Jim Ellison

Chief Older Adult Services

Former State Rep. Jim Ellison is Oakland County’s Chief of Older Adult Services.

In the position, Ellison coordinates and helps expand and improve the services the county provides to older residents. He also will be working with the county’s Senior Advisory Council and the Board of Commissioner’s Healthy Aging Ad Hoc Committee.

Ellison was a member of the State House of Representatives from 2017-22, where he served on several committees, including: Families, Children and Seniors; Health Policy; Tax Policy and Local Government.

Before that he was the Mayor of Royal Oak from 2003 to 2016, a city Commissioner for four. He spent most of his career working for the Barton Malow construction company.

My time on the Families, Children and Seniors committee certainly opened my eyes to the issues that seniors are facing and now, being a senior myself, that’s brought me a new perspective,” Ellison said. “I look forward to meeting with older residents and visiting senior centers across the county to see how we can best meet their needs.”

Ellison and his wife Jodie, the manager of the Royal Oak Animal Shelter, live in Royal Oak. They have eight children and seventeen grandkids. Ellison, the founding chairman of the Woodward Dream Cruise committee, spends his spare time working on a classic 1955 Ford Customline and caring for the pack of pets they’ve adopted over the years, including dogs, cats, rabbits, a pig named Momo and a goose.

Danisha Weathersby

Communications & Marketing Assistant

Danisha Weathersby is the communications and marketing assistant in the Oakland County Older Adult Services Department, which has a goal of helping older residents in Oakland County access all the resources and programs available to them.

She has 10 years of experience in the public health sector, including wellness programming to promote active lifestyles and providing education on the relationship between nutrition and chronic diseases.

Previously, she worked as a public health educator with the Oakland County Health Division.

Weathersby earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Oakland University and a master's degree in communications from Eastern Michigan University. She can be reached at (248) 425-8897 or weathersbyd@oakgov.com.