Phil Zarlengo

Phil Zarlengo, Ph.D., of Jamestown, Rhode Island, was elected by the AARP Board of Directors to serve as board chair for the 2010-2012 biennium. In that capacity, he chairs the Governance and Compensation Committee and the Compensation Subcommittee He has served as vice chair of the board and chair of the Member Value Social Impact Committee, and he was a member of the CEO Evaluation and Compensation Committee. During the 2006-2008 biennium, he was a member of the Board Membership Committee and the AARP Insurance Trust. He chaired the Board Work Group that designed the Member Value Social Impact Committee to strengthen oversight of member value and social impact throughout AARP.

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Life Perspectives

"I grew up playing the tenor saxophone and that was one of my loves. My brother and I had a little band, actually an orchestra. We played at high school dances, then at college dances. Our theme song was 'Deep Purple.'

"My parents owned some small restaurants in downtown Springfield, Mass., and I had to work there. I should say I volunteered, but I can't say that. It was a family business, so we all worked in the restaurants. They were downtown diners, catering to the working crew in Springfield, the department stores, the police department around the corner. We had a good contingent of policemen and firemen. It was in the middle of an evolving western Massachusetts community with a heterogeneous mix of people. I was a waiter and, tough as it was, getting to know people and work with them became one of my passions. That's carried through my career.

"I was the oldest of four, and my parents encouraged me to go to college. I knew one thing: I didn't want to run a restaurant or work in one. So my parents said, ‘You should be a teacher.' They were pushing steady jobs, secure jobs with a retirement system. They didn't have that, of course.

"I became a teacher, then a school administrator, then a central office administrator. It was at the height of the desegregation days. Everyone at that time thought if you put all the kids together, you would have a better education system, which was a good and noble idea. But you had to convince a lot of people it was the best way to accomplish a better education.

"I helped put together the desegregation plan for Providence, and that actually had very little to do with the schools. It was a community effort. There were excellent schools that were bastions of white kids, and there were other schools that weren't so good. Our job was to put them together in a way that the community would benefit and the students from both races would benefit.

"From this experience, I learned a little bit about fear. Those were scary days when a lot of people didn't agree with what we were doing. I also learned about tolerance of other people's ideas. And I learned a little about perseverance. You've got to stick to your guns and move things forward as you see fit. That was difficult, but we did it.

"The most interesting experience of my life was when I was a social studies teacher. Social studies can be deadly, so my teaching partner and I decided to jazz up the curriculum for the kids. We brought in older speakers from the community — to give a point of view on politics or economics, and also to try to bridge the generation gap. The discussions turned out to be very, very exciting. It's easy for an 11th-grade student to say, 'That town council doesn't know anything about what it's doing. Why are we spending all that money on senior centers?' It was easy for older people to say, ‘The education budget is inflated. We need to close some school.' When you can get them to talk together, you make some progress. The gap between those opinions narrows. And you create respect between the two generations."

Education

Doctor of philosophy, education administration, University of Connecticut; Master of Science, history, Brown University; Bachelor of Arts, social studies, University of Massachusetts; certification, Public Affairs, Tufts University.

Expertise

Education reform, education leadership, health care, older workers, predatory lending, media communication, delivery of expert testimony before state legislatures and Congress

Experience

Currently a national consultant on innovative staff training programs for urban school systems. Formerly, chief executive officer of Brown University's Regional and Islands Educational Research Laboratory, working in 10 states plus territories to develop practices for training educational leaders and evaluating innovative school programs. Director of the Andrew Mellon National Center for Leadership Training at Brown University, pioneering networking strategies for school leaders. Created Principals Leadership Network and Superintendents Leadership Council, which are being replicated nationally as school-based Child and Family Opportunity Zones, calling for families to use neighborhood schools for enrichment, wellness, and cultural and recreational activity.

Volunteer Experience

Boards: Has served as vice chair of AARP's board and chair of the Member Value Social Impact Committee. Member of the CEO Evaluation and Compensation Committee. Member of the Board Membership Committee and the AARP Insurance Trust. Chair of the Board Work Group designing the Member Value Social Impact Committee. Member of the board of trustees, Rhode Island Council on Economic Education.

Other: Represents older Americans’ needs in emergencies as a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Advisory Council. Previously served as AARP Rhode Island state president, initiating program with the Medical School at Brown University to study and disseminate research about boomers, resulting in the Annual Boomers Conference. Member of AARP's 2006 National Leadership Forum Planning Committee and a member of the National Volunteer Engagement Project. Served on the Rhode Island General Assembly legislative Commission on Predatory Lending. Chair of the Scholarship Committee for United Italian Americans. Vice chair of the Governor's Interagency Coordinating Council for Young Children.

Featured speaker for AARP Rhode Island's collaborative initiative with Rhode Island businesses to encourage employers to hire older workers.

Honors

Child and Family Opportunity Zones heralded nationally as a successful approach to help urban youth and their families cope with significant health, economic, education and language problems. Recognized by Rhode Island Rotary Club for contributions to older workers' employment. Also received the following:

National Conference Presenter award from the National Association of Elementary School Principals for work on regional leadership network.

President's Award from the National Education Knowledge Industry Association for promoting research-based models in education.

State Board of Regents, labor mediation award.

Recognition and appreciation award from Bradley Hospital for interdisciplinary work on education and health.

Providence Schools District Advisory Council, Outstanding School Administrative Award.

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