2Gen Policymakers Institute 2017
November 2, 2017 | Convenings
“I strongly believe that talent and potential are equally distributed, but opportunities are not.” – Isabelle Hau, Omidyar Network
Ascend hosted the third 2Gen Policymakers Institute (2GPI) on October 17-19. This convening brought together policymakers from 14 states, federal leaders, parents, practitioners, and philanthropists to exchange actionable strategies focused on better outcomes for children and families. Check out the 2GPI 2017 agenda here, and you can find more information on this and previous 2GPI convenings below.
Emphasizing the two-generation (2Gen) principle – engage the voices of families – 2GPI 2017 kicked off with a panel of four parents who shared experiences navigating complex systems while caring for their children. Ascend believes that bringing in parent voices to ensure their perspectives are woven into policy and practice is critical. As Anjanette Vaidya said, “Parents are the experts. They fell through the cracks, so they know where the problems are.”
The philanthropy perspective on equity was another highlight of this year’s 2GPI. Ascend Fellow Raquel Hatter, Mike Laracy, Isabelle Hau, and Paul Cheh all offered their insights. Evoking the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Raquel Hatter reminded us: “The right time to do right is right now.”
We closed out 2GPI with a panel on the Centennial State: Colorado leaders spoke to the state’s trailblazing implementation of the 2Gen approach across its human services systems. They shared the state’s many successes, as well as its challenges, and the importance of working together across agencies and sectors to implement a whole-family approach. Reggie Bicha, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Human Services, on Colorado’s 2Gen journey: “It wasn’t about building something new, but about taking existing opportunities and putting them in a new frame.” Check out the Colorado Guide to 2Gen for a deeper dive into Colorado’s 2Gen efforts.
Guest speaker Gyasi Ross, Blackfeet father, author, speaker, and musician (featured in the image above), summed the theme of the convening up well: “A small group of dedicated people committed to their stories are capable of changing the world.”
2Gen Policymakers Institute 2017
- Agenda
- Bios
- Participant List
- State and County Snapshots (working document – developed October 2017)
2Gen Policymakers Institute 2016
2Gen Policymakers Institute 2015
Related Posts
I started off the 2022 Aspen Ideas Festival at Aspen Words Book Ball, a passion project of Isa Catto and Daniel Shaw.
This year, the Aspen Idea Festival returns to in-person programming at our campus in the Rocky Mountains June 25 - July 1, 2022.
On Tuesday, June 1st, 2021, Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s Family Prosperity Innovation Community hosted a panel discussion about the recently proposed federal legislation on paid leave. This webinar presented how and why this proposed legislation matters and shared opportunities to advance paid leave locally and nationally. Watch Now Presenters and Panelists Vicki Shabo – New …
This blog is part of Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s 2Gen Level Up series. Ascend challenged organizations that work with and/or on behalf of children and families to apply one of six resources listed below and level up their two-generational efforts. Of the many organizations from across the country that put these resources to use, Ascend …
PelotonU: Principles for Engaging and Centering Parent Voice Read More »
Governors, mayors, and families are on the front lines of communities coping with changes in the pandemic world. As the school year begins, the Aspen Institute turns to representatives of these three groups to ask: How can we support students and families in this unprecedented school year? On August 26, Ascend and the Aspen Education …
Virtual Discussion: How Communities and Political Leaders Can Support Schools This Year Read More »
Physical and mental health and well-being are core components of the two-generation approach that builds family well-being by intentionally and simultaneously working with children and the adults in their lives to move whole families toward educational success, economic security, and health and well-being. Childhood trauma, for instance, has lasting health and social consequences. Similarly, economic …
Transforming Child and Family Mental Health in Washington, DC Read More »
States and communities are where policy translates into real life outcomes. For nearly a decade, state and local entities have leveraged various federal programs and funding streams to integrate systems and services through a 2Gen approach. This powerful momentum is bipartisan, practical, scalable and most importantly, centered around families – their needs, their experiences, and their voices. The new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Poverty Reduction: …
Virtual Briefing: Milestone Federal Report Drives 2Gen Momentum Read More »
The Aspen Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP) Initiative at Ascend at the Aspen Institute hosted a two-day convening to mark entering its second phase. More than 50 researchers, philanthropists, higher education administrators, policymakers, and student parents gathered at the Aspen Institute office in Washington, D.C. for a strategy session titled, “Postsecondary Completion: What Works for …
Postsecondary Completion: What Works for Parents Read More »
Families must be at the center of any and all work to address intergenerational poverty. That’s why our Aspen ThinkXChange 2019, which focused on using a two-generation (2Gen) approach to advance family prosperity, began the way that it did – with more than 240 leaders (parents, practitioners, and policymakers) listening and learning from families. At …
Aspen ThinkXChange 2019: 240 Leaders Convene to Advance Family Prosperity Read More »
Two-generation (2Gen) convenings have the potential to create change for whole systems and the lives of the families they serve. This planning guide is the first step. Having planned and supported more than 100 2Gen convenings, Ascend has cultivated a depth of knowledge for the practical elements and nuanced factors that result in successful convenings. …
New Toolkit Offers Tips on Designing a 2Gen Convening Read More »
It was another great day of provocative conversation at ThinkXChange. Here are three of our favorite insights from the breakout group on cash transfers: “Poverty is the absence of cash flow. If you want to solve poverty, give people money. That’s it. We can solve poverty if we want to.” — Anthony Barrows, managing director …
The racial wealth gap is well-documented and undisputedly real. The median white family has 41 times more wealth than the median African-American family and 22 times more wealth than the median Latino family. And things are getting worse, not better: The proportion of black families with zero or negative wealth rose by 8.5 percent to …
Real solutions for closing the very real racial wealth gap Read More »
With family voices at the center, Ascend brought together leaders from across key issues and sectors at the Aspen ThinkXChange 2019: Advancing Family Prosperity on October 15-18 in Aspen, Colorado, to share bold ideas, generate new strategies, and identify critical partnerships to move families toward opportunity in the decade ahead. The convening highlighted inherent strengths of families with …
Aspen ThinkXChange 2019 Round-up: Materials and Videos Read More »
At the second Aspen Forum on Children and Families last month we brought together national leaders – policymakers, practitioners, researchers, philanthropists and parents – to surface big ideas for investing in the full potential of children and families, two generations at a time. Centering parents’ and caregivers’ perspectives is vital to Ascend and our work with …
Meeting Parents Where They Dream: Critical Voices and Lived Experiences Read More »
As state and federal lawmakers prepare for the year ahead, more than 350 practice and community leaders, policymakers, researchers, and philanthropists - including Ascend Fellows, Family Prosperity Innovators, and Ascend Network Partners - joined us at the 2019 Aspen Forum on Children and Families to harness this momentum for investing in the full potential of children and families, two generations at a time.