Ashton Applewhite
Journalist, Author, and Activist against Ageism (USA)
Ashton Applewhite
Ashton is an expert and leading international voice for a movement to mobilise against discrimination on the basis of age, and her manifesto against ageism, This Chair Rocks, Ashton is a leading voice of the emerging anti-ageism movement.
She is calling time on ageism with its damaging myths and stereotypes that cripple the way our brains and bodies function and portray a diverse cohort of citizens (‘the elderly’) as burdens to society.
Ashton has spoken publicly at venues that have ranged from universities and community centres to the TED mainstage and the United Nations. Her 2017 TED Talk, ‘Let’s end ageism’ has been viewed more than 1.4m times. She has written for Harper’s, the Guardian, and the New York Times, and is the voice of Yo, Is This Ageist? She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
In 2022, she was recognized by the UN as one of the Healthy Ageing 50: Leaders transforming the world to be a better place to grow older.