Nancy K. Schlossberg, EdD is recognized with an APA Citizen Psychologist Presidential Citation for her sustained leadership as a changemaker in her Sarasota, Florida community, channeling the robust capacities of older adults as significant contributors to community well-being.
In 2005, a local nonprofit community engagement organization, Sarasota County Openly Plans for Excellence (SCOPE), began to look at the demographic uniqueness of Sarasota where nearly 35 percent of the population is over the age of 65. Schlossberg, a SCOPE board member, engaged in a six-year community initiative called “Aging, The Possibilities,” which involved more than one thousand residents. Schlossberg rose to a leadership role on the organizing committee and she conceived of and guided the creation of an annual “Winter Forum on Aging” that continues to this day.
Through Schlossberg’s leadership, SCOPE committed its resources to exploring the creation of an international center. She helped Sarasota County realize that it was decades ahead of the global aging curve and could lead the way in transforming the multiple sectors impacted by this shift. Schlossberg was a member of the committee that guided a sophisticated feasibility study conducted by Research Triangle International. She also was a key force behind raising more than $2 million of philanthropic, governmental, corporate and individual support to start the Institute for the Ages. Shortly after the Institute was founded, she became its board chair.
Schlossberg has been an influential contributor to the Friendship Centers. In 2017, she was awarded both the Visionary and Disrupting Aging awards in honor of her contributions. Aviva, a Sarasota campus for senior living, has designated her as one of the Eight over 80 community residents who have made significant contributions to Sarasota. In addition, APA has published her last three books on aging in their APA LifeTools imprint that specializes in self-help books designed to make psychological science available to the mass market.