Last week I had the opportunity to speak at the Florida Chamber Foundations’ “Learners to Earners Workforce summit” where top Florida educators and business leaders gathered together to work on the Education Revolution for the State of Florida.
The Chamber Foundation just released their 2030 plan with a giant focus on addressing the educational GAPS of Florida’s children from birth to career. A wide range of presentations and panels highlighted the urgent need for all sectors of the community to join this education revolution. It is time for “all hands on deck”! One key point I learned was the fact that early childhood learning is where we must begin – otherwise kids are playing catch-up until their first job! Did you know that 90% of the human brain is developed by age 5, and yet we do not spend enough money, time or programs to develop that brain until first grade!
My words to this audience were loud and clear. One of your most valuable assets is the army of over 7 ½ million Florida adults over 50 who have the time, talent and willingness to fill the gaps as mentors, readers and volunteers. Several people came up to me after my speech thanking me for the reminder that this segment of the population can play a different role in helping them tackle this cradle to career effort.
Why are we overlooking this opportunity? I recently read several articles and research reports that have identified a key factor. As a society, there exist generational silos and age segregated communities where it has become increasingly difficult to foster intergenerational relationships. (“out of sight out of mind” as the old saying goes…)
One of my colleagues, the Director of Learning for the Generation to Generation campaign recently wrote an article (“Looking Through an Opportunity Lens”) where she shared the story of a group of her millennial and GenX friends, who were not able or open to see the unique gifts and talents of her 90 year old grandfather. This is another example of how limited our younger generations’ exposure to older adults is (other than their own grandparents).
Generations United and the Michael Eisner Foundation have just released a research report “All in together”- Creating Places where young and old can thrive”. The Report shares incredible stories and results of what happens when we break down the barriers of age segregation and forge life changing intergenerational bonds. The impact is far reaching not only with very young children, but with elementary kids, high school students or college students eager to achieve educational and life success. By forging these intergenerational bonds we are not only tackling the “Education Revolution” but also the challenges of isolation, loneliness and loss of purpose/identity suffered by older adults. Encore. Org (Generation to Generation), Generations United and the Eisner Foundation are ready to shift the paradigm of how we can strengthen ALL ages by thinking differently in how we set up our educational programs and social/ government agencies to include all generations. Encore.org’s founder, Marc Freedman was also in the news this week with his article on Age Segregation in the Harvard Business Review.
For the remaining part of this year- we will be looking for success stories of “shared sites” where different organizations or different generations are actually supporting each other! A WIN-WIN- WIN!! This is not just about mobilizing older adults to improve the lives of children but how can we be totally creative and bring different generations together to benefit each other!!
Please contact me if you or your organization or group of friends are bringing generations together!!
Encoretampabay@ gmail.com