Anabel Pelham, Ph.D.
Dr. Anabel Pelham is a nationally recognized gerontologist, educator, researcher, and community leader with decades of experience advancing age-friendly initiatives, professional gerontology, and compassionate communities. She is Past President of the National Association of Professional Gerontologists (NAPG) https://www.napgerontologists.org and the California Council on Gerontology and Geriatrics (CCGG), and previously served as President and Board Member of the Oregon Gerontological Association (OGA) https://www.oregongero.organd the Council on Aging, Central Oregon https://www.councilonaging.org
Dr. Pelham is Emeritus Professor and Founding Director of the Gerontology Program at San Francisco State University. She also serves as Senior Scientist and Founding Director of the Center for Age-Friendly Excellence (CAFE) https://www.cfafe.org, a project of the Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation. Through CAFE, she has provided leadership and technical assistance to cities and communities seeking designation through the AARP/World Health Organization Age-Friendly Communities initiative.
As former Chair of the Senior Commission for the Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, Dr. Pelham led the successful effort that made the two communities the first in California to receive World Health Organization Age-Friendly certification. Since then, she and CAFE have guided numerous cities and organizations in developing age-friendly policies, community engagement strategies, and action plans that support healthy, inclusive aging. In 2026 she received the John W. Gardner Award, Community Impact Recognition.
Her areas of expertise include global aging and gerontology, age-friendly city and community development, community-based health and human services, qualitative research methods, graduate gerontology curriculum development, geriatric care management, lifelong learning, and professional credentialing and accreditation in gerontology. Dr. Pelham also mentors and advises doctoral students internationally.
Dr. Pelham’s current work focuses on advancing age-friendly communities, strengthening the professional identity of gerontology, and promoting compassion as a foundational value in aging services and policy. She is the author of chapters including Creating Compassionate Communities: The Intersection of Resilience, Democracy and Age-Friendliness in Sharing Compassion, and a contributing author to Restorative Conscious Caring: Hunting for Human Nature with Artemis (Rainsford Press, Dublin, Ireland, 2018 and 2023).
Based in Bend, Dr. Pelham continues to apply the principles of gerontology through teaching, consulting, leadership, and advocacy in communities around the world.