Our board

Sarah Harper is the Clore Professor of Gerontology at the University of Oxford, and Director of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing.  A long time research collaborator with HelpAge, Sarah’s research focuses on population change, and she has worked extensively in Asia on this topic. She is particularly interested in the interaction of societal and individual ageing, and the interaction of populations with their  environment.

Sarah was appointed a CBE for services to Demography in 2018 and served on the UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the Royal Anthropological Institute and has published widely. 

Robin Talbert is a consultant for non-profit organisations, focusing on governance and strategic planning.

She was formerly the President of the American Association of Retired Persons Foundation (AARP), a non-profit organisation for people age 50+ and one of the largest and most influential organisations in the USA. She also served in a variety of leadership roles at AARP.

A former legal services attorney serving low-income clients, Robin was also a volunteer mediator with the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She has served on a variety of boards focused on equity for women, consumer rights, and other topics. She writes essays, poetry, and book reviews.

Helen Mealins is an institutional development practitioner with over 20 years’ experience of working with politicians, government officials, civil society practitioners and private sector executives in a variety of leadership and consultancy roles, to advance social change in Africa, Asia and Europe.

She is currently Chief Executive at INTRAC, a UK based charity that builds the skills and knowledge of civil society to be more effective in addressing poverty and inequality.

Previously, she worked in Uganda heading the Democratic Governance Facility, and before that at DFID as Deputy Head of Finance and Strategy and Head of Office for Southern Africa.

Ferdous Ara Begum is a gender and ageing issues specialist and former member of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

In her previous career as a civil servant in Bangladesh, she was the first woman Director-General of Bangladesh Television and the first female Commissioner of Taxes. She served as a board member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Grameen Bank.

In 32 years of continuous public service, she has been active in educating and creating public awareness on the importance of women’s rights and financial independence. She is CEO of the Active Ageing and Research Centre in Dhaka, and is active in the International Institute on Ageing and the Satellite Centre for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Countries.

Sandra Aponte holds a number of posts which reflect her commitment to the wellbeing of older people.

She is the CEO of NTD Ingredientes based in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Amongst her various roles, she is also the Chairperson of INIA’s (International Institute on Ageing UN-Malta) Satellite Centre for Central America and the Caribbean, President of CABIMEX-RD, Vice President of the Advisory Council of World Vision in the Dominican Republic, Vice President of the Board of the Dominican-Mexican Chamber of Commerce and Investment, and serves in the Sustainability Committee of American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AMCHAMDR).

In 2010, Sandra established the NTD Foundation (a HelpAge network member) to raise awareness of the needs of older people in the Dominican Republic.

Graham Bennett has had a diverse global career working to address poverty, injustice and marginalisation; and promote community and caring.

He has held senior roles for Amnesty International and One World Action, the international development agency. More recently, he has worked as a consultant and evaluator for agencies such as Action Aid, CAFOD, Sightsavers, Sense, Womankind, and Plan, and with rights holders such as disabled people, children, women survivors of sexual violence, and communities affected by large-scale natural disasters.

Mika Marumoto is a business executive and certified nonprofit advisor. Currently based in Washington DC, her work focuses on business strategy, policy and governance as it impacts sustainability and healthy ageing. She is a Director on the board of the Hiroshima-based Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Company which is committed to implementing its roadmap to become carbon-neutral. She serves as chair of HelpAge International’s global impact committee.

Previously, Dr. Marumoto worked as an economic development and strategy consultant for a number of organisations including the AFPPD, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, the World Bank Group – International Finance Corporation, and McKinsey and Company.

Cecilia Mbaka is currently Head of the National Social Protection Secretariat in Kenya’s State Department of Social Protection. She previously served as Head of the Division of Social Welfare and Older Persons and as founding Director of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities.

Ms Mbaka has more than 25 years’ experience providing strategic leadership and engagement of civil society and research stakeholders to advance policy development and strengthen service delivery to vulnerable persons. In recognition of her achievements in advancing the rights of the poor and vulnerable, including older people, she was in December, 2017 awarded the Order of Grand Warrior (OGW) by the President of Kenya.

Abla Sibai is professor and chair of Epidemiology and Population Health at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and the co-founder of the University for Seniors program at the University. She has published more than 150 scientific papers and book chapters.

She is co-founder and Director of the Center for Studies on Aging in Lebanon, which has led the way in putting ageing on the policy agenda in Lebanon and the Middle East, and is member of several national and international advisory boards on aging and health.

Dr. Alexandre Sidorenko is an expert on national and international policy on ageing who advises governments across Europe and Central Asia on developing and implementing policy, organising and conducting training programmes.

Previously, he served as the Chief of the Population Unit, UN Economic Commission for Europe, and over two decades as Head of the United Nations Programme on Ageing, during which he coordinated the UN International Year of Older Persons 1999, and the Second World Assembly on Ageing, including drafting the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and global follow-up activities.

Vappu Taipale is a Professor in child and adolescent psychiatry, who served as Finland’s minister of health and minister of social affairs. Vappu is Chair of the Union for Senior Services in Finland, and active in the field of ageing, especially ‘gerontechnology’.

She previously led a national research institution on health and social policy, and has chaired various international research bodies, including the United Nations University (UNU) Council. As an NGO activist, Vappu is a founding member of Physicians for Social Responsibility in Finland and was co-president of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

Victoria Márquez-Mees, a Mexican economist, resides in London, and is currently serving as the first Chief Accountability Officer of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development .

Previously, amongst other roles, she worked at the Inter-American Development Bank Group in Washington, D.C, as Director of the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI) covering the LAC region.

With over 30 years of professional experience, Ms. Márquez-Mees has dedicated a significant part of her career to international cooperation and the institutional strengthening of civil society organizations in the areas of health and the environment.

She recently became a member of the International Women Forum, Mexico Chapter.

Based in China, Ninie is the general manager of the integrated care division at Wuxi Medical and Health Group and the founder of Pinetree Care Group, where she has been pioneering integrated care for older people since 2004. Her leadership extends globally, serving as a consultant to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on age-related disease prevention. As principal investigator, she leads the China pilot of WHO’s ‘integrated care for older people (ICOPE). Her contributions have earned her recognition as one of the United Nations’ Healthy Ageing 50 in 2022.

Ninie holds a Doctorate in public health and a master’s in health sciences from Johns Hopkins University – Tsinghua University, an MBA from INSEAD, and a bachelor’s in economics from University of International Business and Economics (UIBE). With a deep commitment to research, practice, and policy in healthy ageing, she brings a wealth of knowledge to HelpAge’s mission of ensuring that older people live with dignity and respect worldwide.

Based in the USA, Peter is currently the President and CEO of Next50, where he brings more than 20 years of experience leading mission-driven organisations.  

Prior to joining Next50 in 2023, Peter served as the CEO of the American Society on Aging, where he guided the organisation through the challenges of the pandemic and launched ASA Rise, a social justice and leadership academy for emerging leaders of colour. His leadership also includes working in economic development at JPMorgan Chase & Co., and he served as an economic policy advisor to President Barack Obama. 

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Tufts University, Peter’s career also includes time as CEO of the South Florida Institute on Aging, where he spearheaded innovative programmes for older people. With his expertise in ageing and economic policy, Peter is a valuable addition to HelpAge’s Board of Trustees, and we look forward to his contributions to advancing our mission.