Longevity is not a mystery. It is built from what you eat, how you move, what you know, and what you can afford. On World Menopause Day we put all four on one table.

Join us at The Longevity Luncheon on Sunday, October 18, 2026, from 1 to 3 PM at The Forge. Chef Taueret K. Thomas curates a longevity-inspired menu, and our panel takes on health, wealth, nutrition and movement — the four things that decide how well you live, not just how long.

This is a table for everyone. Menopause reshapes a household, not only a body, and men and women are both welcome here.

OUR MODERATOR

Tisha Edwards, MSW, JD Founder, The Long Game

In 2025 Tisha Edwards became the first Black woman to serve as president and chief executive of a state banking association in the United States. She has been interim chief executive of Baltimore City Public Schools, chief of staff to the mayor of Baltimore, and secretary of appointments in the Moore-Miller administration. She holds an MSW and a JD from the University of Maryland, and founded The Long Gamefor women deciding what comes next.

OUR PANELISTS

H E A L T H

Sarasijhaa K. Desikan, MD - Vascular surgeon, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Dr. Desikan is an associate professor and clinician-scientist in the Division of Vascular Surgery, operating at the University of Maryland Medical Center and the Baltimore VA. Her federally funded research asks why carotid disease costs people their memory and their mobility, and what can be done to hold both. She is president of the UMB Faculty Senate and sits on the Baltimore Women’s Commission. She is also a former world champion in taekwondo.

F I N A N C I A L W E L L B E I N G

The Honorable Michelle Arvin-Greer - Judge · Attorney · Mediator · Educator

Judge Arvin-Greer earned her Bachelor of Arts and her Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore, and is admitted to practice in Maryland, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. She serves with the National College of Probate Judges and the Maryland Association of Judges of the Orphans’ Court. In 2025 she received the GUBA Legal Trailblazer BlackStar Award for her professional and community service.

NUTRITION

Chef Taueret Thomas VP of Gastronomy Education and Workforce Development of The Bit Center - Menu curator, The Longevity Luncheon

Chef Thomas curates the longevity-inspired menu for the luncheon. At The Bit Center she leads nutrition education and cooking instruction, working with people who want to eat well and want to know why it matters. Her kitchen runs on a simple premise: what we put on the table is the first and most durable medicine we have.

M O V E M E N T

Jodie M. Gordon, LCSW-C Founder, Embody Pilates & Wellness

Jodie Gordon is a licensed clinical social worker, a certified Pilates instructor and a certified menopause coaching specialist, with more than twenty-five years bridging movement and mental health in Baltimore. She began at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and came away convinced that talk alone does not reach anxiety, trauma or grief. Embody, which Jodie founded in 2015, is a studio committed to helping her clients achieve their physical, mental and spiritual goals.

The Longevity Luncheon

In Celebration of World Menopause Day Join Us at The Longevity Luncheon