Matt Kaplan, shares examples of a multi-platform strategy for tapping into the potential of older adults for helping to drive the process of intergenerational programme planning and development.

1. Volunteers as intergenerational learners, leaders and innovators
Matt Kaplan Ph.D. Professor,
Intergenerational Programs and Ageing
Penn Stat University
Scotland GWT (Generations Working Together) conference
March 9, 2022

2. Overview
• The journey toward IG (intergenerational) leadership
• From (lifelong) “LEARNER”
• to (senior) “VOLUNTEER”
• to (IG program) “LEADER”
• The ILI (Intergenerational Leadership Institute”)
• A self-directed leadership development model
• Examples of ILI-inspired projects
• The ILI and its potential to stimulate IG conferences, centers,
and networks

3. For older adults interested in intergenerational programming:
How do we establish pathways (and training programs)
for converting “volunteers” into “leaders”
 Volunteers need opportunities for:
 further training (in program development,
implementation, and evaluation)
 developing leadership skills
 becoming an integral part of IG program
development & staffing teams

4. Ed Krentzman:
An example of someone who has gone through a
volunteer-to-leader transition

5. Krentzman
Posted on: Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Ed Krentzman, beloved grade-school volunteer
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
The man who students at Wai'alae Elementary School affectionately called Mr. K, or Grandpa, died Saturday. He was 75.
The man who students at Wai'alae Elementary School affectionately
called Mr. K, or Grandpa, died Saturday. He was 75.
Ed Krentzman, co-founder of the FELLOWS — Fellowship Education
Lifelong Learning Opportunities With Students.
He often said he adopted 400 children who attend Wai'alae Elementary
School where he volunteered.
Today the program is in 30 schools around the island and has 140
volunteers.
"The biggest task ahead for us is to figure out how to keep the program
going," said Mae Mendelson, Hawai'i Intergenerational Network executive
director, who helped found the FELLOWS program. "It is Ed's legacy. I am
so shocked."

6. Another example:
Saul Stieglitz
“Hey Kaplan… You’re really on to something here.
This is very important. You must continue with this!!”

7. • Great teachers know how to “spark learning.”
• Great leaders know how to “multiply the intelligence in
the room.”
A senior volunteer with a group of second graders during a holiday
party at the Lutheran Home at Kane shared site facility (Pennsylvania).

8. What is your leadership orientation?
Here are two very different philosophies:
“What we need is the
McDonaldization of
intergenerational
work.”
“If you want to build a ship –
don’t drum up people together
to collect wood and don’t assign
them tasks and work, but rather
teach them to long for the
endless immensity of the sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (author of The Little Prince)
From the director of a foundation in
Germany that funds programs that
support families.

9. Intergenerational
Leadership
Institute
(ILI)
Developing pathways for converting
older adult “volunteers” into “leaders”

10. • First step: Develop an “ILI chapter”
• Three-tier certificate training program
o Short course on IG programming (16 hours: 8 weeks or 1 weekend)
o Conduct monthly application seminars:
• A venue for continued program planning, implementation, & support
• Can be inclusive of university students, local partners, specialists, etc.
• Tune into participants’ skills & interests - & - local needs and priorities
o Additional training & networking opportunities supported by
local, national, & international organizations
• An incubator for creating/expanding IG programs
• Look to contribute to a broader vision of IG community living
What is the ILI?

11. Stay close to ILI participants’ interests
• Sometimes it starts with a “lament”
• Tell story of women I recently met at a women’s health
conference who mentioned how taxidermy is a “lost art.”
“Children couldn’t care less about it.”

12. Heyman Interages® Center
Jewish Council for the Aging (JCA)
ILI – Montgomery County, MD Chapter
Book Readings:
Intergenerational Themes
in Different Cultures &
Contexts Beauty of Aging
Project Coordinator: Leah Bradley
(now with Empowering the Ages, MD)

13. ILI MLK Day “Crafternoon for a Cause” 2019
ILI in Durham, North Carolina
Project Coordinator: Paula Reif

14. Nelson IZU-SHI Society
transforms annual
exchange to include
youth.
https://www.nelsonizushi.com/nelson---izu-shi-exchange-visit-2019.html
Involving youth in international affairs
(ILI – Nelson, BC chapter)
ILI – Nelson, BC chapter coordinator:
Theresa Southam, Ph.D. Fielding Graduate University

15. Citizens Climate Lobby
collaborates with youth
Source: https://canada.citizensclimatelobby.org/blog-lobbying-days-at-british-columbias-legislature-a-first-for-ccl-canada/

16. PENCIL: People ENjoying Creative
Intergenerational Learning Doing Good With Wood
“Intergenerational Ideas for Enriching
Quality of Life in Centre County” Retreat.
Weaving Wisdom – From State
College, to Charleston, to Ghana
Intergenerational Leadership Institute – State College, PA Chapter
Ten Thousand Villages

17. Some exciting project ideas don’t materialize
Molly, age 8, is very shy.
She is very quiet. She was found in a
landfill. Molly doesn’t trust people.
Bandit, age 10, was bullied by young
children who lived with their grandmother.
The grandmother did not have time to walk
or care for Bandit. So, she gave Bandit up.
Nittany Beagle
Rescue: Older
dogs with
stories to tell.

18. ILI Wrap up:
Lessons Learned
• Revisiting the word “leadership”
• A 12-hour “short course” is not enough to change values, attitudes, and
personal plans with regard to leadership behavior. (We moved it to 16 hours)
• The self-directed leadership development orientation of the ILI program
• Finding the intersection between local needs & opportunities, and ILI
participants’ interests, skills, and pursuits.
• ILI participants’ growth and development – Needs no endpoint.
• The need for ongoing opportunities for IG learning and action
• The (co-) sponsoring organizations benefit in many ways.

19. We ask:
What is Your “Intergenerational Trajectory?”
1.
Hearing
2.
Learning
3.
Joining
4.
Immersing
5.
Leading
1) Hearing about an IG program, program area, or IG
programming field in general.
2) Learning about a particular IG program or set of programs
3) Joining an IG program.
4) Immersing oneself in an IG program.
5) Taking a leadership role in an IG program.

20. Changes in ILI participants’ Self Assessment of
Skills
1. “Very
low” skill
level
2. “Low”
skill level
3.
“Moderate”
skill level
4. “High”
skill level
5. “Very
high” skill
level
Program planning, pre (3.1)
Program planning, post (3.9)
Program implementation,
pre (3.1)
Program implementation,
post (3.4)
Lead a team of professionals and volunteers through the process of:
n-=15
n-=16

21. ILI testimonials...
• "Meet someILI Participants"(4:43):
• "Olderadults (55+)who joined the"IntergenerationalLeadershipProgram"inState College,PA sharereasons why they joined the program."
• "LifelongLearning"(5:07):
• Olderadult (55+)membersof the "IntergenerationalLeadershipInstitute" chapter in State College,PA talk about the lifelong learning aspectof
theILI program.
• "Civic Engagement"(4:03):
• Olderadult (55+)membersof the"IntergenerationalLeadershipInstitute" chapter in State College,PA talkabout thecivic engagement
component of the ILI program.
• "Leadership"(5:20):[Startat0:58]
• Olderadult (55+)membersof the "IntergenerationalLeadershipInstitute" chapter in State College,PA sharetheir viewsabout leadershipinthe
realmof intergenerationalprogramming.
• "Examplesof"ILI inspired projects"(13:34):
• Membersof the"IntergenerationalLeadershipInstitute" chapter in State College,PA describetheirworkon four ILI projects in CentreCounty, PA:
"SAVOR"(Sharing And Valuing OurRelationships), "WeavingWisdom,""IntergenerationalPenPal" program, and "WholesomeFare for AllAges."
A fifth projectexploresthe ILI modelas a way to bolster intergenerationalpractices in Wuxi, China.

22. Implications for Sponsoring Organizations
• The ILI’s Impact on Penn State University:
• Creating another avenue for attracting a new type of volunteer
• Helped fuel and frame our efforts to:
• conduct a statewide IG conference
• move toward establishing an IG center
• Lay the foundations for a statewide IG network

23. Moving from a “virtual center” to an Intergenerational Center at Penn State?
• Penn State Intergenerational Program (PSIP): A loosely knit platform of IG
programs, projects, studies, resources, etc.
• Intergenerational Leadership Institute (ILI): An IG capacity-building model
• Events & organizing bring local organizations & the public into the ILI ecosystem
- & vice versa
• “Intergenerational Think (and Do) Tank” meetings
• Planning for a (PA) Statewide IG Conference (July 5-7, 2022)
• Launch PIN - a (PA) statewide IG Network?: [Good idea, but Hard to sustain]
• An Intergenerational Center? [Good idea? Hard to start? Hard to sustain?]

24. The “Intergenerational Ideas for Enriching
Quality of Life in Centre County” Retreat
Intergenerational Retreat: Connecting with state and administrators of local organizations
[Video footage of October 11, 2018 event.]

26. An Intergenerational Fair event (2019): Connecting with the public. [6-minute video]

28. Train-the-trainer workshops

29. After several years of
monthly (ILI-inspired)
“Intergenerational
Think (and Do) Tank”
meetings

30. Framing overtures to potential funders of an IG Center:
-- Some Intergenerational Program Areas of emphasis --
Advance Knowledge
through Research
• Inspire and Train Leaders
• ILI Certificate Program
• Toolboxes and Resources
Advise/Partner on
Large-Scale Program
Implementation

31. The Penn State Intergenerational Program
Contact Information:
Matt Kaplan, Ph.D., Professor
Intergenerational Programs and Aging
Dept. of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education
The Pennsylvania State University
7A Ferguson Building
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-7871, Fax: (814) 863-4753
E-Mail: msk15@psu.edu
Web: http://intergenerational.cas.psu.edu