What Young Leaders Want - And Don't Want - From Older Allies

In March of 2022, CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org) commissioned NORC at the University of Chicago to find out what a nationally representative group of Americans think about cogeneration — a strategy to bring older and younger people together to solve problems and bridge divides.

The research findings were clear: 81% of survey respondents aged 18- 94 say they want to work with different generations to improve the world, and nearly all agree that we would be less divided as a society if older and younger generations worked together.

Perhaps most striking, the generation with the strongest interest in cogeneration is Gen Z. Survey results show that 76% of Gen Z and 70% of Millennial respondents say they wish they had more opportunities to work across generations for change.

We wanted to dive deeper to better understand what’s driving this interest among Gen Z and Millennials, particularly young leaders who have experience working across generations. What exactly do younger leaders want from older leaders, allies and colleagues? And how do they believe intergenerational collaboration can be improved?

With support from AARP, and additional funding from The Eisner Foundation, we set out to find answers...