Los Angeles Jewish Home CEO-President Elected as Next Chair of Leading Age California

Jun 20, 2018

(RESEDA, CA – June 20, 2018) Molly Forrest, Chief Executive Officer-President of the Los Angeles Jewish Home, has been selected as chair-elect of LeadingAge California, the state's top advocacy group for nonprofit senior living and care. Her two-year term begins July 1, 2018.

Forrest is the first leader of a Jewish home to hold this position, helming an association representing nearly 600 members statewide who together serve more than 100,000 California seniors. LeadingAge's critical work assists the state's older adults with the full continuum of care including issues related to affordable housing, continuing care retirement communities, assisted living, home- and community-based care, and skilled nursing.

"For more than half a century, LeadingAge has demonstrated an unflagging commitment to raising awareness about seniors' needs and putting them front and center on the state and national policy agenda," Forrest says. "I look forward to carrying that tradition forward as we seek to make a difference for California's rapidly expanding senior population."

That expansion – an expected 87 percent increase in California's senior population by 2030 – is resulting in unprecedented growth in the market for services. In the next two years alone (through 2020), LeadingAge projects an 80 percent increase in the demand for aging-related healthcare. "This is a challenge facing all Californians of every age," Forrest says. "Our system for providing senior care is inefficient and fragmented, and everyone pays for that. LeadingAge is playing an instrumental role in helping us think through how we as a society can finance the care our seniors deserve."

Vision and experience were vital factors in Forrest's recent elevation. "Molly's leadership on the LeadingAge board and at the Los Angeles Jewish Home propelled her to this position," says Jeannee Parker Martin, LeadingAge's President and CEO. "We are thrilled by her election."

Forrest has served on the LeadingAge board since 2009, most recently as vice chair. At the Jewish Home, she has spent over 22 years overseeing incredible growth and revitalization. The Home serves more than 4,000 seniors annually on campuses in the San Fernando Valley and on L.A.'s Westside, providing award-winning independent and assisted living, specialized memory care, short-term rehabilitative care, hospice care, and groundbreaking community-based services. To build the organization's capacity, Forrest has generated a remarkable groundswell of donor support: The Home – one of the leading senior healthcare systems in America – is on its way to completing an ambitious $265 million campaign to provide quality senior care for future generations.

A graduate of Oregon State University, Forrest is a nationally prominent advocate for equity and excellence in senior care. She frequently advises high-level figures across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors and is an in-demand guest speaker on geriatric issues for leading healthcare, eldercare, and nonprofit organizations in California and across the country. In addition, Forrest is active in a variety of community organizations, serving as past chair of the Association of Jewish Aging Services (AJAS), the California State University Northridge (CSUN) Professional Health Care Administration Committee, on the CAL-PACE Board of Directors, and on the LeadingAge CA Strategic Planning Committee. She is a recipient of the Jewish Communal Professionals of Southern California Allan J. Kassin Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement, San Fernando Valley Business Journal Health Care Leadership Award, Jewish Free Loan Association Ben & Anne Werber Communal Service Award, and an Honorary Doctorate from American Jewish University, among many others.

LeadingAge California has represented nonprofit senior living and service providers since 1961. Whether testifying at public hearings, building coalitions, visiting member communities, or engaging with elected officials, the organization actively works to create systemic change through advocacy that strengthens members' viability and supports innovations in the delivery of aging services.

Prev Page Next Page

Share

Sign up for the Los Angeles Jewish Health newsletter, Connections.

First Name

Last Name

Email

Latest News

Feb 12

3rd Annual LAJH Classic & Exotic Car Show

Major Changes in the Tax Law This Year: What It Means for You, Your Taxes, and Your Legacy

Los Angeles Jewish Health Pays Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Reflects on His Powerful Legacy

A shared focus on the pursuit of justice made the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his contemporaries in the American Jewish community natural allies. This past January, Los Angeles Jewish Health honored their historic collaboration with a special Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event that brought together a diverse audience to celebrate Dr. King and help carry his legacy forward.Overseen by Rabbi Karen Bender, LAJH’s chief mission officer, the gathering featured timeless music blending Jewish songs and themes with gospel sounds rooted in the African American tradition. The program was led by Hazan Mike Stein, who served as cantor of Temple Aliyah—now HaMakom—in West Hills for more than two decades and included contributions from Cantor Jenni Asher, HaMakom’s current cantor; Broadway actress Deborah Sharpe-Taylor; singer Fumani Thomas-Schwartz; pianist David Cohen; and numerous others.“Our goal was to present a fusion of music and ideas about the melding of the two cultures, Jewish and African American,” Stein says. “We sang a song I wrote with Deborah called ‘Shalom, Shalom’; ‘Wade in the Water,’ a traditional African American spiritual that was combined with ‘Mi Chamocha’; ‘We Shall Overcome’; and ‘When the Rain Comes Down,’ which speaks to the universal struggles we all go through, no matter our faith or background. Rabbi Bender also offered a beautiful d’var Torah.”The group performs music which blends songs and themes with gospel sounds rooted in the African American tradition. Rabbi Bender’s words of wisdom helped ground the emotionally uplifting musical tribute, emphasizing how the values of Dr. King align completely with Jewish values.“Our resident community at LAJH intuits the profundity of a message that relates to the principles of justice, equality, and loving-kindness,” she said.A highlight of the event was Sharpe-Taylor’s performance as Harriet Tubman. She offered a first-person portrayal of the iconoclastic activist and brought to life her role in the Underground Railroad.“The residents loved Deborah’s reenactment. She tried to embody Harriet, talking about her life, missing her husband, and bringing people to freedom,” Asher says. “When she was finished, Rabbi Bender got up and said, ‘I almost feel as if I met Harriet Tubman today!’”During the program, Asher, the first Black female cantor to be ordained in the United States, offered insights into her own experience as a Jew of color.“It’s amazing to be visible: I have people come up to me all the time to say they’ve never seen a Black or even a female cantor,” she says. “But Jews and Judaism have moved so far in terms of diversity, and I think it’s impactful for seniors to witness this evolution for themselves. The residents of Los Angeles Jewish Health were so warm and happy to see me, which was wonderful.”Also on hand for the event were William “Mickey” Stevenson and his wife, Michelle. Mickey, a legendary producer at Motown Records and one of the principal architects of the “Motown Sound,” talked about the outstanding partnership at the label between Black artists and its executives, some of whom were Jewish.Cantor Stein says the program was particularly resonant for many of the LAJH residents in the audience.“A lot of the seniors remember the ‘60s and were politically active, some of them playing important roles in advancing civil rights in their local communities,” he says. “In fact, my wife, Kelley, an LAJH resident, was actually at the “I Have a Dream” speech march! When Rabbi Bender talked about how Black and Jewish people are connected by traditions that encompass both being slaves and being free, you could see people nodding along. It’s a powerful link that gives us all common ground to stand up for what’s right.”Cantor Jenni Asher Deborah Sharpe-Taylor as Harriet TubmanWilliam “Mickey” Stevenson