Mary Furlong, Ed.D., serves as president and CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA), and is recognized as a leading expert on longevity and the AgeTech market. She has more than 30 years of experience guiding the business development and marketing strategies of prominent corporations, startups, and nonprofit organizations.
Her list of clients/sponsors includes AARP, Ageless Innovation, CABHI Ventures, Posit Science, TCARE, The SCAN Foundation, GoGo Grandparent, GetSetUp, Groove Health, Social Discovery Group, PainChek, ForesightCares, SolidHealth.ai, Alita, JubileeTV, 4Youngevity, The Smarter Service, and Ziegler Link•age.
Mary founded MFA in 2003 to help socially- and consumer-conscious companies understand the real needs of this growing market. Mary has secured more than $300 million in venture financing and corporate sponsorships for companies with products and services to serve the needs of older adults.
At the helm of MFA, Mary launched the What’s Next brand of events, including the What’s Next Longevity Business Summit, the What’s Next Longevity Venture Summit, the What’s Next Longevity Innovation Summit, the What’s Next Academy, and two podcasts, “What’s Next Living Longer, Better, Smarter” and “What’s Next Longevity Deal Talk,” with veteran broadcast journalist Fred Fishkin. MFA publishes a monthly newsletter, the “MFA Longevity Market Report.”
In 2001, Fortune Small Business named Mary one of its “Top 25 Women Entrepreneurs,” and in 1999, Time Magazine honored her as one of its “Digital 50.” She also served as a White House Commissioner on Libraries and Information Science during the Clinton administration, and she has conducted hearings on aging and technology for the U.S. Senate. Next Avenue named Mary one of its “2016 Influencers in Aging.” She is also a past winner of the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “Top 100 Women of Influence” award and has received the American Society on Aging Leadership Award. She was named the first recipient of the Aging2.0 Lifetime Achievement Award, part of the annual OPTIMIZE Awards program. In 2026, Mary was named one of the Inspiring Women of San Francisco by the San Francisco Examiner and Nob Hill Gazette.
Before launching MFA, Mary founded the nonprofit organizations SeniorNet in 1986 and ThirdAge Media in 1996. Throughout her work for both organizations, she raised $130 million in venture capital, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants.
During Mary’s tenure, SeniorNet served more than 500,000 adults aged 50 and older. Much of her time was spent in the field at the organization’s learning centers, observing which applications worked and the technology-related issues. ThirdAge Media reached more than two million members, most of whom were aged 45 and older, when Mary served as its CEO and led its editorial team.
Mary has appeared on CBS, PBS, NPR, and NBC’s Today show to discuss trends in aging and technology, and her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Fortune, People, Newsweek, and Fast Company, among other publications.
Mary is the author of “Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace” and, with Stefan B. Lipson, the “Grown-ups’ Guide to Computing,” published by Microsoft.
Mary is an advisory member of the Ziegler Link•age Longevity Fund, L.P., the Thrive Center and the Centre for Aging & Brain Health Innovation, and she serves on the Thrive board.
Mary is also the Dean’s Executive Professor of Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.