Aging in America Lecture Series: Intergenerational Connections after Midlife

Making the Most of the Multigenerational Moment

America is the most age diverse society in human history — and arguably, the most age segregated. This arrangement runs against the grain of much we now know about human thriving. Fortunately, all across the country, and the globe, social innovators are turning this situation around, in ways that promise to help create a better future for all generations. In this talk, Marc Freedman will describe this timely and vibrant movement, and lay out how we can make the most of our multigenerational moment.

Biography

Marc Freedman, Co-CEO and Founder of CoGenerate, is one of the nation’s leading experts on the longevity revolution. He is the author of five books. His most recent book — How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations (PublicAffairs/Hachette Book Group, 2018) — was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the year’s best books on aging. Originator of the encore career idea linking second acts to the greater good, Freedman co-founded Experience Corps to mobilize people over 50 to improve the school performance and prospects of low-income elementary school students in 22 U.S. cities. He also spearheaded the creation of the Encore Fellowships program, a one-year fellowship helping individuals translate their midlife skills into second acts focused on social impact, and the Purpose Prize, an annual $100,000 prize for social entrepreneurs in the second half of life. (AARP now runs both Experience Corps and the Purpose Prize.) Freedman was named a Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the World Economic Forum, was recognized as one of the nation’s leading social entrepreneurs by Fast Company magazine three years in a row, and has been honored with both the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence. He has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University and King’s College, University of London. Freedman is, or has been, on the boards and advisory councils of numerous groups, including The George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, the Stanford University Distinguished Careers Institute, and the Milken Institute’s Center for the Future of Aging. A high honors graduate of Swarthmore College, Freedman holds an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management. He resides in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife, Leslie Gray, and their three children.