Our People
The people guiding The Learning Team and the It's Your Time initiative.
Executive Director
Tom Laster has extensive experience in educational leadership, organizational development, and nonprofit management. Throughout his career, he has worked to strengthen educational programs, partnerships, and community-based initiatives that improve learning opportunities and outcomes.
Board Member · Chief Gerontologist, It's Your Time
James Firman, Ed.D. is a nationally recognized leader in aging, wellbeing, and social innovation with more than 40 years of experience developing programs, services, and public policies that have improved the lives of millions of older adults.
From 1995 to 2020, Jim served as President and CEO of the National Council on Aging (NCOA), where he led national initiatives to improve the health, independence, and economic security of older adults. During his tenure, NCOA expanded its impact significantly through programs, public policy leadership, and innovations in areas including Medicare, benefits access, falls prevention, healthy aging, long-term care, and evidence-based health promotion.
A serial innovator, Jim helped create several nationally recognized initiatives, including BenefitsCheckUp®, an online tool that has connected millions of low-income older adults to billions of dollars in benefits, and the Aging Mastery Program®, which helped pioneer new approaches to longevity education and healthy aging.
Jim also served as Founder and CEO of the United Seniors Health Cooperative, where his advocacy and research contributed to major reforms in the Medigap and long-term care insurance markets, and as a Senior Program Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Most recently, Jim was Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of BetterAge, a social enterprise focused on helping older adults improve health and wellbeing through personalized guidance, data-driven insights, and connections to community resources.
At The Learning Team, Jim serves as Chief Gerontologist for It's Your Time, an initiative focused on democratizing longevity education and helping people and communities navigate longer lives through lifelong learning, wellbeing education, innovation, and community engagement.
Director of Partnership Development
Brian brings to The Learning Team broad experience in public education, nonprofit education reform, educational publishing, and business development. His current interests include adult education initiatives that help seniors build the skills, confidence, and practical knowledge needed to age well, including the ability to use current technologies safely and effectively.
Brian has held leadership roles in New York City public schools focused on school redesign, public school choice, the development of small theme schools, and implementation support. He also served as Vice President for Development at the Modern Red Schoolhouse Institute, supporting national reform efforts and customized solutions for schools and districts. His publishing experience includes roles with Pearson Digital Learning and It's About Time. Brian holds an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a B.B.A. from Iona College. He is the proud father of three and grandfather of four.