December 6: Boston Bridge Conversations

Please RSVP here for our Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, December 6th at 6pm on Zoom. A link to register for the Zoom details will be available after you complete the initial Google form. Please note, we will NOT be meeting in-person.

Join us for our annual Boston Bridge Conversations meeting! We invite you to join us as we discuss careers in aging and technology/artificial intelligence and its growing impact on our field. Share your expertise, learn from other Boston Bridge attendees, speculate on forthcoming improvements and challenges in the aging space, and consider ways that the field will expand and grow.

We hope you will join us!

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

November 15: Leanne Clark-Shirley / American Society on Aging

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

Boston Bridge is delighted that Leanne Clark-Shirley, PhD, Interim Director and CEO of the American Society on Aging (ASA) will be joining us. Dr. Clark-Shirley is a social gerontologist and a national thought leader on aging issues committed to changing societal and individuals’ views on aging. She believes that age-inclusive communities, commerce, and philanthropy are essential to overcoming some of our biggest challenges, including systemic discrimination and climate change. Dr. Clark-Shirley will be presenting on issues related to the growing diversity in aging population, trends in the eldercare workforce, shifting dynamics of eldercare business models, and the role of Age Tech. 

We look forward to seeing you as we learn from Leanne together!

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

Directions to MIT’s Sloan School can be found on the homepage of our website (bostonbridge.org). We will meet on the 5th floor in Room 550. The Zoom link for virtual participation is available via our RSVP form above.

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.

October 18: Sandra Harris

Please RSVP here for our Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, October 18th 6pm.

Boston Bridge is delighted that Sandra Harris, State President of AARP Massachusetts and Co-Leader of the Massachusetts Taskforce to End Loneliness and Build Community, will be joining us.  Sandra is a 2021- 2022 Gen2Gen Innovation Fellow; a member of Commit to Connect Nationwide Network of Champions; and the recipient of the 2023 FriendshipWorks Catalyst Award. Sandra serves on the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Community Advisory Board (MCAB), the Advisory Board of St Helene’s House, and Director of the St Helene’s House Foundation. She is a retired Principal of S Harris Interiors, an interior design firm that specializes in senior living design. Sandra will be talking with us about the state of Massachusetts’ Taskforce model for addressing the nation’s loneliness epidemic.

We look forward to seeing you as we learn from Sandra together!

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

Directions to the MIT 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.

September 20th: Emily Cooper/Mass Executive Office of Elder Affairs

Please RSVP here for our Boston Bridge Meeting on Wednesday, September 20th at 6pm. 

Boston Bridge is delighted that Emily Cooper, the Special Advisor on Housing to MassHealth and the Chief Housing Officer at the Mass Executive Office of Elder Affairs, will be joining us.  Emily is a nationally recognized expert with 30 years of experience designing housing and service policies and programs to meet the needs of special populations. She will address the options and issues surrounding the increasing need of affordable housing for older adults and the connection between housing and the special needs of elders for comprehensive healthcare.

We look forward to seeing you as we learn from Emily and engage in significant conversation about this topic.

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.

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.