Network Liaisons
Kathryn Braun
ACAP (Active Aging Consortium Asia-Pacific)
Dr. Jože Gričar
Active Ageing Networks (Central European)
Professor Emeritus of the University of Maribor and Program Coordinator of Inter-Municipality Initiative: Cross-border eCollaboration in the eRegion, an initiative in Slovenia since 2011. He is the editor of the eRegion Portal and the contact person of the Active Aging Networks. He is a member of the Central-European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives (CESCI), Budapest, Hungary. Jože received Ph.D. degree in business & information systems from the University of Ljubljana in 1984. He is the founder and conference chair (1988-2008) of the Bled eConference considered to be the world’s longest-running conference on “e”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bled_eConference.
Tom Holloway
World U3A
After 25 years with IBM, Tom retired as Consultant Systems Engineer in 1990 and taught website design and setup at the University of Coventry. In 1999 he moved to India where he worked for several charities making fund-raising films and websites. His main energies went into building a community school in an impoverished community of Dalits and landless families. You can read more at his website holloways.org. He is Editor of U3A Signpost, now online, and is is Secretary/General and webmonger of the WorldU3A Online and many other charity websites.
Jeff Rubin
Wisdom of Age
Author of Wisdom of Age, Jeff is a visionary thinker, activist, and advocate for civic engagement and community change. Jeff’s passion for inclusion and collaboration began in the 1980’s through his work as a newspaper and marketing professional. During the past 25+ years Jeff has devoted his energies to positive ageing issues. His activities have included serving as the first State Director for the National Council on Aging’s Benefits Check-Up program, and more recently, as a gubernatorial appointee with the Kentucky Institute on Aging, an agency of the Kentucky Department of Aging & Independent Living. In 2018, Jeff helped get passed Kentucky House Resolutions to explore adult substance abuse, and to recognize the importance of becoming an “age-friendly Kentucky.”
Femada Shamam
CommonAge
Chief Executive, The Association for the Aged (TAFTA) (Durban, South Africa) and board member of CommonAge. Femada has been working in the field of care and support to the elderly for 20 years. In 1999, she joined The Association for the Aged (TAFTA) team as a social worker. TAFTA is a Durban-based NPO that caters to the needs of older people. The organization brings food and hope to 7 500 people. She is very active in fostering a network of age-related organizations operating in the 17 African countries belonging to the British Commonwealth.
Betsy Werley
Encore.org
Director of Network Expansion at Encore.org. She has dedicated this phase of her career to building the encore movement and helping older adults realize their potential. She moved to the nonprofit sector in 2005, as the first Executive Director of The Transition Network, leading that organization through a growth phase from one chapter to 12. In her Transition Network role, she was also a founding member of Coming of Age New York City and the Encore Network Steering Committee. Betsy was part of the first Encore Innovation Fellows cohort, and joined Encore.org’s staff in 2014 to continue her work expanding and energizing the Encore Network, as well as developing Encore.org’s global strategy. Betsy spent the first 26 years of her career as a corporate lawyer and a business executive at JPMorgan Chase. She served as a long-time board member and President of the Financial Women’s Association, and in 2002, launched a mentoring program for Baruch College undergraduate women business majors.