When we first began planning the CoGen Voices Fellowship, we knew we'd face a few challenges. The group of 21 community changemakers was intentionally diverse — by age (15 to 81!), race, location, work, experience, and more. We'd have to meet many different needs and...
At CoGenerate, we believe in the power of cogeneration: a strategy to bring older and younger people together to forge bonds across differences, combat polarization and ageism, and help solve today’s toughest problems. If you’re involved or interested in cogeneration,...
https://youtu.be/OedAsZVTm9U?si=q20TIH8zuwPEhE0a Today in the US, more than 2.4 million children whose parents are unable to care for them live in grandfamilies, where they are raised by grandparents or other loved ones. Until recently, their experiences have been all...
Ernie, 80 and Cedar, 13, show off the rocks they decorated with symbols based on their conversation.Last month, I traveled to Chautauqua, a 150-year-old institute in western New York that brings thousands of people together for summer programs focused on lifelong...
Why do you do the civic or community work that you do?
As a young person, I have found divisive, polarized politics to be the norm for the majority of my lifetime. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The only way to create real, lasting change is to reach past those divides – be they political, generational, or otherwise.
How is cogeneration helping (or how will it help) you succeed?
Polarization thrives on the fiction that our differences are irreconcilable, and the “generational conflict” frame is one iteration of that fiction. Older and younger Americans have more in common than we are different, and our movements are stronger when we work together, united by our commonalities.
Got one tip to help other civic leaders collaborate more effectively with older or younger people?
Take the time to listen to and understand why (many) young people are disillusioned with the institutions around us. Then work alongside us to make those institutions work for everyone.
What’s something giving you joy or hope right now?
I moved back to New York this year, and it’s been a real joy spending more time with my parents and getting involved with the city’s tabletop roleplaying game scene (e.g., Dungeons & Dragons).