A dynamic panel of experts will discuss marketplace needs, wants and opportunities for entrepreneurs in the Longevity Economy, defined as those who are age 50-plus.. In the United States alone, the Longevity Economy is a $7.6 trillion industry, represents 46% of the GDP, earns 65% of the nation’s wages and salaries, comprises 69% of the workforce, controls 80% of the country’s aggregate wealth and pays $760 billion per year in state and local taxes. It is a growing marketplace that is vastly underserved by entrepreneurs. The discussion will also address Colorado’s supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurs interested in pursuing opportunities in the Longevity Economy.

Moderator, Jody Holtzman

Panelists:

Wendi Burkhard
Margaret Franckhauser
Dave Harris
Unity Stoakes

Bios:

Jody Holtzman, Senior Vice President, Market Innovation, AARP

Jody Holtzman has over twenty-five years of experience helping companies develop and implement competitive strategies and achieve their strategic market goals.  At AARP, he created and leads the Market Innovation group, where he has brought a non-traditional perspective to the field of aging shaped by a 20-year career in strategy, innovation, and organizational change.

As head of Market Innovation at AARP, Jody’s focus is to find ways for AARP to spark innovation in the market that benefits people over 50. In this role, he envisioned and developed the concept of the $7.6 billion Longevity Economy; created and built the Health Innovation@50+ LivePitch franchise through which 27 finalists raised over $175 million in venture investment; and, he co- founded and launched the Longevity Network, www.longevitynetwork.org, with United Healthcare. Prior to creating the Market Innovation initiative, Jody led AARP’s Research and Strategic Analysis department, and created AARP’s first competitive intelligence group.

Before joining AARP, Jody was in senior leadership roles in several strategy-consulting firms,including Pricewaterhouse Coopers, FutureBrand, and Strategy Dynamics Group. Jody is a frequent speaker on the opportunities and challenges presented by the demographic wave. His writings have been published in Venture Capital Review, the Journal of Business Strategy, Competitive Intelligence Magazine, The Competitive Intelligence Anthology, American Banker, and Making Cents Out of Knowledge Management. His work has been recognized in the Financial Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, Forbes, New York Times, PBS News Hour, CNBC, NPR Marketplace, Marketwatch, VentureBeat, MedCity News, Information Week, Xconomy, and other media. He has a graduate degree in international political economy from the University of Chicago and was raised on rock n roll.

WENDI BURKHARDT
CEO and Co-Founder, Silvernest

As CEO of Silvernest, Wendi is responsible for driving the company’s overall direction and strategic growth, as well as overseeing day-to- day operations. She boasts more than 25 years of technology experience working with venture startups, emerging technology companies, rapid-growth tech firms and Fortune 500 corporations. Her history also includes working with Home Instead, a $1B in-home, senior care corporation as a key client. She is a seasoned entrepreneur, as well as a mentor and coach to social ventures. Wendi holds a degree in International Trade & Finance from Louisiana State
University, and has completed an executive education program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Margaret Franckhauser, RN, MS, MPH
CEO, NextFifty Initiative

Margaret Franckhauser is the Chief Executive Officer of NextFifty Initiative, a new Colorado-based grant making foundation dedicated to improving the lives of aging adults.

Margaret is a nurse by background with extensive experience in public health practice and health administration. She has earned Masters degrees in both clinical health care and public health policy and has worked as a clinician and administrator in urban and rural settings across five states. With a deep interest in aging adults, Margaret has served on the boards of community and state organizations and has conducted community needs assessments in a wide variety of settings.

In the 1990s, Margaret was invited to join the board of two grant-making foundations and eventually served as chair of the largest healthcare foundation in the state of New Hampshire. Following her interests in philanthropy and aging, Margaret recently relocated to Colorado where she has been appointed the first Chief Executive Officer of Next50 Initiative, a new Colorado-based grant making foundation with a focus aging and disability. The organization strives to identify and support innovative models that improve the lives and engagement of the aging population. Margaret believes that philanthropy can be a forceful engine of change.

Dave Harris, Director of Operations for Rockies Venture Club (RVC), and a Managing Partner with Rockies Venture Fund (RVF), a new venture fund focused on Colorado based start-ups.

RVC is the longest running angel investor group in the US and is a non-profit organization centered on furthering economic development in Colorado by connecting investors and entrepreneurs through conferences (Angel Capital Summit, Colorado Capital Conference, and more), networking events, educational offerings and facilitation of Colorado’s largest angel investor groups.

Prior to joining RVC, Dave was a part of 2 start-ups and worked with several dozen as a collaborative start-up consultant specializing in capital strategy and fund raising, business development, and marketing. He also has 7+ years experience in international finance and project management at Thomson Reuters and Lipper, covering the financial markets for Latin America, Europe, and Canada.

Dave is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and he enjoys climbing 14ers, backpacking, mtn biking, and cooking; often all simultaneously, while still answering RVC emails.

Unity Stoakes, president and co-founder, StartUp Health

Unity Stoakes is on a mission to reinvent health and wellness by leveraging the power of networked entrepreneurs, innovation, technology, data, design, collaboration and community. Unity is the co-founder and president of StartUp Health, which is organizing and supporting a global army of Health Transformers.

Unity has been a technology entrepreneur since the mid-nineties, previously co-founding OrganizedWisdom and helping build The Privacy Council, Middleberg Interactive and Webstakes.com/Promotions.com, which he helped take public on NASDAQ with his business partner of 20 years, Steven Krein.

Unity is a contributing writer for Forbes, been a guest on Bloomberg TV, CNBC and USA Today and spoken at global health tech events in the US, Brazil, Canada, England, Holland, Italy and Spain. He is also the host of StartUp Health NOW, a weekly web show on the entrepreneurs and changemakers reimagining health.

Unity is a founding member of the Society of Participatory Medicine and on the AARP Innovation @50+ Advisory Board, the SXSW Accelerator Advisory Board and Care Innovations Advisory Board. He received his BA in Communications and Political Science from Boston University. Unity resides in Brooklyn, New York. Follow him on Twitter @unitystoakes.