OPENAGE - Key Persons
Alan Johnson was born in North Kensington, rising to become Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. He is now a best-selling, award-winning author.
Ann has lived and/or worked in the W10 area for over 45 years.
She spent most of her working life in the charitable legal advice sector. She qualified as a solicitor in 1985, specialising in housing, homelessness and domestic violence. Between 1993 and 2002, she was Director of North Kensington Law Centre. She then became Policy Director at the Advice Services Alliance, the umbrella body for the independent advice sector in the UK.
Ann retired in 2016 and came across Open Age when looking for a local Pilates class. Since then, through Open Age, she has been developing a new interest in drawing and art. She has no doubt that Open Age helped her (and many others) get through the Covid lockdowns.
Colin first became aware of Open Age when his wife joined and encouraged him to do the same, when he became of age. He was co-opted as a Trustee in May 2022 and is currently attending the Spanish for Absolute Beginners class.
His last role was as a Chief Operating Officer at Barclays for its Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility function. During his tenure, he was accountable for reputation risk governance across Barclays, and governance and controls, cost management, business change and supplier management for the function.
Prior to Barclays, Colin held positions at Cable & Wireless, JP Morgan and Total Oil Marine, covering a number of disciplines including product management, programme management, corporate strategy, investor relations, and management accounting.
Cynthia Bullock leads the innovation activities across the UK Government's £98 million Healthy Ageing Challenge supporting the development and delivery of products and services that will allow people to remain active, productive, independent and socially connected across generations for as long as possible.
Cynthia has a background in health research, innovation and commercialisation having trained initially as a Biochemist and Molecular Biologist and then obtained an MBA at Imperial College London. Previously, she led the delivery of Health and Life science programmes at Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency representing over £400 million of investment across therapeutics, MedTech, diagnostics and digital health technologies.
Eric is an established innovation professional with a background in large corporations as well as transformational new startups in technology and healthcare. Eric currently volunteers as the UK Ambassador to Aging2.0, a global network focused on improving the quality of life for older people. He also works part-time with Longevity International, the Secretariat for the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Longevity. Eric is involved with a variety of innovation projects that focus on overcoming traditional barriers to healthy ageing in the UK and abroad.
Previously, Eric helped to launch the UK Government's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund - Healthy Ageing as the Interim Director. He was responsible for scoping the challenge and facilitating collaborations with industry, Government, 3rd sector and academia to unlock opportunities deriving from the UK and global demographic shift. The Healthy Ageing Challenge Fund is a £98 million fund to invest in innovations enabling people to live better for longer.
Eric studied Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and has an MBA from New York University. He is a Freeman of the City of London at the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. He speaks French, completed the Paris, Berlin and New York marathons and is now an avid swimmer.
Hilary first came across Open Age when she signed up for art and dance classes. She became a Trustee in March 2018.
In her previous life Hilary was a London based correspondent for ABC news before joining CNN where she became Senior European Anchor. In 1999 she set up Bowker Media + Communications to help organisations develop their media strategy and make their events interactive and engaging. Hilary moderated and designed high-level conferences and seminars for both the public and private sectors. Among others, she worked with the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the International Youth Foundation, and the Financial Times.
Iain is from Glasgow. He has a degree in Chemistry and started his career in the world of investment banking, working for Goldman Sachs in New York before moving to London. He began his charity career as one of only twelve members of staff at the then fledgling Teach First, before transitioning into a fundraising position at Age Concern England and eventually heading up the national Corporate Partnerships team at Age UK. Iain is motivated by the deeply held belief that everyone should be afforded the same opportunities in life, regardless of their background or personal circumstances. With several senior positions subsequent to his work at Age UK, Iain now has over 15 years' experience working for charitable organisations and is excited to be CEO of a charity that is focused on promoting positive aging.
Job Titles:
- Vice - Chair
- Trustee of Open Age
Maggy had a 37-year Civil Service career in the Ministry of Justice and its forerunners. She retired in 2011, her last post being Joint Chief Executive of the Judicial Studies Board. Maggy was a pioneer of flexible working, including job-sharing for 23 years and is a Vice Patron of Working Families. She is also a barrister and Governing Bencher of Middle Temple Inn of Court and was appointed an Independent Member of the Public Service Honours Committee in 2019.
In retirement, Maggy discovered a passion for dancing which led her to join Open Age's dance (and other) classes in 2013 and, more recently, become a member and Trustee of Sage Dance Company.
Maggy tweets regularly and her account, Age Joyfully @AgeingBetter has - to her amazement - accumulated thousands of followers. This inspired her to write a small book ‘How to Age Joyfully' which will be published in July 2019, with some of its sale proceeds going to Open Age.
Maggy became a Trustee of Open Age in 2015 and Vice Chair in 2017. She has seen, first hand, how Open Age positively transforms older people's lives. Maggy feels privileged and proud to help such an inspirational and unique charity and hopes Open Age will continue to flourish and grow.
Malti was born in Kenya and brought up in London. She has been here in the UK for ever. She heard about Open Age through a friend and joined the organisation just before the start of Covid. She says 'It has been great fun to have access to a variety of Open Age activities and indeed it has been a very positive experience.'
Currently she helps with the small family business and also teaches on a freelance basis. She has had some experience of being on governing bodies, so is mindful of the strategic function of Open Age Board of Trustees.
At the later stage of her mother's life she took care of her. This gave her a refreshing insight into the challenges and opportunities of growing old whilst simultaneously gaining a better understanding of the diversity of needs of her mother and her friends. She says 'Of course for all of us life and work experience teaches and sometimes forces us to reflect on the changing needs of different generations as we journey through life.'
Marcia Blakenham was born, and still lives, in North London. She was one of the founding trustees of Maggies Centres, a charity which was set up in Edinburgh 1996 to give people with cancer, and those who care for them, an inspirational place to turn to for help with living with a cancer diagnosis. She worked with Maggies for twenty years, where she helped expand the organization to 22 centres on sites across the United Kingdom.
Marcia wants older people to have a similar model of care available to them, based on helping people to help themselves, and believes that Open Age is the organization which can deliver it.
Sally Greengross, Baroness Greengross
Sally Greengross, Baroness Greengross, OBE is a British politician. Her appointments include Chair of the Advisory Groups for the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the New Dynamics of Ageing. She is Chief Executive of the International Longevity Centre - UK, President of the Pensions Policy Institute and Honorary Vice President of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health. She was Director General of Age Concern England from 1987 until 2000. Also until 2000, she was joint Chair of the Age Concern Institute of Gerontology at King's College London, and Secretary General of Eurolink Age.
Sandra has had a varied career in fashion, medicine, finance, property, organising conferences, catering, and interior design. She has also spent 36 years in the voluntary sector. Her interests include fitness, theatre, arts, music, food, wine and travel.