For Iona Harding, the shift from finance to human resources was not simply a career move — it was a turning point that reshaped the way she understood people, leadership, and belonging.”This is what I was meant to do,” Harding said to herself when, in the late 1980s, she began working in human resources and diversity programs at AT&T.

In college, Harding majored in business education and began her professional career teaching at Somerville High School. In the early 1980s she was fortunate enough to land a systems analyst position at AT&T, just as the microprocessor was changing the face of computing and business. After a few years in finance, she shifted careers again, this time into human resources. Her CFO, Al Grorud, sent her to a five-day executive diversity program that changed her life by enabling her to see, for the first time, that she was privileged simply because of the color of her skin. This realization moved her career path away from numbers and toward people. At the same time, the corporate “personnel department” was being transformed into the “human resources department,” reflecting a recognition that people are assets to be valued and that a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do but good for business.

Harding grew up in Mount Holly, New Jersey, a racially and economically diverse community not far from Fort Dix Army Base and McGuire Air Force Base. In the 1960s and 1970s, Fort Dix was one of the few U.S. Army bases that permitted interracial marriages — a policy that contributed to the diversity of her local high school, Rancocas Valley Regional. There it was normal to be alongside people of different ethnicities, cultures, religions, and backgrounds every day, including notable figures such as Franco Harris. Somerville, New Jersey, was a similarly diverse community, but the corporate world was altogether different — very white and very male, particularly in management.

Working in HR at AT&T and Lucent became her life’s work. After twenty-two years in industry, Harding started her own consulting practice, helping nonprofits with HR strategy, policy, recruiting, and development — always with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. She also became an adjunct instructor in the MBA program at Saint Peter’s University and at Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration in Bangkok, Thailand.

Harding is in her sixth year as a board member at the Center for Modern Aging, where she chairs the human resources committee. In this role, she draws on her knowledge and experience to support CEO Drew A. Dyson in developing staff policies and ensuring the well-being of Center staff.

As the Center for Modern Aging Princeton continues to grow, Harding recognizes that mindfulness toward staff remains paramount. “I see nothing but opportunity,” she says. “It is a joy to work with Drew, the leadership team, and the staff at CMAP.”

When Home Becomes Care: Linda Madani on Design, Aging, and Dignity

The seeds of Linda Madani’s interior design career were sown early. Growing up in New Hampshire, Linda’s father was a real estate developer who repurposed spaces, such as old mills, schools and hydro stations into housing, offices and restaurants. Linda accompanied her father to his building projects and even had her own hard hat at the age of ten. She loved construction and learned how to read architectural plans at a very young age. At Simmons College in Boston, Linda majored in business and fine arts. As a college senior she interviewed an interior designer for a class assignment and, in the process, asked if she could intern for her during her winter break. The job “clicked.” After graduating from college, Linda was offered a fulltime position as in interior design assistant. A few years later she went back to school to receive her interior design degree.

Something also clicked when Linda, now the owner of Madani Interiors, took on a renovation assignment at a neurosurgeon’s office. The doctor shared that most of his mature/senior patients had brain injuries from falls, particularly in the bathroom. As a result, Linda realized that a whole demographic was underserved by her field. It became her mission to help those in the third stage of their lives to live more safely, comfortably, and peacefully in their homes.

Linda began by developing ways to make bathrooms safer, such as providing low, amber lighting for nighttime bathroom visits and towel bars that also served as grab bars. As she developed an expertise in safe aging, she understood that the topic needed to be approachable and sensitively handled. She created a website as well as material for presentations. One of the places where she spoke was at the Center for Modern Aging in Princeton.

As Linda’s business grew, it diversified. She has worked with people who wanted to fully renovate their home or their business setting, those who just wanted to “touch up” their home, those who were ready to down-size, and those who were just beginning to think about finding a new way of living and needed help knowing where and how to start. Working in people’s personal spaces, negotiating lifestyle changes with clients, and suggesting ideas required empathy, respectful listening, observing, communicating, and good old-fashioned people skills.

In June 2023, Linda’s father was told he had three days to live. Happily, her father’s prognosis proved incorrect; bringing her design and organizational talents to bear, in just two months’ time Linda relocated her parents from North Carolina to New Jersey, into a safe, welcoming, fully ADA compliant home whose renovation she herself oversaw.

Linda felt it was a gift and an honor to help her parents through their transitional experience, and it only strengthened her resolve to help others maneuver through the aging adventure. She advises those with whom she works that being proactive and preventative about their living environment as they age provides more control over and enjoyment of ones’ home life. She helps people realize what they value most and helps them create a safe, peaceful home environment that enables them to thrive and grow. That might involve purging things they don’t need, organizing and refreshing various living spaces, or finding a new home with fewer maintenance and upkeep demands. Lucky for those who work with Linda, her empathy, energy, and insight help make change happen.

The Center for Modern Aging at Princeton is one of the recipients of Linda’s talents. Through her service as a civic co-leader in the Stoney Brook Garden Club, Linda and her fellow Club members made twenty creative holiday wreaths to decorate the CMAP Christmas luncheon venue. The wreaths were given away after the luncheon to members of the CMAP community. The holiday wreaths are a tradition between Stoney Brook Garden Club and CMAP. As part of her continuing engagement with the Center, Linda will be interviewed by Conrad Strauch on the People & Peace Talk Show airing on January 28, 2026 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. Go to https://engage.cmaprinceton.org/component/events/event/1570 to register. You can also call 609.751.9699 with questions, or email info@cmaprinceton.org.