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Two-generation (2Gen) approaches are paving pathways for children and their families to reach their full potential together. This monthly newsletter highlights 2Gen practice and policy breakthroughs so you can cultivate innovation, collaborate within and outside your organization, and improve outcomes for whole families.
Advancing 2Gen By Moving Equity into Action
Advancing equity is one of five guiding principles of the 2Gen approach to ensure all children and all families can thrive. Ascend elevated opportunities to operationalize these principles during the 2024 Aspen ThinkXChange.
2Gen approaches aim to create a more equitable, inclusive economy by ensuring that communities who have been disadvantaged or damaged by the status quo have greater access to resources to pass on a legacy of success to the next generation. Working towards equity requires disrupting oppressive systems and policies, integrating strategies within institutional practices and day-to-day operations, and increasing cultural competency and representation when building relationships with families.
Ascend Fellow Erin Arango-Escalante, along with two of our Ascend Network Partners, LIFT and UTEC, led a convening session with us in October to explore how different sectors can collaborate to address systemic barriers and integrate equity into their everyday practice. Check out this new blog for successful strategies, practical steps, and reflection questions to help you operationalize equity in your work.
Upcoming Webinars & Convenings
Ascend at the Aspen Institute fosters dialogue with communities from across the country to build connections, learn from one another, and document promising practices for whole family well-being.
As the 2Gen movement continues to work with and for families in an uncertain political environment, Ascend is finding space for important conversations on leadership, trust, and innovation in the field. In April, we will be hosting a virtual conversation focused on the role of philanthropic leadership in a turbulent public funding landscape. We will also release our 2Gen Investment Case report, highlighting the role of brave investments in creating forward-thinking programs that support children and the adults in their lives together.
If you missed our February conversation, Building Trust in Turbulent Times, with our Founder and Executive Director Anne Mosle and Allyn Brooks-LaSure, Vice President of Communications at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, you can tune into the recording below. Anne and Allyn discuss the importance of trust when working with communities - and shared concrete solutions about how to build it.
Mass Deportation: What’s Happening to the Children?
Wednesday, March 19th
3:00 - 4:00 pm ET (12:00 - 1:00 pm PT)
Join Ascend Network Partner Brazelton Touchpoints Center's next episode of their Learning to Listen: Conversation for Change series. Mayra E. Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership, will provide an update on immigration policy, on-the-ground real-time implementation, impacts on children and family, and what is being and can be done to mitigate the trauma.
2Gen Stories & Accomplishments
Check out these new stories to inspire and advance how you partner with families.
$1.6M in Grants to Support the Flint CommunityThe Community Foundation of Greater Flint announced its first round of funding to support essential services in the community. One recipient, InvolvedDad, has received funding to continue their 2Gen program that equips Flint’s youth and families with tools for resilience and empowers service providers to build stronger family connections. Get more details in this mLive article. |
2Gen Helping Families Thrive in Bangor, MaineWith support from the John T. Gorman Foundation, an Ascend funder, BangorHousing and Boys & Girls Club of Bangor are partnering on the Moving Families Forward program. They offer a robust menu of support for parents and children, and they've seen resounding success over the last five years. Learn more in this Portland Press Herald article. |
Partnership for Students & CommunityEl Paso Community College, an Ascend Network Partner, is partnering with the United Way of El Paso County to offer services to students via 'Resiliency Navigators' on each campus. This will provide essential services to student parents, like child-friendly study spaces and family support programs, to help families thrive at home and in their studies. |
Deep Impact Grantmaking for Whole Family ProsperityWilliam J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation, an Ascend funder and Network Partner, wrote a blog about their philanthropic journey investing in 2Gen approaches, which started in 2018. Read her article for more insights and learnings from their work. |
Recent Research & Reports
Our 2Gen Resource Library has hundreds of free and evidence-informed materials to advance your 2Gen work. Read these new resources authored by Ascend staff, Ascend Fellows, and partners about building whole family well-being.
Paid Leave Means a Stronger Nation
Most working people in the United States – 73%, or 106 million people nationwide – do not have paid family leave through their jobs. The lack of paid leave exacerbates other economic and care challenges with devastating costs for workers and their families, public health, and our economy. The National Partnership for Women and Families released a state-by-state analysis that highlights the significant and growing need for a national paid family and medical leave law that covers workers in all 50 states and US territories.
Coordinating SNAP & Nutrition Supports to Reduce Child Hunger
The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) and No Kid Hungry are working to combat hunger for children and their families by aligning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) with other federal, state, and local nutrition supports. Learn more from their state case studies and impact reports.
Black Student Parents’ Access to Affordable Child Care Support at Community Colleges
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies released a new issue brief examining the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program to understand its impacts on Black student parents. Their analysis offers legislative proposals for congressional reauthorization and adequate appropriations for this critical child care program.
Contribute to the 2Gen Movement
Embedding family voice and community input are core to making a 2Gen approach relevant, accessible, and effective. Help us learn from your work and elevate your community's expertise on a national level.
The Aspen Institute Ascend Network is a community of more than 600 organizations from across the US and beyond that uses 2Gen approaches in their work so that children and families can reach their full potential. The Ascend Network connects leaders from across sectors with diverse areas of expertise so that we build relationships, spark connections, and co-create innovative solutions that lead to better outcomes for families. If your organization isn't already in the Network, take a 15-minute survey to join.
Thank you for all the work you do to improve outcomes for children and their families.
Best,
Sarah Haight
Director, 2Gen Practice
Ascend at the Aspen Institute
Stephanie Brueck-Cassoli
Senior Program Manager,
Ascend at the Aspen Institute
Jordan Colvin
Program Associate, 2Gen Practice
Ascend at the Aspen Institute
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