen, has been appointed to the board of directors of the International Association for Indigenous Aging, or "IA2." The IA2 is a 501c(3) educational group that conducts research and undertakes policy-oriented work aimed at bettering the condition and prospects of aging Native Americans and Alaskan Natives, as well as indigenous elders worldwide. A member of the Shawnee Nation and the supervising attorney at the McGeorge School of Law's Elder Law and Health Clinic, Brown has regularly focused on elder law issues throughout her distinguished 30-year legal career.

"I'm truly honored to be appointed to the board of the IA2," Brown said, "I've greatly admired the work done by the association, particularly insofar as it has so often aligned with my longtime priorities as an attorney. As a new member of the board, I look forward to helping to further the mission of this truly important organization."

Native Americans and Alaskan Natives regularly suffer from reduced access to health care and other fundamental services compared to compatriots from other ethnic groups. This unfortunate issue manifests itself throughout the human life cycle, whether in the form of sometimes shockingly high incidence of infant mortality or rates of later-life diabetes that are more than twice as high as those affecting non-Hispanic whites in the U.S.

The International Association for Indigenous Aging researches and promotes solutions to the problems of this kind and others that most affect aging native peoples in the United States and around the world. Engaging with policy makers and the general public at all levels, the IA2 strives to better the condition of elderly native peoples, whether by working to improve their access to important services or providing new ways for them to participate in their communities and the wider world.

With a long, distinguished career that has revolved around providing critical legal services for the elderly and the disabled, Fraulob, Brown & Gowen partner Melissa C. Brown will make an especially apt and valuable addition to the board of the IA2. A regular lecturer at legal conventions and seminars around the country, Brown has been listed in America's Top Lawyers for more than fifteen years. Her professional experience with developing policy solutions to the many challenges faced by aging people will greatly inform her work on the board of the IA2, benefiting Native Americans and indigenous people around the world.

Brown is also an active, practicing partner at Fraulob, Brown & Gowen, a leading Northern California law firm since its founding in 1956. In addition to providing highly effective representation for elder law issues, the members of the firm also focus on disability and workers compensation issues, as is detailed at http://www.rivercityattorneys.com/social-security-disability/ and http://www.rivercityattorneys.com/sacramento-workers-compensation-attorney/

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