In the popular imagination, AARP is a formidable advocacy group with a membership larger than the population of most countries, a trusted brand for health insurance, and a cultural force to be reckoned with. But the true power and complexity of this nearly 38-million-member organization is found in the stories of the people who animate its mission, translating it into public policy and local action.

David Morales is AARP’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel and he embodies a unique blend of corporate discipline and social purpose. His journey to one of the top legal seats in the non-profit world was not a straight line, but a path guided by an evolving search for impact. A self-described multi-ethnic individual with a Lebanese Mexican father and a Czech Irish mother, Morales credits his family with cementing his core values. “They instilled in me the values of hard work, perseverance and the importance of education, culture and family,” he tells LATINO Magazine. “And I think those early lessons shaped me on my path and gave me a strong sense of identity and a responsibility to give back.”

This sense of responsibility, forged by growing up in Austin and nurtured by visits to his family in San Luis Potosí, Mexico led him to the University of Texas and then to Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. He says he was drawn to the nation’s capital for its “cosmopolitan and international” atmosphere, a move that would serendipitously lead him to his future wife and lay the foundation for his career.

For twelve years after law school, Morales honed his skills at Discovery, navigating the complex legal and business landscapes of media and international licensing. It was a successful career, but a quiet yearning for more began to surface. “I wanted to find a little more social impact,” he says. A tip from a former colleague led him to AARP, an organization that, by his own admission, was not initially on his radar. What he discovered was a revelation.

“AARP stood out because of its mission. It empowers people to live as they age and advocates for vulnerable communities,” he says. “It was a great opportunity to contribute my legal and business experience to an organization that improves lives on a broader scale. It was a natural step for me. That mission was a strong motivating reason for me to join AARP,” he says.

Nowadays, Morales leads an office of close to 30 attorneys and legal professionals, and his role is anything but a standard corporate counsel position. His portfolio spans the entire ecosystem of AARP’s operations: corporate governance, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, litigation, contracts, and public policy support. He serves as a strategic advisor to the executive team, a role he defines as “helping balance risk with opportunities so the organization can pursue its mission confidently and responsibly.”

This is where the unique challenges of his work lie. AARP is a socially responsible, non-profit organization but it also operates sophisticated business enterprises that generate revenue to fund its advocacy, education and social welfare programs. Morales must constantly navigate this hybrid identity.

“The focus is always our social welfare mission. But we see how things can happen in a way that's going to financially secure the mission in the future,” he explains. “What's fascinating is that I face a lot of the same legal and business issues or matters that I did at Discovery. But I have to look at it through the lens of a nonprofit. That makes it much more complex.”

As the first Latino to hold the General Counsel position at AARP, Morales is also deeply conscious of his role as a leader and a representative. His advice to young Latino and Latina lawyers is rooted in this awareness. “It's authenticity, really,” he says. “My advice to any Latino lawyer or any lawyer in general is that you want to lead with purpose, excellence, and authenticity. You don't want to shy away from bringing your cultural perspectives and your lived experiences into your work. So be who you know, be who you are. That’s the part that makes you valuable, and I see how AARP embraces that.”

Morales is actively involved in Adelante, AARP’s Latino employee resource group, and maintains an open-door policy, striving to be an approachable leader. He sees AARP as a place where the commitment to diversity and inclusion is real, championed from the top by its CEO, Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan. “AARP is a mission-driven organization, and it really is true how it values equity and inclusion at every level. It's where cultural perspectives are respected and celebrated,” he says.

If David Morales is a guardian of AARP’s integrity, then José Acarón is a champion of its local relevance. As the State Director for Puerto Rico, Acarón’s role is one of translation — not of language, but of mission. Based in San Juan, he is the critical link between the vast resources of the national organization and the specific, urgent needs of Puerto Rico’s aging population.

Acarón’s journey to AARP was also a search for purpose. A native of Mayagüez on the west coast of the island, and the son of a university professor and a teacher, he initially pursued a degree in information systems management at the University of Maryland. He quickly realized it was a poor fit. “I never liked it,” he admits. “I didn’t want to spend my life with machines.”

Returning to Puerto Rico, he discovered marketing, and it was an epiphany. “That's when I discovered my real profession, okay, my passion. I am a very creative person, very passionate, and it was a way of transforming and changing lives,” he says. “When you do marketing, you try to solve and provide people with tools to improve their lives in whatever it is.”

After a stint at an advertising agency, he made a bold move, quitting without another job lined up. “I didn’t want to sell soap and beer,” he recalls. A friend then told him about an opening at the Muscular Dystrophy Association, where he would spend the next 15 years before landing at AARP in 2004.

According to him, “AARP is a great organization with a great mission and with the tools to support how people live and age in Puerto Rico. Part of my job is to make it relevant for people in Puerto Rico, and how they live and contribute.”

This is not a mere academic exercise, but a vital necessity. Puerto Rico has one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world, with a staggering 32% of its population aged 60 or older. This demographic reality is compounded by economic challenges and a massive outmigration of younger people. Acarón and his team of six employees, supported by over 250 dedicated volunteers, are on the front lines of a profound societal shift.

“We are changing the public policy of Puerto Rico,” Acarón states with conviction. “How do you live? We still have a lot of people who think that after they a reach certain age their life ends, or that upon retirement they become a burden instead of an asset. So that is what AARP has been trying to change for the past 20 years.”

His work focuses on concrete areas like mobility, caregiving, health access, and workforce development, including entrepreneurship for older adults. “We are the leading organization to support people as they live into their 50s, 60s, and beyond,” he says, pointedly avoiding the word aging in favor of living. This linguistic shift is intentional, reframing later life as a period of continued contribution and vitality. What energizes Acarón is AARP’s empowering culture: “AARP is a very resourceful organization. We're not the type of organization that tells you what you need to do. It's more like we listen to you, and provide you with the tools, so you can do and reach and live your best life.”

While their day-to-day responsibilities and locales differ dramatically, the narratives of David Morales and José Acarón converge on the core principles that make AARP a unique and powerful force, including an unwavering commitment to social impact. For Morales, this was the pull that drew him from the corporate media world. For Acarón, it was the drive to help transform lives. Both found in AARP a platform where their professional skills could be directly applied to tackling society's most pressing challenges related to aging.

And there’s also cultural authenticity and inclusion. Morales speaks proudly of an organization where his Latino heritage is not just accepted but valued, and where he can mentor others. Acarón’s role is predicated on understanding and honoring the cultural context of Puerto Rico, ensuring that AARP’s solutions are not a one-size-fits-all but a tailored response to local realities. This commitment to equity is not just a talking point---it’s operationalized from the boardroom in Washington to community groups in San Juan.

“I've been here 21 years and I'm more excited than ever to work with AARP, and I'm turning 65 this year,” gushes Acarón.