Careers in Aging Panels

 

Engage with an multigenerational panel of professionals in the field of aging

The Retirement Center is hosting two virtual "Careers in Aging Panels" with multigenerational professionals in aging for an interactive Q&A session related to career placement, advancement, and industry knowledge. Whether you are just starting your career, looking to shift to work in the field of aging or interested in part-time work in retirement, walk away from this event with first hand knowledge about what it's like to work in the field of aging and the types of jobs available.

PANEL ONE: 
Monday, April 3, 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Aging Careers in Academia and Policy Panel

PANEL TWO:
Wednesday, April 5, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
Aging Careers in Senior Housing and Care Management

Each event will provide an opportunity to win an Amazon Gift Card. There will be a drawing for 3 cards at the April 3rd event and a drawing for 3 cards at the April 5th event.  Participants must be present during the panel event to win. 

Funding for this event is provided in part by a grant from the Gerontological Society of America.

REGISTRATION

April 3, 2023, 3:00 - 4:30 pm, Aging Careers in Academia and Policy Panel

Aging Careers in Academia and Policy Panel April 3, 2023, 3:00 - 4:30 pm

Roy Earnest, LCSW, Associate Director, Center for Age Friendly Excellence (CAFE), UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare ‘82 

Roy has served as a gerontological social worker and program administrator since 1978 in a wide variety of community based non-profit senior services as well as a 15 year tenure from 2002 to 2018 at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that is best known for the AmeriCorps program.  This broad range of experience has given him an in-depth perspective on the continuum of services for older adults in the United States. After retiring from CNCS in 2018, he joined the staff of the Center for Age Friendly Excellence (CAFE) in August 2019 as one of their part-time Associate Directors.  www.cfafe.org.  He also continues to give back to the community as a volunteer by serving as the Chair of Pacifica’s Age Friendly Community Task Force, an advisory council member for UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare’s MSW-Aging Services concentration, Treasurer of Pacifica’s Environmental Family, the Director of the annual Kahuna Kupuna Benefit Surf Contest in Pacifica since 2000 and other volunteer projects. A lifelong surfer, Roy teamed up with filmmaker David L. Brown to produce “Surfing for Life” (1999), an award-winning documentary that explores healthy aging through the unique perspective of 10 surfers ranging in age from 60 to 90.  www.surfingforlife.com.  Roy received his BA in Psychology with a minor in gerontology from Richard Stockton State University, Pomona, NJ in 1977 and then completed his Masters-of-Social-Welfare with a focus on aging services at UC Berkeley in 1982.  

Carrie Graham, Ph.D, MGS, Professor, UCSF Institute for Health and Aging, Joint Faculty Appointment, UC Berkeley School of Public Health

Professor Graham is a health policy researcher with a doctorate in Medical Sociology and a master's degree in Gerontological Studies. She has been the principal investigator of several studies examining the experiences and choices of seniors and people with disabilities who are transitioning to managed care delivery systems and programs that integrate Medi-Cal, Medicare, and long-term services and supports. As well as evaluating innovative programs to promote aging in the community. In 2018/2019 she was a Health and Aging Policy Fellow working on Medicare policy in the US House of Representatives, Ways and Means Committee. She is currently a Senior Policy Consultant to Governor Newsom’s administration helping to develop California’s Master Plan for Aging.  Dr. Graham has been working in the field of health policy, gerontology and evaluation research for 20 years. She specializes in using a participatory evaluation approach that incorporates the perspectives of consumers and stakeholders in all phases of evaluation, from the evaluation design through the interpretation of results. She conducts research with hard to reach populations including frail seniors, people with disabilities, people with chronic illnesses and people with no or limited English proficiency. To answer complex policy questions, she often uses mixed-methods, incorporating both qualitative data from interviews or focus groups as well as quantitative survey data.

Angie Perone, Ph.D., J.D., MSW, MA, Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley, School of Social Welfare, Director, Center for Advanced Study of Aging Services

Dr. Perone is a licensed attorney and interdisciplinary scholar. Dr. Perone previously served as a civil rights attorney, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health policy fellow in the United States Senate, and founding Executive Director of SAGE Metro Detroit. Dr. Perone’s research focuses on equitable aging, caregiving, and health policy and merges law, social services, and social science. Her current projects focus on conflicting rights in long-term care facilities and community-based research in equitable aging for LGBTQ+ older adults. Dr. Perone’s work has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Institutes of Health / National Institute on Aging, and the National Association of Social Workers Foundation, among others.  Dr. Perone earned her PhD in Social Work and Sociology from the University of Michigan. She also received her MSW, MA in Sociology, and graduate certificate in Science, Technology, and Society from the University of Michigan. Dr. Perone received a JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a BA from the University of Illinois. Dr. Perone also received a Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from Boston College.


Jarmin Yeh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health & Aging, Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco

Professor Yeh’s research broadly focuses on investigating social justice issues impacting the quality of life of community-dwelling older adults, people living with dementia, and caregivers. Jarmin is the Co-Director of the UCSF Emancipatory Sciences Lab, founded by Dr. Carroll Estes. She teaches in the UCSF Master of Science in Healthcare Administration and Interprofessional Leadership (MS-HAIL) Program. Dr. Yeh also serves on the Board of Directors for the Metta Fund, Community Living Campaign, and Head Over Heels Athletic Arts.

MODERATOR: Rachel Bell, MPH, Senior Customer Success Manager, Mon Ami

Rachel is a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Master of Public Health program and is passionate about fostering intergenerational connection. Early in her career, she began working towards solving difficult societal problems by bringing generations together. She helped launch the UC Berkeley Retirement Center’s affordable home sharing pilot program and joined the staff of a nonprofit during the COVID-19 pandemic to coordinate younger volunteers supporting their older neighbors. Her latest intergenerational project is a small business called Shoot the Moon Games which aims to bring generations together through tabletop gaming events. Rachel is also a vocal anti-ageism advocate and has a blog called “Super Agers!” that explores aging and ageism through comic books and graphic novels. She has been active in the Age-Friendly Cities movement by helping cities all over the Bay Area develop action plans and by becoming a member of the City of San Mateo’s Age-Friendly Task Force. Currently, she is a Senior Customer Success Manager at Mon Ami, a tech startup that makes software for aging and disability service providers.

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REGISTRATION

April 5, 2023, 2:00 - 3:30 pm, Aging Careers in Senior Housing and Care Management

April 5, 2023, 2:00 - 3:30 pm, Aging Careers in Senior Housing and Care Management

Ariana Alex, MAG, CMC, Director of Care Management Services, Sage Eldercare Solutions

As the Director of Care Management Services, Ariana works closely with the Sage Care Management team to ensure positive outcomes for clients and their families. Ariana began as Sage’s Director of Home Care where she created a strong home care program focused on providing quality care and meaningful engagement. She is trained as a Positive Approach to Care Trainer (CPT) and trains Sage home care providers in this specialized dementia training program based on Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care philosophy. Previously, Ariana worked at Coventry Park Assisted Living Community in San Francisco as the Director of The Memory Enhancement Program and Associate Director of Assisted Living. She has direct experience in creating and conducting activities for older adults, especially those with memory loss. In her role at Coventry Park, she provided on-going support and guidance to family members who were experiencing the challenges associated with memory loss. Ariana earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in gerontology from the University of San Francisco(USF). While studying at USF she participated in intergenerational research with the FROMM Institute for Lifelong Learning. She completed her master’s degree in gerontology from San Francisco State University and was awarded the Michelle Benjamin Scholarship. Ariana is a member of the Aging Life Care Association (ALCA) and a certified care manager (CMC). 

Marlena del Hierro, VP of Partnerships & Gerontologist, Seniorly.com 

Marlena brings over 10 years of experience to the senior care industry. She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Gerontology at San Francisco State University and obtained positions such as President of American College of Health Care Administrators and Treasurer of Gerontological Society of America during her research. She was selected as a scholar for the 2013-2014 LeadingAge California EMERGE program, which strives to prepare professionals to successfully lead highly engaged and innovative organizations. In 2011, she was part of the National Association for Professional Gerontologists in taking action on the Age-Friendly City Project for Los Altos and Los Altos Hill, CA. Marlena held a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) license and has supported the successful licensing of two RCFE communities in the Bay Area. She has worked in a number of positions within community settings, such as Activities, Program Development, and Regional Marketing and Sales roles. She joined Seniorly in 2015 and has supported the growth and operations for Seniorly's Customer Success and Partnerships for over six years, working closely with partner advisors on strategies that improve family engagement. Marlena is committed to improving the quality of care for older adults with a focus on creating new program models throughout the aging ecosystem. 

Rachel Kelly, Assistant Executive Director, Belmont Village Senior Living

After learning about the opportunities in the Senior Living industry in a seminar as an undergrad at Cornell University, Rachel charted a path towards her own career in Senior Living. While pursuing graduate education in Health Administration and studying Real Estate Development, Rachel completed an Operations internship at Belmont Village Senior Living’s Albany community, where she gained practical experience that affirmed her passion for seniors. After graduating with her Masters in Health Administration, Rachel returned to Belmont Village Albany in Sales and Marketing, and after gaining an understanding of the revenue generation process, she pivoted to Operations within the Albany community. She is currently the Assistant Executive Director and is in training to become an Executive Director.


Connie Yuen
Executive Director, St. Paul’s Towers Senior Living Community 

Connie Yuen is a graduate from San Francisco State University with her B.S. in Public Health and M.A. in Gerontology. During the summer of 2001 she got her first job, working as a part time server at St. Paul’s Towers, a CCRC retirement community just miles from where she was born and raised. The summer job of waiting tables has brought on a plethora of opportunities within St. Paul’s Towers and the organization. These wonderful opportunities created lifelong lessons and priceless experiences of what aging services in a healthy and dignified environment can be. In 2021 she was promoted to Executive Director at St. Paul’s Towers, this is especially significant to her because she gets to do meaningful work with the residents and staff that means the world to her.

MODERATOR: Cary Sweeney, MS, Director, UC Berkeley Retirement Centercary

Cary holds a Master's of Gerontology from Virginia Commonwealth University and has 20+ years of experience in developing and managing programs in geriatrics and gerontology aimed at improving the well-being of older adults. Prior to joining the Retirement Center in 2014, Cary served at UC San Francisco as Project Director of the Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence, and Program Manager of the NorCal Geriatric Education Center, Division of Geriatrics, School of Medicine.