May 17th: James Fuccione/Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative

Please RSVP here for our Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, May 17th at 6pm. This month, we welcome James Fuccione, presenting on “The Age- and Dementia Friendly Movement in Massachusetts”. James Fuccione is the Director of the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative (MHAC), which is a statewide, cross-sector network of organizations and state and local government partners working together to promote inclusive age- and dementia friendly communities. Funded by Point32Health Foundation, MHAC and its collaborators are supporting more than 200 age- and dementia friendly communities, several regional initiatives and a statewide approach led by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MHAC also promotes policies and practices that advance issues like housing, transportation and social engagement and works to replicate best practices that emerge from local initiatives. Previously, James spent nearly nine years as Director of Legislative and Public Affairs for the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts advocating for stronger home health care services, higher pay for in-home care workers, falls prevention and a range of other issues. James also previously served as an aide in the Massachusetts Senate. We hope you’ll join us! If you have trouble day of, please email us at info@bostonbridge.org Directions to the Sloan School can be found on the homepage of our website (bostonbridge.org). We will meet on the 5th floor in Room 550. Parking is available after 5PM for MIT affiliates in the Amherst Street E51 lot. Paid garage parking is available in the Hayward and Sloan garages.

April 19th: Anne Calef/Boston Indicators

Please RSVP here for our Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, April 19th at 6pm.

This month, we’ll hear from Anne Kiyono Calef, Research Manager at Boston Indicators, where she’s worked on topics ranging from housing and land use to labor markets and care work. She recently completed a Master of City Planning degree from MIT where she studied equitable economic and community development. Prior to MIT, she worked as a public school teacher for six years. Anne holds a Master’s degree in Educational Studies from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Asian American Studies from Pomona College.

With the steady aging of our population, care jobs are among the fastest growing in our economy. These jobs are staffed predominantly by immigrant women and women of color, so despite their societal importance, racial prejudice and gender discrimination have led to a systematic devaluation of this sort of labor. In their recent paper, “Care Work in Massachusetts: A Call for Racial & Economic Justice for a Neglected Sector,” Boston Indicators and SkillWorks provide a demographic profile of care workers in Massachusetts and pair that with a job quality analysis for a few key subsectors.

We hope you’ll join us!

If you have trouble day of, please email us at info@bostonbridge.org

Directions to the Sloan School can be found on the homepage of our website (bostonbridge.org). We will meet on the 5th floor in Room 550.

Parking is available after 5PM for MIT affiliates in the Amherst Street E51 lot. Paid garage parking is available in the Hayward and Sloan garages.

March 15th: Rachel Fichtenbaum/Mobility Management MassDot

Please RSVP here for our Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, March 15th at 6pm.

Join us to hear from guest Rachel Fichtenbaum. Rachel Fichtenbaum is the Manager of Grant Programs and Mobility Management at the Massachusetts Depart of Transportation (MassDOT). From 2011-2022, she worked in community transportation through the MassMobility initiative of the MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services, serving as Mobility Information Specialist from 2011-2017 and Mobility Manager from 2017-2022. She has a Masters of Public Policy in Social Policy from the Heller School at Brandeis University.

If you have trouble day of, please email us at bostonbridgeinc@gmail.com.

Directions to the Sloan School can be found on the homepage of our website (bostonbridge.org). We will meet on the 5th floor in Room 550.

Parking is available after 5PM for MIT affiliates in the Amherst Street E51 lot. Paid garage parking is available in the Hayward and Sloan garages.

February 15th: Health, Physical Activity and Sport Research Group/Blanquerna – Ramon Llull University

Please RSVP here for our Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, February 15th at 6pm.

The Health, Physical Activity and Sport Research Group from the Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sport Sciences at Blanquerna – Ramon Llull University in Barcelona, Spain aims to advance current scientific knowledge to enhance a healthier society by means of examining the beneficial effects of physical activity on individuals’ psychosocial and biological health and quality of life.

A team from Blanquerna will be visiting the MIT AgeLab and Boston Bridge to present several of their ongoing projects with older adults, specifically focusing on how co-creation can improve adherence, uptake and sustainability of interventions aimed at improving health-related outcomes.

We will be joined by:
Dr. Maria Giné-GarrigaPhD in Sport Sciences and Physiotherapist. Full-time Assistant Professor in the Sport Sciences and Principal Investigator of the Health, Physical Activity and Sport Research Group.

Giuliana Longworth, Marie-Curie Doctoral Fellow at Blanquerna – Ramon Llull University. Giuliana’s area of research is implementation and evaluation strategies for participatory research approaches, specializing in evidence-based co-creation.

Jorge R Zapata-Restrepo, Architect, urban designer, community planner, and Marie-Curie Doctoral Fellow at Blanquerna – Ramon Llull University. Jorge’s doctoral research is focused on urban design and co-creation with community-dwelling older adults and care home residents to improve movement behavior and reduce social isolation.

We hope you’ll join us!

If you have trouble day of, please email us at bostonbridgeinc@gmail.com.

Directions to the Sloan School can be found on the homepage of our website (bostonbridge.org). We will meet on the 5th floor in Room 550.

Parking is available after 5PM for MIT affiliates in the Amherst Street E51 lot. Paid garage parking is available in the Hayward and Sloan garages.

January 18th: Amy Schechtman, CEO 2 Life Communities

Happy New Year! Please RSVP here for Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, January 18th at 6pm.  Due to the recent end of holidays, winter weather & local uptick in respiratory illnesses, we encourage those attending in person to self test negative for COVID 19. Additionally, we ask that all in person attendees wear masks.

We will be hearing from Amy Schechtman:

Amy Schechtman is CEO of 2 Life Communities, an organization dedicated to empowering older adults to live with joy and purpose in housing that is affordable. Amy has a deep commitment to social justice and her work to advance affordable housing, economic development and equity are proof of that. As a leader for the concept of aging in community, Amy serves on the Governor’s Council to Address Aging in MA and was President of Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association which is the organization for affordable housing professionals.  Amy will speak to Boston Bridge about the housing initiatives she has created at 2 Life Communities and the housing crisis in Massachusetts for older adults.

If you have trouble day of, please email us at bostonbridgeinc@gmail.com.

Directions to the Sloan School can be found on the homepage of our website (bostonbridge.org). We will meet on the 5th floor in Room 550.

Parking is available after 5PM for MIT affiliates in the Amherst Street E51 lot. Paid garage parking is available in the Hayward and Sloan garages.

November 16th: Robert Weisman, Boston Globe

Please RSVP here for Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, November 16 at 6pm.

We will hear from Robert Weisman of the Boston Globe.

Robert Weisman reports on Baby Boomers — their work, health, money, and lifestyle — and life after 50. He writes about retirement and reinvention, aging, and second acts. In his 22 years at The Globe, he has worked as a technology editor and a business writer covering high-tech and venture capital, management issues, hospitals, health care, and life sciences. Before coming to The Globe, he was a business editor and reporter for the Seattle Times, Hartford Courant, and New Haven Register. He is a native of Norwich, Conn., and a graduate of Boston University.

Topic: How I conceived and launched an Age Beat as part of The Globe’s beat reinvention initiative in 2017 and discovered a large audience for stories on getting older. It turns out there’s been so much to write about that my constant challenge is to figure out which stories are most important and will most interest our readers. 

If you have trouble day of, please email us at bostonbridgeinc@gmail.com.

Directions to the Sloan School can be found on the homepage of our website (bostonbridge.org). We will meet on the 5th floor in Room 550.

Parking is available after 5PM for MIT affiliates in the Amherst Street E51 lot. Paid garage parking is available in the Hayward and Sloan garages.