Experience

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  Ely Zimmerman Life Coaching

  • Laguna Woods Village

  • Professional Life Coach

    • 2007 - Present
    • Laguna Woods Village

    Because my graduate level education is in Adult Human Development, Organization Development and Population Based (Public) Health, my clients have ranged from people in their early 20s, mid life and seniors in mostly professional fields such as Executives, Clergy and Physicians.Professional Life Coaching is a practice based on 2 years of academic training and clinical supervision, comparable to other Masters Degrees. It is the clinical application of Positive Psychology, a relatively recent, (10 years), academic specialty recognized by the American Psychologic Association, (APA). Certification is based on a comprehensive series of exams administered by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) the globally recognized certification body.

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  Institute for Fall Prevention

  • Laguna Woods Village

  • Executive Director

    • Apr 2018 - Present
    • Laguna Woods Village

    Falls among in the over 65 population are the #1 cause of preventable serious injury and disability and a major precursor to social isolation, depression and death.With a physician partner I've developed a comprehensive fall prevention program * capable of documenting reduction of the incidence of emergency room visits, hospitalization-related falls and prevalence of fall prevention disabilities in a population of 18,000 independently living seniors.

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  Growing Healthy People

  • Greater Los Angeles Area

  • Founder

    • Jan 1990 - Present
    • Greater Los Angeles Area

    GHP is a conceptual model for transforming the current medical treatment system into a system for Growing Healthy People. The model integrates education, social services and medical treatment in support of the process of human development.The priorities of the model are:1. Assure that the necessary conditions for healthy human development are met at each stage of life;2. Prevent or reduce predictable risks to health;3. Provide high quality, cost/effective treatment for illness and injury

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  Israeli Religious Action Center (IRAC)

  • Jerusalem, Israel

  • Organizational Consultant

    • Sep 2004 - Jun 2005
    • Jerusalem, Israel

    (see testimonial at ElyZimmerman.com)IRAC is Israel’s preeminent civil and human rights organization addressing issues of religion and state. It works toward a pluralistic society and freedoms of conscience and religion.I consulted with the director and the Overseas Relations Department to improve the awareness of IRAC in the US and develop new financial support.

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  Neve Shalom-Wahat al Salaam (Oasis of Peace)

  • Israel

  • Organizational Consultant

    • Sep 2004 - 2005
    • Israel

    (See testimonial at elyzimmerman.com)This is an intentional community of 100 + adult Jewish and Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel who seek to learn live together in a common community.My consultation was with the leadership of this community to assist in their decision making process.While there, I developed an encounter weekend between 15 American first year Rabbinic Students at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem (mostly mid 20’s) with Palestinian young adults of the same age.Despite both groups coming to the weekend with good intentions, there was a persistent tension. The experience of hearing the coherent, unfiltered world view and narrative of the other group was profoundly different than the story each had heard of the other through the eyes of their own media and negative interpersonal experiences. The Rabbinic Students reported being profoundly impacted that even while agreeing with the facts of a specific incident there could be such divergent interpretations and meanings.

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  MediCost Audit

  • Issaquah, WA

  • Co-Founder and Partner

    • Jan 2002 - 2004
    • Issaquah, WA

    I conceived and co-founded Medicost Audit with a physician friend / partner. The purpose of the company was to enable medium sized, self-insured companies to improve their employee’s health while reducing costs.Our target clients were companies who were self-insured with 500 or more employees. Our business proposition was fairly easily and quickly adopted by companies such as ADT Security Systems.The weak link in the process was that while these companies were large enough to carry their actuarial insurance risks, they outsourced the claims function to the insurance companies who acted as third party administrators, (TPAs). While our analysis of our clients data focused on assessing risk reduction, and cost/inefficiencies, the TPAs , as insurers, wanted to get us out of what they determined was their business.Soon after we began to work with a client, the delay in getting monthly data from the TPAs began increasing.Over time, and despite our common client’s objections, they interrupted the timely flow and usefulness of the data for us to do The our job. Within 2 years we were out of business.

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  ITEX

  • Issaquah, WA

  • Partner

    • Oct 1990 - Jul 2002
    • Issaquah, WA

    I found this company when we moved to Issaquah, WA as it met my criteria of being close to home, used my telephone sales skills and was commission based.ITEX was a national franchise company in the very creative field of business-to-business barter. The concept was to enable business owners to trade their excess capacity to each other via “Trade Dollars” which they could use to offset cost. For example, a restaurant needs menu’s printed and could sell script for meals at non-peak hours and use the trade dollars to pay for the printing. The printer could use their trade dollars to buy advertising etc.STN made its income on transaction fees for using the trade dollars.

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  Data Focus

  • Oakland, CA

  • National Account Manager

    • Jan 1984 - 1990
    • Oakland, CA

    As National Account Manager my portfolio included improving the national business to business phone sales process to the data centers of medium size companies (500 or less employees) and regional data center of large companies such as Nabisco and ADT Security Systems. As National Account Manager, I significantly increased sales by developing a new and more effective sales script, decreased cold-calling and improved client retention which was subsequently adopted by the whole company.Using my Organizational Development knowledge and my strong interpersonal skills, I developed a process that effectively "rolled up" multiple, semi-autonomous data centers within the larger companies. This proved highly effective in improving efficiency, reducing cold-calls, increasing sales and client retention. I originally approached Data Focus because the phoning hours, starting on the East Coast, allowed me to support my family while working on my Doctoral Dissertation at UC Berkeley School of Public Health.When we moved our family to Seattle, I was able to telecommute until I found other work locally.

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  Contra Costa County Health Plan

  • Lafayette, CA

  • Health Care System Design Consultant

    • Jun 1983 - 1984
    • Lafayette, CA

    Contra Costa County was the first county in the U.S. to sponsor a pre-paid health plan, an HMO. I was hired to create a Public Health model, strategy and methodology for prevention / health promotion education to improve heath and reduce costs. 1984 was the first time the US Census became available on computer disks. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also had recently issued its first rates of chronic diseases by age, gender and race. I developed a program to project health risks against census tract demographics of the county to identify census tracts with highest risks in order to optimally site county clinics.Unfortunately, for some still unknown reason, and without warning to employees, one morning, the Health Plan closed its doos.I became disillusioned with the medical treatment system as a meaningful way to invest my career and viable means to earn a decent living. There’s much more to that statement than can be explained here.

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  Kaiser Permanente Medical Care System, Medical Methods Research Dept.

  • Oakland, CA

  • Health Education System Designer

    • Sep 1982 - Jun 1983
    • Oakland, CA

    I had the honor to work directly with Sidney Garfield, MD, founder of the Kaiser/Permanente Health Care System. As part of his core team at Medical Methods Research Dept. I was tasked with 1) developing the Health Education system to “reduce demand on physician time and 2) improve member satisfaction”.My design called for using the data from the first electronic version of the US Census and projecting it against the initial version of the CDC’s ”Healthy People” .The purpose was to be able site chronic care education programs close to the populations where it was needed.Dr. Garfield’s comment was that it was an excellent idea, only it was 30 years ahead of its time. He was right.

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  State of Vermont

  • Windham, Windsor Counties, Vermont

  • Regional Co-coordinator for Alcohol, Drugs and Mental Health for South Eastern Vermont

    • Jan 1974 - 1976
    • Windham, Windsor Counties, Vermont

    I was one of four regional coordinators for the State of Vermont who were responsible for setting up local systems to integrate the communications between local, city and town Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol prevention and then regional treatment and law enforcement resources.Between the four of us, we established information sharing and developed statewide strategies to address existing and emergent issues.I received training at Yale at DDI the Drug Education and Prevention Center, methods that were then called “affective education”. I also received initial training in Systems Theory in Social SystemsI also was trained in the “Tavistock Conference”, a method to study and experience “Power, Authority and Leadership in Small, Large and Inter-Group Events”. It was originally used to train British Army offices during World War II.

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  Maple Syrup Productions

  • West Chesterfield, N.H.

  • Maple Syrup and Apple Tree Farmer

    • Nov 1973 - Apr 1975
    • West Chesterfield, N.H.

    Shortly after my position at the Youth Action Project I was able to purchase an apple orchard that hadn’t been tended in 15 years. Also on the property was a stand of maple trees on the side of a hill along with an evaporation pan and wood fired furnace.I learned to prune the apple trees and restore them into production. With a group of friends we restored the maple syrup pan, tapped the trees, hung buckets and made and sold maple syrup.

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  Youth Action Project

  • Bellows Falls, Vermont

  • Director

    • Jul 1973 - Sep 1974
    • Bellows Falls, Vermont

    While at the Brattleboro Retreat I became aware of a new nearby Federally Funded Drug Education/Prevention program. I applied for a staff position and was hired as the director.The job involved developing activities for at-risk youth and design and leadership of structured interpersonal experiences of the then emerging Human Potential Movement. I was responsible for managing a rather rag-tag staff and filing out an absurd amount of paperwork.

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  The Brattleboro Retreat

  • Brattleboro, Vermont

  • Alternative Service as Conscietious Objector

    • 1972 - 1973
    • Brattleboro, Vermont

    Consistent with my CO obligation, I was offered a position at a private mental hospital where my responsibilities involved serving (non-alcoholic) drinks and snacks to residents in a bar social type set up. This ”bar” could have been the inspiration for the subsequent TV show ”Cheers”. I developed a strong rapport with the residents and the “bar” was always full. I have since wondered if one of the creators of the show had been a resident here 10 years prior to the first show.

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  US Selective Service

  • New York City

  • Conscientious Objector to War

    • 1970 - 1972
    • New York City

    I was an active protester to the War in Viet Nam. I applied for and was awarded status as a “Conscientious Objector to War”. This required a written statement of beliefs, a history of actions supporting those beliefs, and an interview by a panel of my draft board. My statement, in essence, said that I refused to knowingly put myself in a position in which I might have to choose between killing another human being or be killed.I cited my K-12 education at the Ethical Culture Schools that included an Ethics class each week for 15 years and my undergraduate degree in Philosophy.As a Conscientious Objector, (CO), I was required to spend two years of service in work in the “National Interest” as defined by my draft board. Unofficially, this meant work that would not advance the careers of C.O.s so as to not penalize peers who were busy killing Vietnamese citizens "defending" their country.