Founder
Barbara Rose Brooker—is a native San Francisco author, activist for human justice, performer and teacher. She has an MA in creative writing, and a BA in painting. She has published fiction with Morrow and other presses. A journalist, she wrote God Doesnt Make Trash, a memoir about AIDS and Homophobia. Also she wrote Suddenly Sixty, a column for the SF Marina Times and other papers. Currently, she writes Suddenly 70 for The Huffington Post, and for the SF JWeekly. She teaches writing seminars to adults over forty at SFSU/OLLI-and at private seminars! Her newest novel, The Viagra Diaries, is about love, sex, and aging after sixty. HBO has bought the rights for a television series.
She has performed her first one-woman show, The Viagra Diaries, monologues from The Viagra Diaries at the Commonwealth Club of California on October 19, 2009, and is booked to perform again on November 23, 2010. She works with Wayne Harris, a performer and director at the SF MARSH THEATER. Her show was filmed by KGO HD and has aired several times and by request is going to air again.
She has completed the sequel to The Viagra Diaries and is working on a screenplay. She also has a radio blog-The Boomer Hottie show, that concentrates on all issues of aging.
Brooker hopes that the Age March will go global. The first age march in history was in San Francisco, in AUG/2010. The next Age March will be in Los Angeles, 2011, Washington and in New York . She hopes that eventually this movement will be in every city in the country. “Age is not about a number. It is about living life to the fullest, asking new questions and always forming new goals,” Brooker says. “We must get rid of ageism, age segregation, and promote age pride.”
Read the j. article about the Age March.
Marketing Director
Tara Cortez-Cayton was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a BA in Mass Communications from Santa Clara University (SCU) and a Masters in Integral Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco.
Tara has over 15 years experience in Marketing, Promotions, Advertising, Broadcast Media and Technology. She has worked as Account Executive at KNTV (NBC, formerly ABC affiliate) in San Jose where she excelled at bringing in New Advertisers for the station. Over her career she has had the opportunity to work in all facets of the marketing world from TV, Digital, Radio, Agency to major Corporate Marketing. She worked at DG Systems in San Francisco when they were on the cutting edge of digital & satellite delivery of Radio & Television spots. She was a Senior Account Executive at Initiative Media’s Promotion House, one of the largest media planning and buying agencies in the world. At Promotion House Tara created and negotiated for large promotional campaigns with Broadcast, Print, Outdoor and Web. She has produced large scale events as the Director of Marketing at KBLX Radio “The Quiet Storm” in San Francisco and as Regional Marketing Director at Carl’s Jr., Carl Karcher Enterprises she managed and developed strategic partnerships and promotions for the Northern CA and Reno, NV territory.
During her career, Tara also pursued another passion she had for helping people. She received her Masters in Integral Psychology and spent time working as a therapist at the Integral Counseling center in San Francisco, CA.
Tara joined Age March after meeting Barbara Rose Brooker because she was truly inspired by Barbara’s vision. Tara felt that it was important that we as a society stop being afraid of growing older. That we stop feeling as though our life is over before it really is. She wants people to realize that aging affects each and every one of us! There is no way around it! She believes that Age March and Barbara have given her an opportunity to encourage us to embrace life, rediscover themselves, support and inspire one another, so that, as we move forward in life, we look with excitement rather than fear.
Wendy Goldman, Los Angeles Executive Director
Wendy Goldman has spent twenty years as a Los Angeles-based consultant, specializing in solving complex intergenerational employment disputes. She launched GeroBiz in 1995 to help business leaders communicate with their multi-generational employees in age-neutral ways, with sensitivity to cultural differences. Goldman advocates for policies that consider skills, attitude, and intelligence instead of age. Prior to entering the benefits field, she worked in entertainment and corporate Public Relations in Los Angeles.
Ms. Goldman earned a BA Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MBA/MS Gerontology from the University of Southern California. In 2010, the West Hollywood City Council named her to a second term on the Women’s Advisory Board. www.gerobiz.com
Advisors
Nader Shabahangi, PhD, President & CEO, AgeSong Senior Communities
Nader received his Doctorate from Stanford University, is a licensed psychotherapist, and is cofounder of AgeSong. His multicultural background has fueled his passion for becoming an advocate for marginalized groups and for creating programs with the purpose of caring more comprehensively for elders. As CEO, Nader ensures that the company’s vision drives its decisions and plans for elder care services. In 1992, Nader also founded the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit organization that defines its mission as one of helping elders live meaningful lives. Nader is a frequent guest lecturer, including presenting at international conferences focusing on aging, counseling, and dementia. In 2003 he authored Faces of Aging, a book challenging stereotypical views of the aging process and of growing old. In 2008 he co-authored Deeper Into the Soul, a book aimed at de-stigmatizing and broadening our understanding of dementia. In 2009 he co-authored Conversations With Ed, a book challenging readers to look at dementia in different ways.
