Diagnosed with Younger On Set Alzheimer’s disease when she was 46, Kris Bakowski now 57, has become a strong advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association.  She not only speaks to community groups on a regular basis but she also talks with healthcare providers and those in the gerontology field.

Kris works closely with the National Office of the Alzheimer’s Association as well as the state office. She has been involved with the national office as part of a fourteen member of an Early Stage Advisory Group. Her work with this group involved being a national spokesperson for the Alzheimer’s Association and to offer advice and suggestions on programming and to assist with public policy advocacy work. She has focused on workplace issues that affect those with Early On-Set Alzheimer’s, as well as working with the Association to get the speed up the process of receiving Social Security benefits for those suffering with Alzheimer’s.

Kris has also been working with the Alzheimer’s Association signature fund raising event, The Memory Walk (now known as Walk to End Alzheimer’s) for the last nine years.

Kris has been married to her husband Ralph for 33years and they have a 29 year old son. He and his wife reside in Atlanta Georgia where he practices law. There is no history of Alzheimer’s in Kris’ family.  She is originally from Peoria, Illinois but has lived in Athens Georgia for 31 years.

In Athens, Kris worked in sales at The Holiday Inn, was Marketing/Promotions Director of the Athens Downtown Development Authority, and most recently she was the Marketing Director and Theatre Director for the Classic Center Convention Center in Athens.  Due to her Alzheimer’s disease she was forced to retire in 2004.

She keeps a blog of her life with Alzheimer’s at www.creatingmemories.blogspot.com