Stephanie Firestone

Stephanie Firestone joined AARP International in January 2017 as a Senior Strategic Policy Advisor for Health and Age-friendly Communities. In this role she collaborates with international organizations such as the World Health Organization, where she is the liaison between the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities and AARP’s Network of Age-friendly Communities. She also works with WHO colleagues in developing plans for the Decade of Healthy Ageing initiative (2020-2030), including ways that AARP’s experience with Disrupt Aging can inform planning for the Global Campaign to Combat Ageism. Stephanie also collaborates with organizations such as the American Planning Association (APA), the Global Planners Network, and the American Society on Aging (ASA) to advance the art of planning for aging in the U.S. and internationally. Stephanie shares and exchanges good practices with age-friendly colleagues around the world and provides consultation to cities seeking to become more age-friendly, such as The Hague in the Netherlands and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates—the first Arab city in the world to join the global age-friendly network.