Research and Publications

All Research and Publications

#Gen2Gen Cities: A Guide to Intergenerational Strategies for Public Sector Innovators Seeking Solutions to Community Challenges

The #Gen2Gen Cities report highlights innovative city and county leaders who are meeting critical challenges — affordable housing, nonprofit capacity, kindergarten readiness, and much more — by bringing generations together. By leveraging the assets of residents of all ages and connecting the generations, these public sector leaders — and many others — are helping to build stronger ties, foster greater empathy, make better use of public spaces, increase volunteerism and save money, all while improving outcomes for residents of all ages.

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Second Acts Fellows: A New Way to Help Youth-Serving Nonprofits Leverage Encore Talent

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The Power and Purpose of Informal Community Leaders

In 2017, when Encore and researchers from the Stanford Graduate School of Education were beginning the Pathways to Encore Purpose project, Anne Colby, a psychologist at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education who has studied purpose across the life cycle, interviewed Hanmin Liu, co-founder of Wildflowers Institute, who made connections to informal elder leaders from three diverse Bay Area communities. “The Power and Purpose of Informal Community Leaders,” tells the stories of these community leaders and illustrates how each exemplifies purpose beyond the self, reveals the joy they gain from this work for the common good, and shows how the commitments of individuals can help create shared collective purpose in their communities.

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Making the Case for Intergenerational Childcare: How Adults 50+ Can Support Home-Based and Family Childcare Centers

This paper will examine the meaningful roles that adults 50+ can play to help improve the quality of childcare for young children 0-5. It will show that intergenerational approaches to child care have the potential to create brighter futures for currently underserved youth; benefit older adults seeking purpose, income and connection; and unlock doors to economic prosperity for small business owners (mostly low-income women of color) currently running home-based and family childcare centers.

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