Janine Vanderburg, Denver CO – Leadership Council chair
Lead Trainer, Changing the Narrative Colorado
An encore champion and longtime community activist, Janine Vanderburg is in her encore career leading Changing the Narrative in Colorado, a campaign started in 2018 to change the way people think, talk and act about aging and ageism. In this role, she has:
- Launched media and social media campaigns about the value of older people
- Created a photo contest to counter visual ageism, soliciting photos of people age 50+ at work, volunteering and in entrepreneurial endeavors
- Advocated for age-friendly public policies and stronger anti-discrimination laws
- Trained over 4,000 people across the country in research-based messaging by the FrameWorks Institute to counter negative stereotypes of older people and to advocate adoption of age-friendly policies.
In 2019, Janine created the Age-Friendly Workplace Initiative, to “reframe” older workers to businesses and to make businesses more aware of the benefits of intergenerational workplaces, and On the Same Page, a campaign to encourage intergenerational conversations about ageism. In 2020, Janine partnered with the local PBS station to produce and broadcast of series of intergenerational conversations about current and important topics, including the role of the arts in advancing social justice, digital divides during COVID-19, health equity and ageism.
Committed to leveraging the talents of people of all ages to benefit community, she is a co-founder of the Colorado Encore Network, a four-year member and incoming chair of the Encore Network Leadership Council, and CEO of Encore Roadmap, which provides inspiration and tools for capitalizing on the strengths of older adults and workshops on consulting as an encore career.
Janine served two terms on the Denver Commission on Aging, where she facilitated a strategic planning process to help Denver become an age-friendly community and initiated the Commission’s social media presence to challenge the stereotype that older adults are digitally incompetent. In 2018, she earned the Mayor’s Diversity and Inclusion award in 2018 for her advocacy for older adults.
Previously, Janine led Joining Vision and Action, a social sector consulting firm that she founded. A lawyer, social entrepreneur and community organizer, what drives Janine is the belief that human potential and strengths should not be lost, and that everyone should have an opportunity to contribute.
Her favorite saying: “We are the leaders we are looking for.”
Contact Janine here.