Advance Long and Productive Lives
The Grand Challenge to Advance Long and Productive Lives seeks to harness the skills, talents,
and experience of the growing number of older adults to respond to the demands of an increasingly
polarized and inequitable country. Adopting a life-course approach, the Grand Challenge seeks to
advance science to inform the development of equitable policies and programs in employment,
volunteering, caregiving, and education to maximize health, ensure economic security, and provide
more opportunities for purposeful living for those of all ages. This Grand Challenge aims to dismantle
systemic ageism, racism, sexism and other forms of oppression as they limit such opportunities.
During the past five years, output from members of the network and their colleagues has been prolific,
including 120+ publications, 100+ presentations, 40+ media interviews and 17+ grants. Looking ahead,
having established a solid conceptual foundation for their Grand Challenge, its members seek to
translate their research into evidence-based interventions and expand their network among educators,
practitioners, advocates, and students of social work at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral levels.
LONGEVITY DESIGN CHALLENGE
NYU Silver School of Social Work Associate
Professor Ernest Gonzales, co-lead of
the Grand Challenge to Advance Long
and Productive Lives, led a team that
was one of eight finalists in the Stanford
Center on Longevity's 2018 - 2019 Longevity
Design Challenge. The team's i² Housing
intergenerational interdependence
initiative builds on traditional home
sharing to address the national challenges
of rising student debt, social isolation,
declining health, and affordable housing
among college students and older adults.
16 | Progress and Plans for the Grand Challenges