August 17, 2022

As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eleonora Tornatore-Mikesh.

Eleonora Tornatore-Mikesh, President and CEO of CaringKind, New York City’s leading expert on Alzheimer’s and dementia caregiving, has been named on the City & State New York’s 2022 Health Care Power 100, for the second year in a row.

City & State New York’s Health Care Power 100 highlights the public health officials, hospital executives, labor leaders, activists and other influential figures that have shaped New York’s response to the pandemic — and other pressing health care matters — over the past year.

Eleonora was featured on the power list for her dedication to “helping support both people suffering from dementia and their caregivers.”

“I am honored to be included on the Health Care Power 100 list with healthcare advocates and leaders who I am inspired by,” said Eleonora. “Thank you, City & State New York for recognizing the continued work our team at CaringKind has accomplished. We are dedicated and passionate about providing support, tools and training to families affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia.”

“Eleonora has made an incredible mark in a short amount of time because she thoroughly understands the space,” said CaringKind’s Co-Chair Betsy Billard. “Her incredible compassion, extensive experience, and innovative ways to expand CaringKind’s programs, make her a successful captain, providing the best services for our clients.”

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Iwas hired during covid and needed to dive into social media and my son challenged me to get over 10K followers since everything shifted to a virtual world. I am the first to accept a challenge but had no idea how hard social influencers have it. It is not easy to come up with innovative content and connect with your customers or colleagues in which they call followers. Also, I learned you could lose by the minute thousands of followers if you do not know what your doing.. Clearly, I am still student in this space learning from the younger generation, but I am working my way to 15K followers; never stop trying, learning, and recreating yourself.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? Sometimes my willingness to want to help others get’s the best of me. One lesson learned recently is wanted to promote staff that I see as talented and capable of promotions and greater responsibility; but what I have learned is go back to basics and make sure you communicate with staff and meet them where they are and where they want to go. If staff like what they are doing and want to remain in their current role that’s a good thing…. Listen to your staff.

Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?

More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s Disease. By 2025, the number is projected to rise to 13 million. We have not turned the corner of reducing stigma. We are working with” young ambassadors” who have Alzheimer’s in their family or have early-stage Alzheimer’s support a social platform to help “reduce stigma.” These young people and PWD are going outside the norm to share personal stories instead of hiding behind the diagnosis but embracing their symptoms and educating their peers to help those who are newly diagnosed.

Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?

A former client of a support group at CaringKind decided he wanted to give back to our organization and signed up to run the NYC marathon at 88 years old. Not only is it a great act of kindness to raise funds for us, but also it shows that at any age and with many life challenges, in this case his wife recently died of Alzheimer’s Disease and turned pain into passion…..

Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

Community needs to come together as one to raise the voice of the people living with this disease. Although, we know of 6 million people there are so many living in silence not getting diagnosed. Raise awareness and reduce stigma is something community can act on. Society can reduce the stigma that Alzheimer’s Disease is an old person disease. It is not…it affects people of all ages some as young as 40s…and politicians can help advocate for more fund to go to research to end this disease as it will bankrupt the country if we do not take charge of the situation today.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

I am asked this question a lot and in the 26 years of being a CEO I define leadership by surrounding yourself with the best individuals that can help you get the task at hand accomplished. Knowing your own strengths and weakness is one of the strongest attributes a CEO can have.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

Talk Less, Listen more, talk less, listen more, talk less listen more! When there is silence in your presence there is always a problem that can escalate if not properly addressed. Welcome feedback and listen to your team…

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Empower people who are living with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease and have not had a formal diagnosis because of shame. We want to say to the world of those living with memory impairments, fear, and loneliness that you can turn to support networks like Caringkind and find your voice…no one deserves to be on a disease journey alone.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Difficult road often lead to beautiful destinations. The best is yet to come~amazing

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

MacKenzie Scott just to say thank you for showing the world that “giving” is a beautiful act of kindness and she has changed the course of many nonprofits with her philanthropy as an act of kindness and goodwill.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Go to Caringkindnyc.org and follow me on Instagram eleonoratornatore

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!