Boomers Today

Nina Angela Downie has been a practicing Physical Therapist since 2003. Prior to that work in cardiac rehabilitation, neurologic rehabilitation with specialties in spinal cord injuries, stroke and brain injury.

Bridget Mackay has been practicing law for over 20 years. She spent 10 years as a Deputy District Attorney and then began her own practice in Estate Planning and Medi-Cal (Medicaid) Benefits Planning. She is a member of the American Association of Estate Planning Attorneys, National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, California Association for Nursing Home Reform.

Carolyn Hobbs is an Author, Licensed Therapist, Lecturer, Workshop Leader and College Professor who is passionately committed to giving people quick, practical ways to bring freedom and inner peace into their busy lives.

Sherri Snelling founded and currently serves as CEO of Caregiving Club, a consulting service and digital content company focused on the nation’s 65 million family caregivers. She is the author of A Cast of Caregivers – Celebrity Stories to Help You Prepare to Care and is a contributing columnist on caregiving for PBS Next Avenue, Forbes.com, Huffington Post and USA Today.

Odell Glenn is an author and a public health advocate for asthma, Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury related diseases. Odell is also a minister and currently the community outreach coordinator for the “South Carolina Diversity Program.”

Peggy Martin has been in the financial services industry since 1977. She is with Family Wealth Consultants, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisory Firm as a Wealth Manager and with Legacy Planning Across Generations. She currently holds the role of CFO for the Morgan Hill Branch of the American Association of University Women.

Ryan McEniff is the owner of Minute Women Home Care, a private home care company located in Lexington, MA. Started in 1969, by his Aunt, Ryan purchased Minute Women in 2011 after caring for his mother in her battle with cancer. During that time Ryan experienced how home care and hospice help families and decided to help others the way his family was helped.

After working within the healthcare industry for over 15 years as a senior-level executive for Amgen and Merrill Lynch, Sherwin Sheik found himself the go-to person to solve many of the problems his family was encountering in caring for two family members. Out of this challenging time, Sherwin decided there had to be a better way and he founded CareLinx in 2011. CareLinx's mission is to improve th...

Elece Hempel, is Executive Director of Petaluma People Services Center. PPSC is dedicated to improving the social and economic health of our community by providing programs that strengthen the dignity and self-sufficiency of the individual. In 2012 she was honored by the North Bay Leadership Council with the “We’re All in this Together, Community Building Award”; and was named California Woman of...

Jude Bijou, MA, MFT, is a respected psychotherapist, professional educator, and workshop leader. She discusses how to best deal with the fact that families can’t help but experience emotions when through the aging process together including emotions of sadness, anger, and fear.

Michael D’Agostino is the Founder/ Owner of MDCaregiving, a caregiver training and medical equipment resource. Michael is also a licensed Occupational Therapist and has been a practicing therapist for over 16yrs in various settings including: Skilled Nursing, Acute Rehab, Assisted Living, and Home Health Therapy for nearly five of those years.

Valerie Richards is a certified Advance Care Planning Facilitator and provides education for the community to improve understanding and interactions with the person with dementia, and coaching for families to help them maintain their relationships in a positive way.

John Grayson Heide is the author of new book called "The Flight of the Pickerings." It’s a soulful love story about aging and dying.  John has dedicated the book to people all over the world who are dealing with end of life issues. John discusses his vision of a future society where individuals are naturally granted the right of self-determination and always guided by a deep love of life.

Ronnie Genser founded Bereavement Navigators to help widows, widowers, adult children, and other relatives who have lost a loved one, in hopes that her knowledge will make this process and the journey ahead easier for them.

Susan Miedzianowski, PhD, CPC, CSA, has more than 45 years of experience in the healthcare industry, and in her educator role focuses on the philosophy that education should always be a fun, experiential, empowering and meaningful process. Susan received her PhD in Human Services at the age of 63.

Vickie Dellaquila is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Organization Rules®, a company specializing in residential organizing, working with the chronically disorganized, senior downsizing, move management services and clients who have issues with hoarding.

Debbie Rosas is the creator and co-founder of the global fitness and lifestyle practice, Nia, which is based upon The Body’s Way: a system used to live, move and feel great at any age. She is the author of The Nia Technique and Non-Impact Aerobics. Her work is featured in over 800 publications and used by over 65,000 people weekly in over 51 countries, taught by 2600 teachers.

Martin Pazzani is the Founder of Act!vate Brain & Body, a revolutionary approach to fitness for the baby boomer generation that is focused on radically improving the trajectory of aging to enable people to live happier, healthier, and longer lives. Check out Martin's run up the Empire State Building to raise funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation at http://goo.gl/ME92eh

Gloria Bernard has been designing residential and commercial interiors for over 35 years. She brings her expertise, style and passion to support aging with dignity. Gloria is also a college instructor for Interior Design. This keeps her current with today’s trends, technology, and social issues that affect seniors.

Valerie Richards is a certified Advance Care Planning Facilitator, family coach and educator to improve understanding and interactions with the person with dementia.

Rachelle Lavalier has worked in various roles in Senior Care throughout the years, including some therapeutic approaches there were to treating Alzheimer’s and other forms of Dementia. She took that knowledge into sales and marketing and currently works in that role at Brookdale Senior Living, a Specialized Alzheimer’s and Dementia care community.

Trisha Torrey is an author, speaker, and patient advocacy consultant. With a background prior to her advocacy work in teaching and marketing, in 2009 Trisha founded AdvoConnection.com, a directory that helps patients and caregivers find private patient advocates who can help them get the good healthcare they deserve. She discusses patient advocacy and the future of our health care system.

Olivia Mastry is the founding partner of The Collective Action Lab, a unique collaborative forum that fosters cross-sector, systems and social change in the health, older adult service and disability arenas. As part of her work, Olivia is guiding Dementia national collaboration involving public and private Friendly America (DFA), a national collaboration organizations seeking to foster dementia fr...

Ken Rader is Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Pacific Modern Homes, a company having a series of Pre-Engineered home plans that are designed for Aging in Place, helping transition people throughout all of life's stages. Ken discusses about new developments in this growing market.

Susan Macaulay lived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for 18 years. She had a successful business as a public speaking coach and trainer. Like many people who care for loved ones with dementia, Susan Macaulay was drafted into a role she never imagined she would be doing. She left what she loved behind to care for her mom who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Four years later, Susan is still getting o...