Jacci Gruninger will start her new job as LARSO executive director June 1. Courtesy photo
BY BERNADETTE LAURITZEN
Outgoing Executive Director
LARSO
The Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization is pleased to announce that Jacci Gruninger has accepted the position of LARSO Executive Director.
Jacci is an excellent fit with a love of investing in human potential and wellbeing. She feels working for LARSO is a logical next step on her personal journey/mission of helping others to live fully alive and thrive no matter what their age.
“I appreciate that our small community can support two active senior centers,” said Gruninger. “I am excited about continuing the work of prior directors and at the same time bringing my past programming and directing experience to the center.”
Gruninger has extensive experience creating and managing both an organization and a business. She loves new ideas and likes to experiment as well as honor what organizational cultural history has been established in the past. She has been a dedicated team player and enjoys collaborative work. She has offered free, seated chair yoga classes at the Betty Ehart Senior Center to encourage wellbeing for seniors and has worked with staff to create a DVD for those that wish to stay at home.
Gruninger hopes to continue building a team with staff, so that they like to come to work. This has been a difficult for the senior centers during the last three years of the pandemic. She is the perfect person to assist LARSO with navigating the new normal. Her gentle spirit, hard work ethic and strict determination will help her forge the new paths ahead.
She also hopes to offer seniors that same listening ear. Her current students and clients are 55+, as she is herself. While a numerical age isn’t always a consideration in dealing with seniors, the ability to meet them where they are is key. She knows there can be a big difference in a spectrum of community elders that runs from 50-101. She has worked with 80-year-olds who feel like they are 60 and 60-year-olds who feel like they are 80. She understands that each senior is different in many ways.
Gruninger’s background isn’t just yoga, it has covered every aspect of senior care, many of which are mirrored right inside the walls of the senior center, and continue with the work of LARSO’s community partners.
“I appreciate the community in Los Alamos, and look forward to continuing to collaborate and support this important piece of the community,” she said.
Gruninger may be contacted after June 1 at 505-662-8920 and Director@losalamosseniorcenter.com. You can always look for updates on the center website at http://www.LARSO.org.