Free Agents at Berkeley (FAB) is a women’s social group that supports its members by helping them transition from their work to a new, stimulating chapter of their lives, euphemistically called retirement.

 

In 2003, five women, Roberta Brooks, Helen Burke, Anna Rabkin, Luanne Rogers, and Nancy Snow, all new to retirement, started the organization by inviting twenty-eight of their friends to a garden party. This get-together was such a success that everyone wanted to repeat it, and invite their friends. Thus FAB and the FAB Tea at the Berkeley Yacht Club were born.

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Today, FAB celebrates women’s maturity, diverse interests, and elder wisdom. FAB is a guilt-free, no fee, 100 percent volunteer organization. Members invite family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues to join FAB.

 

From the beginning, FAB members formed interest groups. Currently there are almost twenty groups whose members actively pursue a variety of interests from writing memoirs, playing Mah Jongg, to exploring San Francisco. During the Covid pandemic, these groups met on Zoom or outdoors, providing a much needed social lifeline. 

 

FAB members enjoyed the Annual Tea at the Berkeley Yacht Club from 2003 until 2019, then suspended the gathering from 2020 through 2022 due to Covid. In 2023, FAB's vaccinated and flourishing members and guests enjoyed a much anticipated in-person return to the Berkeley Yacht Club to celebrate our resilience and camaraderie. Our next Annual FAB Tea will be in October 2026 (date to be determined). Members and guests will once again convene for our annual gathering that continues to fuel the growth of FAB, which now has over two hundred members. FAB thrives!