 Dr. Mary Furlong |
An Interview with Dr. Mary Furlong, President and CEO, Mary Furlong and Associates By Rory McCann, Marketing Manager & Conference Producer, LSN |
With our inaugural Longevity, Health & Innovation conference fast approaching, I spoke to Dr. Mary Furlong, President and CEO of Mary Furlong and Associates, our partner for LHI. MFA is widely considered a leader in the longevity and aging marketplace, largely due to Mary’s experience in the space.
Listen below to find out more about how Mary got started, where she thinks the industry is going and the importance of events such as LHI in moving technologies and solutions forward.
Mary Furlong, Ed.D, MFA’s president and CEO, is a leading authority on the longevity marketplace. She has guided the business development and marketing strategies of leading corporations, emerging companies, and nonprofit organizations for more than 30 years.
Her list of clients/sponsors includes AARP, Caring.com, CareLinx, First Republic Bank, GreatCall Inc., Link•age, PetPlan, and UnitedHealthcare (UHC). Mary founded MFA in 2003 to help socially- and consumer-conscious companies understand the real needs of this growing market.
In addition, Mary is the Dean’s Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.
Before launching MFA, Mary founded the nonprofit organization SeniorNet in 1986 and ThirdAge Media in 1996. Throughout the course of her work for both organizations, she raised $130 million in venture capital funds, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants.
During Mary’s tenure, SeniorNet served more than 500,000 adults age 50 and older. Much of her time was spent in the field at the organization’s learning centers, observing the applications that worked and the issues related to the technology. ThirdAge Media reached more than 2 million members – most age 45 and older – when Mary served as its CEO and visionary leader of the editorial team.
Mary has appeared on CBS, PBS, NPR, and NBC’s Today show to discuss trends in aging and technology, and her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Fortune, People, and Fast Company, among other publications.
In 2001, Fortune Small Business named Mary one of its “Top 25 Women Entrepreneurs,” and Time-honored her in 1999 as one of its “Digital 50.” She also served as a White House Commissioner on Libraries and Information Science during the Clinton administration, and she has conducted hearings on aging and technology for the U.S. Senate. She was named one of the 100 most influential women in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and has been a recipient of the ASA Leadership Award. Mary is an advisory member of the Ziegler Link•age Longevity Fund, L.P.
Mary is the author of Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace, which was published in February 2007 by Financial Times Press. She also co-authored the book Grown-Up’s Guide to Computing, published by Microsoft Press in 1999.
Annette Bakker, the Children’s Tumor Foundation’s President, holds a PhD in cell biology from the University of Antwerp. Her past experience includes serving as Oncology Group Leader at Janssen Pharmaceutica, and postdoctoral fellowships at Yale University and La Salpetriere, Paris. Before joining the Children’s Tumor Foundation, Dr. Bakker served as head of the Oncology R&D department for a biotech company in Siena, Tuscany. While there, she designed and created a neuro-oncology department from the ground up, and managed large oncology research initiatives both nationally (Italian networks) and internationally (European and Asian networks). Dr. Bakker’s research has been internationally recognized by more than 30 peer-reviewed papers, patents, and awards, and she has extensive experience liaising and negotiating with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. In her role at the Children’s Tumor Foundation, Annette and her team will continue to build a strong NF community, design and execute innovative business models to accelerate the path from basic discovery to clinical benefit for NF patients, develop partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech industries, and attract new scientists and funders to the NF field. Annette is originally from Belgium, and speaks four languages (English, French, Dutch, and Italian). She lives happily in Westchester, NY with her family.
Senior executive with expertise in non-profit management, strategic planning, fundraising, sponsorship, events, volunteer engagement, major gifts and communications. Results-oriented leader with established track record of building collaborative relationships with Board members, volunteer leaders, donors and corporate partners resulting in campaign revenue milestones. Experienced manager with the ability to coach and develop staff in different roles across an organization.
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