Two Generations. 
One Future.
Ascend at the Aspen Institute is a hub for breakthrough ideas and collaborations that move children and their parents toward educational success and economic security. Ascend takes a two-generation approach to our work – focusing on children and their parents together – and we bring a gender and racial equity lens to our analysis.
Two-Generation Partnership in Support of Families’ Desires to Achieve Intergenerational Opportunity
Committed to helping families create an intergenerational cycle of opportunity, LIFT, a national nonprofit that connects parents with trained coaches who help them achieve career and financial goals, implements a two-generation (2Gen) strategy. Their partnership with AppleTree, a recognized leader in evidence-based early childhood education, demonstrates LIFT’s commitment to staying laser-focused on the needs of…
Ascending at the 2019 Aspen Ideas Festival
Presented by the Aspen Institute in partnership with the Atlantic, in its 15th year, the Aspen Ideas Festival is the nation’s premier, public gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to present and discuss the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times. Ascend has had the honor…
Impact Series: LA Valley College’s Family Resource Center Boosts Student Parent Success
This blog is part of Ascend’s Impact Series: monthly stories and stats that illustrate the powerful, tangible impact a two-generation (2Gen) approach can have in building prosperity and opportunity for families. The Family Resource Center (FRC) at Los Angeles Valley College is a model two-generation (2Gen) strategy. FRC advances social and economic mobility for students who are…
Candidates, Listen to Families: Three Recommendations from a Parent
I am a teacher, a student, a mother, and an advisor. I also grew up in poverty. When I joined a two-generation program called JeffCo Prosperity Project (JPP) that supports children from Head Start to graduation, I did it to help other families – but ended up finding myself in the process. I was asked…