Naples senior center names new CEO, president

A senior center in Collier County has named its next leader following a nationwide search. Baker Senior Center Naples appointed Emily Ptaszek as the organization’s president and CEO, effective June 1.

Ptaszek is a nonprofit health care executive with more than a decade of experience leading organizations around the country. Most recently, she was the managing director of Elevation Health Partners, a California-headquartered health care consulting firm operating in eight states. Before that, she was president and CEO of Colorado-based Peak Vista Community Health Centers, which treats 84,000 patients a year with a budget of $120 million. She also previously served as president and CEO for Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida, an organization based in Immokalee that, under her leadership, expanded into a new 50,000-square-foot medical complex and increased private and local government grants year-over-year.

“Emily stood out among all other candidates after a large national competitive search,” Baker Senior Center Naples Board Chair Karen Heithoff says in a statement.

A licensed psychologist, Ptaszek has worked in settings from private practice to nursing homes, including four years working with veterans with trauma at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System in Cape Coral.

“I am very excited to return to Southwest Florida to lead Baker Senior Center Naples,” Ptaszek says in the statement. 

Baker Senior Center Naples offers an average of 40 social, educational and wellness programs weekly for seniors in Collier and southern Lee Counties. Established in 2014, the organization has more than 300 volunteers; operates a food pantry; and offers services through licensed and credentialed professionals, from mental health counseling to caregiver support.

When she takes over, Ptaszek will be the second person to lead Baker Senior Center Naples as its president and CEO, succeeding founder Jaclynn Faffer, who died unexpectedly in December 2025.

“Jackie built a lasting legacy that is Baker Senior Center Naples,” Jay H. Baker, board member of Baker Senior Center Naples, says in the statement. “We are confident that Emily will step right in to honor what has been established and implement some new ideas to take the organization on to the next level and have an even greater impact in the community.”