San Francisco Village Appoints Gerontologist and Community Leader Christabel Cheung as Executive Director

San Francisco – May 4, 2010 – San Francisco Village, an innovative nonprofit membership organization that empowers adults to live in their homes as they age, announced today the appointment of Christabel Cheung as executive director.

“Christabel’s experience in the field of gerontology, combined with her enthusiastic community involvement and leadership, will be instrumental in catalyzing the success of San Francisco Village as it grows from start-up to an established organization,” said Gayle Geary, president of the San Francisco Village Board of Directors.

A Chinese-American immigrant raised in the Midwest, Ms. Cheung is committed to promoting positive social change through healthy, intergenerational and culturally-responsive communities. Her dedication and passion make her an excellent choice to lead the organization in realizing its mission to increase the physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual well-being of adults to remain independent, active and engaged in the San Francisco community.

“I’m eager to meet the challenges ahead of me as the new executive director at San Francisco Village,” Cheung said. “This organization makes our community a good place to live, and thrive throughout life – not a place that people need to leave as older adults. Planning for aging is simply good planning for everyone.”

Most recently, Ms. Cheung was associate director at the Mental Health Association of San Francisco, a nonprofit organization aimed at improving mental health through education and advocacy. Prior to this, Ms. Cheung served as director of diversity at the American Society on Aging. Ms. Cheung’s earlier associations include Self-Help for the Elderly, San Francisco’s Department of Aging and Adult Services and San Francisco General Hospital.

She currently serves on the board of directors of San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center and Wicahpi Koyaka Tiospaye (“Wears the Star” in Lakota), an organization dedicated to cultural preservation and health promotion of American Indians. Earlier, she served on the board of Rebuilding Together San Francisco and the San Francisco Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.

Ms. Cheung is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley where she earned a Master of Social Welfare in Gerontology. She earned a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Ms. Cheung is a resident of San Francisco.

About San Francisco Village

The San Francisco Village (SFV) is an innovative nonprofit community-based membership organization that empowers adults to live in their homes as they age. Its mission is to increase the physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual well being of adults so they can remain independent, active and engaged in the San Francisco community. Inspired by a group of San Francisco visionaries, and empowered by the generosity of its founders and donors, San Francisco Village launched in January 2009. It is one of more than 200 villages that are in various stages of development across the United States. For more information about SFV, visit www.sfvillage.org.