James L. Brooks is a Director for AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. Brooks focuses nationwide on making communities even better places to live for people 50 and older and their families. In 2022, he and his team in AARP’s Office of Community Engagement received AARP’s Maureen McKoy Award for Excellence in Service.
Before coming to AARP in 2010, Brooks served as founding Executive Director of Project Compassion, a non-profit organization that creates community and provides support for people living with serious illness, caregiving, end of life, and grief. Previously, he was a clinical manager for Big Bend Hospice.
Brooks holds an undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University and a Master of Divinity degree. He is the author of The Unbroken Circle: A Toolkit for Congregations around Illness, End of Life and Grief and other publications. In addition to the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation, he serves on the Board of Directors of Encore Creativity in Washington, DC and Neighbors Network of Lee County. His past Advisory Boards include StoryCorps, The Duke Institute for Care at the End of Life, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
