Sunday, January 23, 2011

Boomers and generativity

It was great to hear an old acquaintance, Marc Freedman, on Minnesota Public Radio yesterday.  He was discussing the trend of baby boomers pursuing meaningful work and volunteer experiences.  He is founder and CEO of Civic Ventures, and author of "Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life."

A key point Marc made in his interview was the desire for "generativity" among older adults.  Generativity is a concept developed by Eric Erickson, a developmental psychologist, that describes the need for older adults to contribute to the next generation through nurturing and guiding aka "mentoring".

Marc has long been a champion of mentoring for disadvantaged youth.  He's the author of a book, The Kindness of Strangers, which profiles a number of long-term mentoring relationships.

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