His previous roles include policy director at National Center for Transgender Equality and policy director at Equality North Carolina, as well as 17 years providing in-house legal and regulatory services related to Medicaid and HIPAA. Ames attended Agnes Scott College, Emory University Law School, and George Washington University’s LGBT Health Policy & Practice graduate certificate program. He services on the National Advisory Council of the Long-Term Care Equality Index, a project of SAGE and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, as well as the transgender aging special interest group of the U.S Professional Association for Transgender Health.