We’ve changed our name from Encore.org to CoGenerate! Join us at cogenerate.org to bridge generational divides and co-create the future.

We’ve changed our name from Encore.org to CoGenerate! Join us at cogenerate.org to bridge generational divides and co-create the future.

Encore.org’s higher education initiative, EncoreU, held its first formal convening in March in at New York University.

EncoreU is designed to engage the higher-ed sector to respond to the seismic, unprecedented demographic shifts in health and longevity that can provide a wealth of human capital – the talents and skills of millions of experienced adults – to improve our communities and help solve pressing social challenges.

EncoreU is both a call to action and a singular opportunity: Visionary institutions can fulfill their mission as centers of education and enlightenment, contribute to the national dialogue on the purpose and worth of education, and respond to a growing, untapped market of adult students eager to learn.

Senior administrators and provosts from over 20 colleges and universities – from community colleges and state schools to private liberal-arts colleges and big-name elites – recognizing both their opportunity to serve and their civic responsibility to address a rising social need, gathered in March for EncoreU’s inaugural higher-ed convening, to begin a conversation about how to create Encore- and age-friendly institutions – and how to develop a robust and engaged student base that spans life’s generations, into and beyond the 50s, 60s and 70s. This early convening was the foundation for an EncoreU Presidents’ Summit, slated for fall 2015, and the development of a President’s Pledge, which leaders of encore-friendly institutions may adopt and share as they work to bring diverse communities into higher education.

“The current challenge – that higher education focus on social change and serving students across the extended lifespan – is an opportunity for redefinition and meaningful, durable social impact,” said EncoreU director Barbara Vacarr.

“The change agenda at our convening inspired and united a broad diversity of institutions and institutional perspectives that is rare and remarkable in academic life,” Vacarr said. “We are enthused by the overwhelmingly positive response, and look forward to making progress on developing a Presidents Pledge in support of diverse, encore- and age-friendly institutions.”

Here’s what The New York Times had to say about the March convening: “As demand for more adult learning opportunities accelerates, colleges and universities are trying to figure out how to tap into the market for second careers to bolster their revenue and perhaps build alumni loyalty. The potential audience is huge.”

And here’s a report in Next Avenue on the convening and new Encore.org higher-ed research: “Encore.org, the nonprofit geared to second acts for the greater good, is making strides that just might steer colleges to become more age-friendly.”

Please sign up for Encore.org and EncoreU news — and urge your alma mater to join the campaign to make higher-ed for ALL generations a top priority.

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