Developing Older Adults as Community Leaders

The "graying of America," a now familiar term, refers to the fact that more people are living longer than ever before in recorded history. Regrettably, this astounding demographic revolution has raised countless concerns about how to provide for the medical and social needs of so many elderly who, it is assumed, will not be able to take care of themselves. We assert that instead, it ought to raise our hopes about the promise of this growing population of experienced and capable elders to help our society address its many challenges. We are not alone! Marc Freedman is the founder of Civic Ventures, an organization that exists to change society's negative perception of older people and promote strategies that tap into the unused social capital they represent. In a recent policy paper, Freedman states: "The cumulative result of increased longevity, health, vitality, independence, economic status, and education is nothing Less than the emergence of an entirely new life stage between midlife and true old age (characterized by the onset of significant disability). For many, this stage will last 30 years or longer and will be a time of taking on new challenges, making significant contributions, and continuing to Learn and grow." (Making Policy for an Aging Culture). Increasingly, older people express interest in using their experience, wisdom, and energy to help forge solutions to their communities' pressing problems. Because their motivations extend beyond traditional volunteer roles stereotyped as envelope stuffing and sweater knitting, many are frustrated by the paucity of more substantive service opportunities. Indeed, Freedman suggests that we need to replace the term "senior volunteerism" with language that more accurately reflects the contributions that older adults can make if given the chance. Our purpose in writing this article is to describe a model program designed to give elders precisely such an opportunity. This innovative effort in Hartford, Connecticut, was dubbed the Third Age Initiative in recognition of the significant period of time that people live after their first two "ages" of childhood and early adulthood. Background The Third Age Initiative was developed as a new program by the non-profit organization, Leadership Greater Hartford (LGH). Like more than 1,200 similar organizations throughout the world, LGH has been building communities by building leaders for many years. It began by providing leadership development to middle managers from Greater Hartford area businesses and nonprofits, later spinning off other initiatives that targeted high school youth and Latinos as community leaders. Mary-Jane, an adult educator and gerontologist, became involved in 1997 when an LGH team of mid-career professionals convened an advisory body of experts to help them understand older adults, their needs, and capabilities. That team proceeded to design yet another spin-off leadership development program to engage older adults. When grant funding for this start up was acquired in 2001, Doe (who bad recently retired from her career in higher continuing and adult education) joined LGH as the program director for the Third Age Initiative. Like other LGH programs, a hallmark of the Third Age Initiative is its action learning approach to leadership development. Each cohort of participants forms teams that plan and implement community action projects over the course of a year. What distinguishes this initiative is its participants--retirees ranging in age from 48 to 88. To date, there have been 105 participants who live in Hartford and two dozen surrounding communities. Some have less than a high school diploma, while others hold graduate and professional degrees. Their economic status is just as varied--ranging from the poverty level to the affluent. This diversity has been identified by Third Agers as a key source of their learning. …