She earned her PhD in Sociology from UCSF in 2008. Hollister was a 2012–13 Atlantic Philanthropies Health and Aging Policy Fellow and an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow with a placement in Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office in Washington, DC where she worked on a variety of health policy issues, including the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the design of the financial alignment initiative for dual eligibility in California. She was the vice chair of the Gray Panthers National Board of Directors from 2007-2012 and she currently serves on the board of the American Society on Aging.