Adult Advisory Council
Meet the Members
Ann Bookman, PhD
Ann Bookman is a national authority on work and family issues. She is currently executive director of the MIT Workplace Center based at the Sloan School of Management, which works to redesign workplaces to facilitate the performance of firms and the wellbeing of employees, their families and communities.
Ann has held a variety of teaching, research and administrative positions at Boston-area colleges and universities and has worked in government, as a presidential appointee of the Clinton administration, and has served on two Massachusetts gubernatorial commissions studying the development of parental leave policy, and a statewide task force on childcare quality and funding. She served as policy and research director of the Women's Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor from 1993-96. As executive director of a bipartisan Commission on Family and Medical Leave, she was the principal author of a report to Congress, A Workable Balance, detailing the impact of the Family and Medical Leave Act on employers and employees. The author of numerous publications in the areas of women's work, family issues, unionization and child and family policy, Ann's new book, Starting in Our Own Backyards: How Working Families Can Build Community and Survive the New Economy, is based on five years of research with employers and employees in the Massachusetts biotech industry.
Ann's son was diagnosed at age 18 with acute myelogenous leukemia. He was treated at Dana-Farber with intensive chemotherapy, but upon relapse of the disease, he underwent a successful bone marrow transplant. Now, three and half years post-transplant, Ann is an ardent advocate for young adult patients and their families. In her work with Dr. Karen Albritton to develop the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Program, Ann is passionate about supporting young adults and families to go beyond survivorship and enjoy all the beautiful things life after cancer has to offer. She also works on the Family Caregiver Support Program. Ann and her son never take one day of continued remission for granted and are grateful-truly beyond any words-for the incredible care at Dana-Farber.
