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...
A group of young leaders who participated in the study after a focus group at AARP headquarters in Washington D.C.
In March, we released our latest report, What Young Leaders Want — And Don’t Want — From Older Allies, summarizing what 31 Gen Z and Millennial leaders had to say about working with older people to solve pressing problems — aka “cogeneration” — and how it can be improved.
Many people told us that reading the report prompted them to start conversations with folks older and younger than they are, which is great news! To make it easier for more people to do the same, we created this Conversation Guide.
The guide includes a brief overview followed by 15 discussion questions and a list of suggested opportunities to use the guide to start intergenerational conversations. The guide also includes links to resources for you to explore.
The report is a fairly quick read and includes eight key insights that stretch far beyond predictable stereotypes. They include:
The report also includes dozens of thought-provoking quotes, like the one below, from the young leaders committed to working across generations for change. It concludes with nine actionable recommendations.
“I’ve encountered older people unwilling to consider my perspective because ‘it’s the way it’s always been done’ or ‘it takes time and resources to make a change,’ or they don’t want to admit that what they’ve been doing isn’t very productive.”
— Emily Garcia-Green, chief youth development officer at BridgeUSA
We hope the report and companion Conversation Guide help you build intergenerational conversation, connection and collaboration in your community.
This research was funded by AARP with additional support from The Eisner Foundation.