Team
AHWGO Team
Susanne Stadler
Executive Director
Susanne Stadler is an architect and social entrepreneur passionate about shifting the perspective on aging and an advocate for imaginative and human centered design solutions for the later phase of life. For the past 20 years an important emphasis of her design work has been to provide sustainable design solutions for the complex needs of aging that allow people to age with safety and delight, at home and in the world.
Mariah Bradley
Communications & Marketing Manager
Mariah Bradley is a nonprofit professional, who loves bringing people together to create positive change within communities. She has supported a number of organizations’ marketing teams including Habitat for Humanity and Worldreader. With close connections to her grandparents, Mariah views healthy aging & living as a necessity in all communities, and she continues to enjoy working with AHWGO to help share its story and further its mission.
Yulia Moore
Financial Reporting
Yulia Moore’s company is called Three Degrees LLC. Three Degrees stands for her 3 educations – an engineering degree from Russia, a Master’s Degree from Clark University in Massachusetts and her own bookkeeping practice – so Accounting is like a third degree to her. She’s been working as a bookkeeper for about 7 years. “I am very excited to join the AHWGO team and to support the organization personally and professionally!”
KATHERINE OKPARA
PROGRAM EXPERIENCE MANAGER
Katherine is a user experience researcher and certified aging-in-place specialist. She has over 7 years of experience working in the tech industry and specializes in helping organizations create inclusive services and products. Her passion for gerontology was ignited by her experience working as a caregiver in college for a 97-year-old woman who lived alone at home. Katherine is excited to apply her skills to support & grow Aging 360 workshops.
Adrianne Borgia
Volunteer
About-to-turn-70 white woman who identifies culturally as Latina and spent 2 years in the peace corps. Ex‑electrical engineer-turned-gardener now running a busy one‑woman show. Loves traveling in Mexico and South America and is currently very involved in immigration issues.
Andrea Moss
Volunteer
Andrea worked as a reference librarian at a public library and appreciated most aspects of the job, especially Information and Referral service. She was happy to be a generalist, personally and professionally. She studied art & design and has kept busy with various household projects and artistic pursuits ever since. Andrea is happy to develop her interest in aging in the interdisciplinary milieu of AHWGO.
Donna Schempp
Volunteer
Donna Schempp, LCSW, is a care manager, who frequently speaks on caregiving and aging issues. She leads workshops for local organizations, including the American Society on Aging among many others. She has a private therapy practice, specializing in working with clients over 50 and a consulting practice with agencies in the Bay Area.
Board Members
Candiece Milford
Board President
Candiece Milford is the Managing Director of Marketing for Rhoda Goldman Plaza, assisted living and memory care. Previously, Candiece was the Lead Director of Marketing at The Sequoias San Francisco, a Continuing Care Retirement Community. Candiece transferred the innovative knowledge gleaned from her previous graphic design and marketing consulting business to develop a series of informational seminars to seekers of retirement living options. Candiece has co-authored a leading university level textbook chapter on CCRC marketing and has spoken at multiple venues including the Commonwealth Club where she is currently an active member in the “Grown Ups Forum.”
Mikiko Huang
Secretary
Mikiko is a pediatrician involved in the support of loved ones who are growing older. She believes that thriving, intergenerational communities are important to nurture and that the care of both children and older adults optimally involves family and friends. Her own mom, who will turn 100 in 2020, has lived with her family for 3 decades. Her mother-in-law had Alzheimer’s in the last 6 years of her life and her family supported her living in her own home for most of that time. She has also been involved in the Age and Disability Friendly efforts in SF for years.
Benjamin Bloom
Treasurer
Benjamin Bloom, MBA, CSA, CLTC is the President of Homewatch CareGivers of Oakland. Homewatch CareGivers provides compassionate in-home care tailored to the unique needs of seniors and people with disabilities. Being a part of the solution to problems facing an aging population motivates Ben to support a number of organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rachael Friedman
Board Member
Rachael Friedman is a clinical psychologist with a Psy.D. from The Wright Institute. She has a background in development, patient support and non-profit event planning. Rachael currently teaches at the Wright Institute and is a long-term volunteer of At Home With Growing Older.
YASMIN P. KHAN
Board Member
Yasmin believes we can find better ways to care for ourselves and each other as we grow older. Coming from a diverse background in art making, education and caregiving, Yasmin looks forward to joining AHWGO in its mission and common interests; inter/multi-generational community building with a focus on life-long learning, centered around the care of the whole human being and the earth.
John Milford
Board Member
John has been a leader in the retirement field for over 35 years, having opened both The Carlisle and San Francisco Towers, where he was Executive Director for over 15 years. John served on the Boards of San Francisco Village and San Francisco Senor Center, and he was Chair of the Commonwealth Club of California’s Grownups Forum for 19 years. John is the founder and owner of Heritage Consulting for Retirement Living and a co-founder of Tech-enhanced Life, a Public Benefit Corporation exploring how technology can improve our quality of life as we age.
Marcie Rogo
Board Member
Marcie is the Fractional CMO for Wellahead. Prior to that position, she was the Vice President of Growth at Koko Labs. She has dedicated the majority of her career to advocating for better treatment of those in later life. She was drawn to AHWGO as one of very few organizations that includes multiple generations in confronting discussions about aging. She brings her early stage startup experience to drive fast growth to such a deserving effort.
Tim Simmons
Board Member
As a corporate creative and business executive, Tim Simmons has spent nearly 20 years bringing brand stories to life. Tim was most recently the Senior Vice President and Head of Creative for Naturopathica Holistic Health. He has also led brand design for powerhouse companies, including: L’Oreal USA, Unilever, Estee Lauder, Avon, and CVS. Tim is a graduate of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned Master’s degrees in Architecture and Urban Planning, (pursuing his interests in the social, cultural and environmental impacts of design and place-making).
Howard Thornton
Board Member
Howard Thornton directed the Museum Store at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Before that, he was a creative force at the Oakland Museum of California Store and involved in other endeavors such as being a founding partner of AERIAL, a seminal design store in San Francisco. Howard is a licensed architect in California with an interest in age-friendly design that developed during his studies at Kansas State University. Howard brings his knowledge of universal design and business experience in service to AHWGO.
Gloria Feldman
Board Member Emerita
Gloria Feldman, MS, MFT, has been in private practice as family and marriage counselor for many years. She reflects both through her own and professional experience on how older age influences people’s relationships to themselves and to the wider world. She has a strong interest in mentoring and believes that old age has an important place in society as a way to contribute to future generation growth. She contributes to a variety of community organizations in San Francisco with an emphasis on mental health.
Marie Jobling
Board Member Emerita
Marie Jobling is Director of the Community Living Campaign and is one of the founding members of AHWGO. Marie served as treasurer on the AHWGO Board from 2017 to September 2021. She is a premier community activist and advocate for solutions rooted in community. She was instrumental in establishing the Dignity Fund in San Francisco. The Dignity Fund was passed by voters in 2016, guaranteeing funding to enhance supportive services to help older adults (60+ years old) and adults with disabilities (18 – 59 years old) age with dignity in their own homes and communities.
Advisory Board
Gretchen Addi
Advisory Board Member
Gretchen Addi grew up in a small midwest town where everyone knew each other and living intergenerationally was a given. Her father spent the last few years of his life as a part of her family in San Francisco and this experience catalyzed her desire to better understand aging personally and professionally. Fifteen years later, she is still focused on bringing creativity to the aging marketplace.
Heather Dobbins
Advisory Board Member
Heather Dobbins has 20 years of consulting experience and more than 10 years facilitating planning and strategy sessions for senior level corporate groups. She enjoys collaborating with groups to define and solve problems. While she has worked across a number of industries, both as an external and internal consultant, Heather is currently working as an independent consultant within banking and finance. She is also a member of the Full Circle Fund, supporting pro bono education projects.
Cristy Johnston Limon
Advisory Board Member
Cristy Johnston Limon is currently the Deputy Director of the Department of Economic and Workforce Development for the City of Oakland. Prior to that role, Cristy was the Executive Director of the Center for Social Sector Leadership at the University of California in Berkeley; the center provides leadership education and support to help students succeed.
Beth MacLeod
Advisory Board Member
Beth MacLeod, LCSW, has specialized in the field of aging and services to older adults and their families for more than 30 years. Beth earned her master’s degree in social work from University of California, Berkeley. She taught at SFSU in the Gerontology Program, and at UCB, School of Social Welfare, was Director of Clinical Supervision at Family Service Agency, and is a clinical consultant for Family Caregiver Alliance. Beth is in private practice in San Francisco, offering Care Consultations, which combine care assessment, planning, identification of resources, and supportive therapy.
Amy McDonald
Advisory Board Member
Amy K. McDonald has 25 years of experience in strategy development, organizational improvement, and managing challenging situations. She has a particular interest in organizations supporting older adults and has consulted for clients in the emerging home health care business, the rapidly changing Medicare market and in the field of hospice care.
Currently, Amy has her own consulting firm, Bateman Hendrix Group, working with leadership teams to shape their strategy, drive growth, and strengthen governance. Her clients range from large-scale to small non-profits and, in the for-profit space, global Fortune 500 companies to emerging businesses.
Harry (Rick) Moody
Advisory Board Member
Harry (Rick) Moody, Ph.D., retired as Vice President for Academic Affairs with AARP and is currently Visiting Faculty in the Creative Longevity and Wisdom Program at Fielding Graduate University and Visiting Professor at Tohoku University in Japan. He is author of many scholarly articles, and books including co-author of Aging: Concepts and Controversies, Ethics in an Aging Society and The Five Stages of the Soul. He is editor of the “Human Values in Aging” newsletter. His new book, Climate Change in an Aging Society, will be published this year by Routledge. In 2011 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society on Aging.
Susan Poor
Advisory Board Member
Susan Poor is the Principal of Susan Poor Consulting, which has focused on local collaboration and innovation to improve the lives of older adults, who wish to remain in their own homes and communities. Areas of interest have included long-term services and supports for older adults across income levels, the Village movement, Age Friendly Communities, technology advances, digital inclusion, family caregiving, and developing models that connect social supports and medical care.
Erin McInrue Savage
Advisory Board Member
Erin McInrue Savage is a former AHWGO board member and currently is the Director of Content & Brand at Human Interest. She is a researcher with content expertise in health and financial well-being across the life course, and emphasis on aging and the second half of life. She has led internal and external research in academia, nonprofits, startups, and for-profit organizations. She is passionate about advancing our understanding of the trends and implications of population aging, and committed to supporting organizations in better serving the needs of people in their second half of life.
Janice Schwartz
Advisory Board Member
Janice Schwartz, MD, UCSF is a board-certified internist and cardiologist with significant experience in clinical pharmacology and geriatric medicine. She is currently a Professor in Residence at the UCSF School of Medicine. In 2019, she received the Award for Excellence in Clinical Pharmacology from PhRMA Foundation, Inc. and continues to focus her efforts on improving medication evaluation and usage in older adults.
Catherine Spensley
Advisory Board Member
Catherine Spensley, LCSW, MSW, is the Senior Division Director of Felton/Family Service Agency of San Francisco, overseeing programs that serve over 2000 seniors a year in aging services and mental health. She is an active member on a number of advisory boards and coalitions, promoting partnerships among services providers, researchers, and policymakers. She is co-chair of Aging and Disability Friendly SF, and has a strong interest in reducing ageism. She has a BA in Communications from American University in Washington, DC and a MSW from UC Berkeley, specializing in gerontology.
Jill Stoner
Advisory Board Member
Jill Stoner is Professor of Architecture and Director of the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University. She came to this position in July 2015, after 28 years as Professor of Architecture at University of California Berkeley. Her professional practice earned her architectural firm ten national and international design awards. Professor Stoner is recognized internationally for her contributions to architectural theory. Currently, she is a member of the board of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. Jill brings to AHWGO a deep commitment to global ecology, social equity, healthy cities and political agency.
Honorees
Dmitri Belser
Advisory Board Member 2017 to 2021
We are very grateful for Dmitri’s generous support during his tenure. He invited us into the inclusively designed Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley which became the perfect home for our forums for many years and was the venue for the 1st agein in 2019.