Marta Hajek

Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario

Marta Hajek is the Chief Executive Officer of Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario (EAPO), where she leads a dedicated team advancing the safety, dignity, and human rights of older adults while addressing the systemic impacts of ageism and elder abuse. Under her leadership, EAPO has strengthened provincial, national, and global collaborations to ensure that the voices and lived experiences of older adults inform policy development, decision-making, and resource allocation in support of Canada’s fastest growing demographic.

Marta has extensive experience in community systems coordination and collaborative leadership. Earlier in her career, she helped facilitate the rollout of Ontario 211, now a national information and referral service connecting Canadians to health and social supports. Through this work she developed deep expertise in building partnerships across community-based service sectors to strengthen coordinated responses to complex social issues.

Today, Marta continues to advance collaborative approaches to aging policy and elder abuse prevention through a number of advisory and governance roles. She serves on the Ontario Securities Commission’s Seniors Expert Advisory Committee (SEAC) and sat on the Boards of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (CNPEA) and the International Longevity Centre Canada (ILC-C). She is an elected member and Co-Chair of the Steering Group of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older Persons (GAROP), Co-Chair of the National Leadership Council advancing the Community-Based Seniors Serving (CBSS) sector, and, through EAPO, a founding partner of the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism (CCAA).

Internationally, Marta is an active advocate for strengthening human rights protections for older persons. She has delivered several interventions at the United Nations, calling for the development of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, and most recently spoke at the UN High-Level Political Forum on the intersection of gender and ageism, alongside Canada’s Ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae.

Through her work, Marta continues to champion collaborative, community-driven solutions that address the growing complexity of aging in Canada, including the disproportionate impacts of gender-based and intimate partner violence affecting older women.