Capturing the Silver Wellness Market

Esther Greenhouse, CEO of Silver to Gold Strategic Consulting, is a strategist and environmental gerontologist bringing a unique constellation of experience and expertise in design, gerontology, environmental psychology, and planning to help organizations and communities excel at meeting the needs of the 50+ population to enable them to thrive. Her unique Enabling Design Approach is a pillar for AARP International’s Equity by Design initiative and informed the design of the nation’s first elder-focused ER at the request of Dr. Bill Thomas. 

Ms. Greenhouse co-authored the American Planning Association’s Aging in Community Policy Guide, is an industry scholar for the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, and served as the Strategic Director for one of the nation’s first Age-Friendly Centers for Excellence. In addition, the International Well Building Institute has appointed her to their newly formed Investing for Health Advisory. 

For 10 years, Ms. Greenhouse was the primary caregiver for her mother, and her Enabling Design Approach empowered her mother to extend her physical and financial independence, reducing demands on family and professional caregivers and resulting in savings of over $500,000. This is the basis of Silver to Gold’s Caregiving by Design Initiative: to help municipalities and senior care providers address the caregiving crisis and enable greater independence and well-being among the seniors they serve.

Heather Kolakowski is a lecturer in food and beverage management at Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration and Associate Director of the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures. She teaches several food and beverage courses, including “Restaurant Management” and “Nonprofit Social Enterprise and Food Justice.” Ms. Kolakowski is also the faculty advisor for Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC), the student-run hospitality showcase conference that allows students the opportunity to put theory into practice each spring while taking on leadership responsibilities. She is the recipient of the 2017 Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship for her dedication to service learning.

Nancy Griffin is the CEO of Glowing Older, a coaching firm for adult children and their aging loved ones focused on creating personal life plans. She is founder of SeniorTrade, a B2B platform for the business of aging well, and #ExposeAgeism, a movement to combat ageism in the beauty and wellness industries.

After finishing her Master’s in Hospitality Management at Cornell University in 1994, during which she researched the burgeoning spa industry, Ms. Griffin launched the consulting firm The Wellness Resource. She subsequently launched SpaTrade, an online community, and SpaExec, a regional buyer event, which she sold to Questex in 2008. After serving as Executive Director of Content for the Beauty and Wellness Group, in 2011 Ms. Griffin launched Contento Marketing, which provides marketing and communications support to wellness-based businesses.

Ms. Griffin hosts and produces the “Glowing Older” podcast, which has featured more than 150 aging experts on senior living, aging in place, ageism, and age tech. She is also an industry scholar with the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures.