CEO, Global Coalition on Aging and Managing Partner, High Lantern Group

Michael W. Hodin, Ph.D. is CEO of the Global Coalition on Aging, Managing Partner at High Lantern Group, and a Fellow at Oxford University’s Harris Manchester College. He has spoken internationally on the topic of aging, including at G20, APEC, Davos, and the World Knowledge Forum (WKF). He is also a blogger on Medium.

From 1976-80, Mike was Legislative Assistant to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. During this period he was also a Visiting Scholar at Brookings Institution, on U.S. Foreign Economic Policy. He was a senior executive at Pfizer, Inc. for 30 years, where he created and then led its International Public Affairs and Public Policy operations and served on Management Boards for a number of its businesses.

Mike is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and from 2010-2013, was Adjunct Senior Fellow with a focus on population aging. In 2013, Mike was invited by then-Committee Chairman Bill Nelson (D-FL) to lead a Members’ Roundtable with the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. Mike was also the recipient of the 2012 Fred D. Thompson Award from the American Federation for Aging Research. He sits on the Boards of the Foreign Policy Association, Business Council for International Understanding, NYC Blood Center, American Skin Association, American Federation for Aging Research and Emigrant Savings Bank, where he is Chairman of its compensation committee. Mike was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Ageing. And he sits on the Advisory Board for the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging.

Mike holds a BA, cum laude, Cornell University, M.Sc.in International Relations from The London School of Economics and Political Science, and M.Phil and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.

Executive Director

Melissa Gong Mitchell is Executive Director of the Global Coalition on Aging, the leading business voice on aging policy and strategy, aimed at reshaping how global leaders approach and prepare for the 21st century’s profound shift in population aging.

GCOA uniquely brings together global corporations across industry sectors to promote good public policy and market-based solutions centered on healthy and active aging. In her role, Melissa is responsible for the operations and management of the Coalition, internal and external communication strategies, and member and stakeholder outreach and development, including fostering relationships and aligning partners across industry, academia, the NGO community, advocacy organizations, governments and global institutions. She is a member of the Professions Working Group that advises the Age-friendly New York City Commission and has previously served as a member of the Benefit Committee of the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Melissa is a Senior Managing Director at High Lantern Group, a strategic consulting firm that helps position organizations, their leaders and their ideas in the public arena. Her 15 years of public affairs experience includes specialties in policy-related and CEO-level strategic communications, advocacy campaigns and coalition building.

Previously, Melissa was Director of Industry Relations and Strategic Outreach at the U.S. Travel Association, responsible for grassroots development and industry initiatives, having driven multiple campaigns leading to positive legislative outcomes. Prior to U.S. Travel, she served as Executive Director of the Travel Business Roundtable, a CEO-based advocacy organization, and an associate at Prime Policy Group (formerly BKSH & Associates), a Washington-based government affairs firm. Melissa holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a BA in Journalism and Psychology from the University of Mississippi.

Head of Health Programs

Susan Wile Schwarz leads the health programming at the Global Coalition on Aging and a Senior Director at High Lantern Group, a strategic consulting firm that helps position organizations, their leaders, and their ideas in the public arena. Prior to her current roles, Susan was Director of Communications for GCOA for many years and spent nearly 15 years as a healthcare analyst and communications strategist. She established the communications practice and advised on research design for a global health economics think tank, advisory group, and implementation partner to governments and the private sector. She also worked as a policy and research analyst at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. As an independent consultant, Susan advised nonprofit organizations and mission-driven businesses on management, research, communications, partnership opportunities, and growth strategies. She has a Master’s of Public Health from Emory University and a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University.

President, Europe

Mario Ottiglio is the President for Europe of the Global Coalition on Aging and leads the Geneva, Switzerland office of High Lantern Group. He brings over a decade of leadership at global health organizations – spanning the public and private sectors to meet the public affairs needs of clients across Europe and Asia. Mario focuses on the global reputation strategies of firms, trade associations and international institutions, especially in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life sciences sectors. He holds experience in managing trade associations and building consensus among diverse interests for creative public affairs solutions. In addition, he has extensive knowledge of the United Nations system.

Previously, Mario served as the Director of Public Affairs, Communications & Global Health Policy at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA). In this role, he acted as a spokesperson for the global R&D biopharmaceutical industry, promoting active, cross-sector dialogue with key stakeholders. Mario was often involved with high profile media and authored several thought pieces. Prior to that, he worked in public institutions and private firms across a range of issues. An Italian national, he holds a MA in Political Sciences and International Relations. Mario speaks English, French and Italian.

Communications Director

Head of Advocacy Initiatives

Michiel Peters leads the advocacy initiatives at the Global Coalition on Aging and is a Senior Director at High Latner Group, a strategic consulting firm that helps position organizations, their leaders, and their ideas in the public arena.

He is an expert communications professional and strategist with over a decade of experience in the public and private sectors. Michiel worked on local, state, and national campaigns before serving as a senior press officer in the Dutch Parliament. After eight years of working in the public sector, he transferred to the private sector to build up the corporate and public affairs functions for a large family-owned multinational in the agricultural industry.

At GCOA, Michiel leads advocacy initiatives on various topics, from bone health to biopharmaceutical innovation. Additionally, he helps GCOA members with strategic positioning on issues related to our changing demography and its impact on our communities, from healthy aging to financial longevity and our changing workforce.

Former Director, Ageing and Life Course, World Health Organization

John Beard led the World Health Organization’s work on ageing and life course for ten years, from 2009. He now works as a change agent with academia, policymakers, and the private sector to make the world a better place in which to live and age. He has a number of ongoing formal appointments including as Chief Advisor to EIT Health (the European Institute for Innovation and Technology); a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement and Longevity; visiting academic positions at universities in China and Australia; and a number of private sector initiatives related to population aging.  Prior to commencing with WHO, he was Senior Epidemiologist at the New York Academy of Medicine, a clinical professor at the University of Sydney, and manager of Public Health for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Chairman of the Board, East Office of Finnish Industries, and Former Prime Minister of Finland

 Esko Aho is Executive Chairman of the Board of the East Office of Finnish Industries, a non-profit company of 25 leading Finnish corporations. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of Cinia Oy and Adven Group. In May 2016, he was elected to the Supervisory Board of Sberbank, Russia´s biggest bank.

Mr. Aho was a Member of the Finnish Parliament for 20 years, from 1983 to 2003. He chaired the Centre Party from 1990 to 2002 and was elected Prime Minister in 1991 at the age of 36, making him the youngest PM in Finland’s history. Under his leadership, Finland joined the European Union. 

After his political career, Mr. Aho served as President of the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra and then moved on to Nokia Corporation as Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations and Responsibility. Up to the present he has been a Consultative Partner at Nokia. 

Currently, Mr. Aho serves as elected member of the Executive Board at the International Chamber of Commerce. He is an invited member of Club de Madrid, an independent organization of former heads of state and government dedicated to strengthening democracy. 

Throughout his career, Mr. Aho has been active in the world of academia. He has been a Resident Fellow and later Senior Fellow at Harvard University. He is a visiting lecturer at Beijing University and a member of the Industrial Advisory Board at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). He is Executive in Residence at Aalto University, where he works at the Department of Management Studies at the School of Business. He is a visiting lecturer at PSIA, Paris School of International Affairs. He also is a member of the International Advisory Board, NTU Institute of Science and Technology for Humanity, Nanyang Technologia University, Singapore. Mr. Aho holds honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Vaasa, Finland, and the University of Alberta, Canada. 

Trinity Brain Health and ADAPT Centre, Trinity College Dublin

Sabina Brennan, psychologist, filmmaker and science communicator has made a substantial impact in raising awareness of the importance of brain health and dementia risk reduction, both nationally and internationally. Her projects aim to increase the societal impact of research by translating complex scientific content and research findings into easy-to-understand practical information.

Her work has been covered extensively in the media. She is a regular contributor on TV and radio and receives frequent invitations to speak nationally on topics related to aging.

Dr. Brennan also serves on numerous government, advocacy and advisory committees including the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, SAGE (advocacy for older adults) the HSE for dementia awareness, Department of Health for Healthy and Positive Ageing). At Trinity College Dublin, she is a member of the Equality Committee and chairs the Age Friendly Trinity Working Group. She has been engaged as a consultant to advise the Irish government on how best to support vulnerable older Irish emigrants to promote brain health, support active aging and address social isolation.

Science Foundation Ireland presented Sabina with their inaugural award for Outstanding Contribution to STEM Communication. She was a finalist in the US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards for research with socially isolated older adults.  She also received an Innovation award from the Provost of Trinity College Dublin in recognition of the social impact of her work.

Founder and Director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab

Executive Director, Institutional Retirement Income Council

Kevin Crain is a recognized expert in retirement research and insights, until recently leading Retirement Research & Insights for Bank of America and serving as chair of the NYC Age-Friendly Commission. Mr. Crain has dedicated his career to supporting financial wellness, including expanding access to retirement savings, helping to ensure that employees are better prepared for retirement, and expanding benefits that help employees balance careers with their lives. Over his career, he has led large service organizations, managed direct client contact and sales, and delivered thought leadership and public policy insights to both the industry and the marketplace.

Mr. Crain is passionate advancing retirement, financial wellness, benefits and longevity priorities through his continued work with companies, policymakers, thought leaders, industry associations, and media outlets.

Healthy Ageing 50 Recipient

Jisella Dolan is a global leader in aging, caregiving, and longevity with more than twenty years experience scaling home care, aging in place, workforce, healthcare, and the legal field. She has been recognized for her vision and expertise by many organizations, including receiving the United Nations and World Health Organization’s “Healthy Ageing 50 Award” as one of the top fifty leaders transforming aging around the globe. She was also selected by The Holding Co. and Pivotal Ventures for The Care Guild, which honors twenty-five influential leaders who are reimagining care in America.

For sixteen years, Ms. Dolan led Home Instead + Honor Technology to be the world’s largest provider of home care services that empower people to age in place, with more than 1,200 locations around the globe, more than $2.5B in annual revenue, and more than 100 million hours of care delivered yearly. Home Instead + Honor revolutionized care for older adults through the unique marriage of high-tech and high-touch.

She served on Home Instead’s Executive Team and led the Advocacy division, which advocates for aging adults and their families, ensures a quality care experience globally, transforms healthcare delivery, and shapes aging and home care policy around the world. She also led Honor’s social purpose work.

During her career, Ms. Dolan has advanced movements nationally and globally to reimagine care, aging, family caregiving, workforce, and women’s leadership. Through this work, she has served in a number of leadership roles, including as Strategy Officer for the World Economic Forum; Board of Directors for Home Care Association of America; and member of the federal RAISE Act Family Caregiving Advisory Council, the Women’s Leadership Council for Women Against Alzheimer’s, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community, G100 Next Gen, and Chief. She was recently selected to join the prestigious Global Coalition on Aging’s Advisory Council to advance innovative solutions and policy change to empower aging and caregiving. Before joining Home Instead, she was partner at a global law firm.

Today Ms. Dolan is a passionate advocate in building a better future for family caregivers, older adults, women leaders, and workforce. She provides consulting and advisory services to a variety of organizations who are advancing solutions to make the world a better place for all. The challenges family caregivers face hit home for Jisella, as she is a mom to her daughter, while providing caregiving support to her late father, her late stepfather who suffered from dementia, and now her mother.

Vice President, Remnin University China

Prof. Du Peng received his post-doctoral degree at the Duke University Population Research Institute, and was a visiting scholar at the Center for Aging Studies at Flinders University, Australia, and Fulbright Fellow at the Davis School of Gerontology and Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at University of Southern California in the U.S. Prof. Du served as Chair of Asia and Oceania Region, International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics from 2009 to 2013, Vice President of China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, member of the Expert Committee of Ministry of Civil Affairs, and President of Beijing Society of Gerontology.

Prof. Du has been teaching at Renmin University of China since July 1992. He was Deputy Director of Department of Population at the School of Sociology and Population Studies, Director of the Research Office, and Director of the Organization Department. He became Vice President of RUC in July 2017.

He has taught courses on Aging Population, Economics of Aging and Population Generality. He has also published and edited many books, including Study on the Aging Process of Chinese Population, Aging Issues and Policies in EU, Retrospect and Prospect: Studies on Chinese Elderly Care, Chinese Population in the New Century: Analysis on the 5th National Demographic Census, Study on Chinese Rural Disabled People and Social Security, and Translation Collection of Contemporary Gerontology.

Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute

Nicholas Eberstadt holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington DC, and is Senior Adviser to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) in Seattle, WA. He is a noted commentator and researcher in the areas of demographics, foreign aid, poverty, economic development and development policy, infant mortality and health disparities in the United States, and health and mortality (including HIV/AIDS) in foreign nations. With special expertise on Korea, East Asia, and Russia and other former Soviet republics, Dr. Eberstadt regularly consults for governmental and international organizations, and he has frequently offered expert testimony before Congress. He has served, inter alia, on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the US National Center for Health Statistics and the President’s Council on Bioethics. His most recent books are Men Without Work: America’s Invisible Crisis (2016) and Population, Poverty, Policy: Essential Essays from Nicholas Eberstadt, Volume I (2018). Mr. Eberstadt earned his AB, MPA and Ph.D. from Harvard and his M.Sc. from the London School of Economics. In 2012 he was awarded the prestigious Bradley Prize.

Former Member, UK House of Lords, and President, International Longevity Centre - UK

Until her death in 2022, Baroness Sally Greengross was a crossbench (independent) member of the House of Lords since 2000 and Co-Chairs four All-Party Parliamentary Groups: Dementia, Corporate Social Responsibility, Continence Care and Ageing and Older People. She was the Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Choice at the End of Life, and was Treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Equalities.  Sally was also Chair of the cross-party Intergenerational Fairness Forum.

Sally was Chief Executive of the International Longevity Centre – UK; was Co-President of the ILC Global Alliance from 2010-17 and later their Special Ambassador; and was a Commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission from 2006-12.

Baroness Greengross was Director General of Age Concern England from 1987 until 2000. Until 2000, she was joint Chair of the Age Concern Institute of Gerontology at Kings College London, and Secretary General of Eurolink Age. She was an Ambassador for Alzheimer’s Society, SilverLine and HelpAge International.

Baroness Greengross is a Member of several advisory boards including Home Instead’s Global Strategy Council; Fujitsu’s Responsible Business Board; and BlackRock Retirement Institute’s Advisory Council.

She was President of the Pensions Policy Institute and the Association of Retirement Housing Managers; Honorary Vice President of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, a Vice President of the Local Government Association and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries.

Sally was Patron of several organizations, including the Association of Retirement Community Operators; Care & Repair England; the National Network of Clinical Ethics Committees; the Ransackers Association; the Association for Ageing & Education; and Age UK Westminster. Sally held honorary doctorates from nine UK universities.

Her work on aging has been recognized by the UN Committee on Ageing and she received an outstanding achievement award from the British Society of Gerontology as well a British Geriatric Society Medal. Sally was UK Woman of Europe in 1990 and has been an Ambassador for the Prince of Wales supporting responsible business practice.

CEO, Board Member, Health and Global Policy Institute; Consultant, Project HOPE

Ryoji Noritake is the CEO, Board Member of Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI), a Tokyo-based independent and non-profit health policy think tank established in 2004. He also serves as a pro-bono consultant for Project HOPE, a US-based medical humanitarian aid organization. Through HOPE and HGPI, he has led health system strengthening projects in the Asia-Pacific region and engaged in US Navy’s medical humanitarian projects. His focus is a multi-sectoral approach for health issues such as public-private partnerships and civil-military coordination. Mr. Noritake was a Working Group Member for the World Health Organization’s “Expert Consultation on Impact Assessment as a tool for Multisectoral Action on Health” in 2012. He is a graduate of Keio University’s Faculty of Policy Management, holds a MSc in Medical Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is currently a Visiting Scholar at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, a member of Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Policy Discussion Roundtable for Super Ageing Society.

Advisor, Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society, and Dean, Perdana University School of Occupational Therapy

Professor Nathan Vytialingam is an occupational therapist who has been in practice for the last 42 years. He graduated from the British College of Occupational Therapists in 1976 and pursued his post-graduate studies in Australia, obtaining his post-graduate Diploma in Health Sciences in 1983 and Master’s in Applied Science (Health) in 1984 under a Kellogg Fellowship.  He has worked in London, Singapore, Australia, and Malaysia in areas of rehabilitation specializing in Physical Rehabilitation. His area of interest is in age care especially in the areas on healthy aging.

He was instrumental in organizing 1st World Congress on Healthy Ageing in 2012, which has led to other countries organizing global conferences on healthy aging. The World Congress on Healthy Ageing is held once every three years, globally. He was instrumental in organising the 1^stASEAN Conference on Healthy Ageing in Sarawak, Malaysia in 2017, which now will be held biannually in the region.

Currently, he is one of the advisors for Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society (MHAS) and Dean of the Perdana University School of Occupational Therapy (PUScOT). He was awarded an Honorary Fellowshipby the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) in Cape Town, South Africa in 2018. The Honorary Fellowship is regarded by WFOT as the highest functioning award for outstanding contributions and distinguished service to the profession of occupational therapy at a local and international level and he is the first to receive the award in the region.

Founder and CEO, Pinetree Care Group

In 2004, Ninie Wang founded Pinetree, focusing on business model innovation, professional service and talent development in providing home healthcare services for the aging population. She has published various papers on the long-term care service model, has participated in the drafting of various senior care industry standards and policy papers, and was a co-researcher of the continuous healthcare model together with top academic and medical institutions in China as well as internationally. She is Council Member of the China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, China Social Welfare Service Standard Committee Member as well as Member of Presidium for National Union of Long-term Care, and was elected as Standing Director of China Association for Life Care in 2011.

In 2013, she was elected Deputy Director of Elderly Health Service and Long-term Care Association, China Geriatric Care Research Center. In January 2014, she became National Senior Service Industry Advisory Committee Member. Most recently, she joined the Expert Team of WHO-China Biennial Collaborative Projects 2016-2017, Research Project on the Current Situation of Integration of Health Care with Social Services for Older People and Strategies for Promotion. Ms. Wang is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. In 2014 she was awarded “Excellent Young Scholar” by China Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics. She is also a Fellow of the China Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.