275 Sandy Gordon: A True Advocate Lives for the Causes She Believes In

Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined

When Sandy Gordon retired at 70, from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Rosemont, Illinois as Director of Public Relations, a colleague gave her a toast. It said in part: “Sandy has the kind of talent that startles people. Really. Her co-workers and colleagues often sit around wondering how she comes up with her ideas. Ideas that seem to just sort of float out of her brain. It’s as though Sandy can produce life from a primordial soup that for everyone else is just a bowl full of amino acids. Sandy has that magic.”

Sandy began her career as a special education teacher and immediately became an advocate for people with disabilities. Learning that then President Hubert Humphrey’s grandchild had Down Syndrome, she found a way to approach him and urged him to do something for ‘handicapped’ people. He hired her on the spot to work as Executive Director of Friends of the Handicapped for the Humphrey/Muskie campaign.

"Getting recognition is less important than getting the job done" - Sandy Gordon

All of Sandy’s jobs have come about in similar fashion starting with the National Easter Seal Society. With no background in communication, public relations or HR, she uses her talents and skills to find her way. Her colleague goes on to say “It would be enough to comment on Sandy’s talent and imagination, but that is actually the smaller part of her whole person. The bigger part is her heart and her humor. Sandy has the type of personality that makes everyone around her better. Happier. Funnier. Brighter. Smarter. She just makes the day better. Her energy and spirit is irrepressible.”

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Email: Sandy [e-mail]