Pre-Conference Activities
Pre-Conference Registration Details:
Already registered for the conference? Please use this form to add pre-conference activities to your registration for Generations United's 2025 Global Intergenerational Conference. Please note: This form is intended for use by registered conference attendees only.
To register for the conference and pre-conferences on the same form, please visit the conference registration webpage.
Pre-Conference Session:
Built to Last! Taking Intergenerational Work from Program to Practice
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $75, Coffee/Tea included
This session is available for registered conference attendees only.
How do you make your community center a hub of intergenerational activity that benefits all ages – making this a way of working that becomes part of the fabric of your organization?
Community centers seek to engage the broader community in their work, and intergenerational programs are a great way to do this, spanning age and many other differences in ways that strengthen community connections, and bring value and meaning to life while combating social isolation and loneliness.
Unfortunately, many organizations find it difficult to sustain intergenerational programming over time. If funding ends or key staff leave, intergenerational programming often withers. United Neighborhood Houses partnered with staff at three unique neighborhood centers to address this dynamic. In a multi-year effort, we successfully explored what it would take to embed intergenerational programming as a core practice that staff across a center and its departments (pre-school, youth, aging, immigrant and job training, etc.) can learn and utilize. This approach shifts intergenerational work from an individual program approach to a long-term strategy used to achieve programmatic goals and meet funding requirements across a center.
During this intensive session, you will explore:
Best Practices for making intergenerational work a core practice embedded across a community center,
How this impacts the mission and values of the organization
The benefits of this approach.
How this approach leads to organizational change, including changes in the roles and responsibilities of staff and the skills they need to succeed, increasing their effectiveness.
Tools and resources developed that an organization and staff use to support this journey.
Join this interactive half-day intensive to explore how this body of knowledge can help your organization develop, sustain, and embed intergenerational programming as a core practice within your organization or community center.
Speakers:
Terry Kaelber, Director, Institute for Empowered Aging, United Neighborhood Houses of NY
Katie Cardwell, Professional Dev & Data Analysis Manager, United Neighborhood Houses
Pre-Conference Session:
How Will I Know? Intergenerational Program Research Intensive
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $75, Coffee/Tea included
This session is available for registered conference attendees only.
Looking to develop new skills in intergenerational program research and advance the science of intergenerational practice? This pre-conference intensive will offer resources, tools, and collaborative strategies to understand the impact of intergenerational programs. You will learn how intergenerational research has developed, areas primed for growth, and how you can advance the field. We will share stories of practitioners and scholars leveraging partnerships to understand, communicate, and amplify impact. Attendees will utilize resources shared in the workshop to identify meaningful outcomes to measure and pick tools to represent results.
The program is designed primarily for those building intergenerational research skills and those looking for research partnerships. Join us for the chance to hone your knowledge and get to know others in the field before the conference starts.
Speakers:
Shannon Jarrott, Professor of Social Work, Director of the Center for Intergenerational Research and Practice, The Ohio State University
Jill Juris, Associate Professor, Appalachian State University
Pre-Conference Session:
Grandfamilies/Kinship Symposium
Hosted by Generations United
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $125, Lunch included
This session is available for registered conference attendees only.
Successful kinship/grandfamilies programs are innovative, evolving, and responsive to the diverse needs of those they serve. They understand the unique circumstances and challenges that kinship families face and are ready to help them tackle those barriers by providing relevant resources, services, and supports. They also recognize the many strengths and talents that kin caregivers have and empower them to advocate for themselves and their families, while helping their peers navigate the caregiving journey.
This dynamic symposium will elevate these key characteristics for successful kinship/grandfamily programming.
Pre-Conference Site Visit:
Harbor House Intergenerational Life Center
Wednesday, June 25, 2025, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Cost: $100, Transportation and lunch included
This session is available for registered conference attendees only.
Join us for a visit to Harbor House, co-host of Generations United’s 2025 Global Intergenerational Conference. Harbor House was founded in 1992 to provide meaningful activities to young adults with intellectual disabilities, and in 2023 expanded its mission to provide intergenerational opportunities where children, adults, and seniors of all abilities may interact daily. In 2023 they opened the 36,000-square-feet Intergenerational Life Center--the first of its kind in Kentucky--and in 2025 will open the adjacent Child Enrichment Center serving 105 children of all abilities. Get a firsthand look at the space and hear from the innovators who brought it to life. Transportation (from the Louisville Marriott Downtown) and lunch are provided.