CREATIVE HEARTS TEAM
Vivienne Fullerton, Founder & Executive Director
Growing up, Vivienne saw how art could create moments of connection and joy for family members living with dementia. After starting and running several small businesses as a child, she founded Creative HeARTS at age 14 to bring student-led art programs to senior care communities. What began as a small volunteer effort has grown into an intergenerational arts nonprofit that has served more than 700 seniors.
Her experiences sparked her interest in neuroscience and in building a nonprofit that could make a lasting impact. She pursued this interest by taking an entrepreneurship/business development course at UC San Diego at 14, completing a pre-collegiate neuroscience course at Stanford University at 15, interning at a neuroscience research lab at the University of San Diego, conducting research on socioeconomic differences in Alzheimers care with a USC neuroscientist at 16, and launching her own independent behavioral science research.
Her research on creative engagement and older adults has earned top honors in Behavioral and Social Science Research and from the San Diego Psychology Association. She has also been recognized for her leadership and positive community impact, receiving the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, the Dementia Society of America’s Ginny Gives® Award, the Congressional Coin Challenge, and being named a finalist in the United Kingdom Dementia Care Awards.
Alexander Fullerton, Co-Leader & Program Partner
As a co-leader of Creative HeARTS, Alexander combines his passion for service, creativity, and problem-solving to support seniors living with dementia. Inspired by having four grandparents with dementia, he has dedicated more than 300 volunteer hours to leading art workshops, creating art installations at senior communities, and creating meaningful experiences for over 700 seniors.
Using skills from pre-collegiate coursework at Stanford, Alexander applies data and analysis to measure the impact of Creative HeARTS programs and tracks its finances. He is currently designing and building a wheelchair-accessible outdoor sharing library in a memory care community garden co-designed and built with seniors living with dementia and designing an educational flyer about dementia awareness to distribute throughout Southern California. His work has been recognized with U.S. Congressional Silver and Bronze Medals, the National Service Gold Medal, a California Congressional Challenge Coin, and as a finalist in the UK Dementia Care Awards.
OUR TEAM IS GROWING
Stay tuned for updates on two new chapters launching soon. If you're interested in starting a chapter in your area, please feel free to contact us.
