January 27, 2025 • 45 mins
Welcome to another episode in our series entitled: "Aging Unfiltered". In this episode, we talk to Dana Griffin, who is the Co-Founder and CEO of Eldera, a groundbreaking global platform connecting older and younger generations through meaningful conversations and wisdom sharing. Eldera operates on the profound belief that older adults are an untapped resource, uniquely equipped to address societal challenges and nurture the next generation. Eldera.ai is dedicated to fostering inclusive social environments that empower individuals across generations to connect, engage and learn from each other. By harnessing the power of technology, they created a platform where people who are over 60 years old and under 18 can experience meaningful, rewarding interactions that build relationships. Tune in to discover how Eldera is shaping the future of intergenerational social connections and promoting well-being for both young and older generations.
Resources
Ted Talk | The era of the elders: How embracing aging will transform our future
Negative stereotypes about aging may shorten your life by affecting will to live
Beautiful Theorems that Changed Math: Lee
Contact Information
Facebook: facebook.com/AgeGuide
Twitter: twitter.com/AgeGuide
Instagram: instagram.com/theageguidepodcast
Podcast: ageguide.org/the-age-guide-podcast
Website: ageguide.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
UNKNOWN (00:00):
you
SPEAKER_01 (00:04):
Welcome to the Age Guide podcast, Perspectives on
the Aging Journey.
I'm your host, GretchenKnowlton, and today we have a
guest whose work is deeplypersonal to me.
Dana Griffin is the co-founderand CEO of Eldera, a
groundbreaking global platformconnecting older and younger
(00:25):
generations through meaningfulconversations and wisdom
sharing.
Eldera operates on the profoundbelief that older Adults are an
untapped resource uniquelyequipped to address societal
challenges and nurture the nextgeneration.
Aldera has been recognized as asocial prescription by the
(00:49):
Cleveland Clinic and as a casestudy for using AI to reconnect
generations by the UN's AI forGood.
It has also been featured byMSNBC, USA Today, The Atlantic,
The Wall Street Journal, TheWashington Post, and CNN, also
(01:10):
named Aldera as one of their2023 Good News of the Year.
Before founding Aldera, Dana wasa successful data and
advertising executive recognizedby Ad Age as one of their 40
under 40 for transforming theadvertising industry.
Dana's work has been showcasedby Columbia University, Harvard
(01:33):
Business School, and StanfordCenter for Aging, and quoted in
bestselling books on healthyaging.
Outside of her professionallife, Dana speaks six languages,
enjoys reading utopian sci-fi,Vedic meditation, and exploring
diverse wisdom traditions andcultures.
(01:54):
Dana, welcome to the podcast.
It's such an honor to have youhere today.
SPEAKER_02 (02:00):
Oh, the honor is all mine.
Thank you so much for having me,Gretchen.
SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
Oh, you are so welcome.
It is our privilege.
And I want to share withlisteners on a personal note
that my own daughterparticipates in Eldera.
And through her connection, I'vehad the pleasure of witnessing
the magic of theseintergenerational bonds
firsthand through thisconnection.
(02:26):
And I've gotten to know Dana,and I hope I'm not alone in
thinking that we've becomefriends ourselves, which really
speaks to the warmth andauthenticity that you bring to
this incredible mission, Dana.
SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Well, thank you so much, and thank you for the kind
words.
You're going to make me cry.
You know, every otherrelationship, like your
daughter's, is completelyunique, and the magic is
actually between the two peoplethat connect.
All we do at Eldera is createthe platform and the safety and
(03:02):
the resources to make thatconnection happen.
But the magic comes from thepeople and it always will.
SPEAKER_01 (03:08):
That's true.
That's true.
But I feel like even that littlebit of magic has a broader
effect and it spreads.
So like as a parent, I have arelationship with my daughter's
mentor now too.
And I've gotten to know you andother amazing people at Eldera.
So it spreads and it continues.
And my daughter tells otherpeople about her mentor and then
(03:29):
they sign up for Eldera.
So it's really a neat cycle ofconnection.
SPEAKER_02 (03:36):
Thank you.
Thank you.
That's the hope.
That's the hope.
And thank you for saying that.
We love hearing that.
You know, we've been buildingEldera for four and a half
years, but we feel like it'sjust day one every day.
So we're excited to hear aboutevery single story and every
life that we touch and everyfamily that we touch with
(03:57):
Eldera.
SPEAKER_01 (03:58):
Perfect.
And we're excited to have youshare with our listeners today.
And just this chance to be ableto sit down with you and ask you
some questions.
I have so many things I want toask you.
But first, I'm going to ask youa question that I learned from
you, because you said that youlike to ask people what their
superpower is, because everybodybrings unique gifts to the
(04:21):
world, right?
So I'm going to ask you, Dana,what is your superpower?
What is your superpower?
SPEAKER_02 (04:27):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
I love that question.
As you know, it's built intoevery facet of Eldera.
So I'd say my very obvioussuperpower is that I'm good at
building relationships.
And that's actually built infundamentally at Eldera because
we match and connect people forweekly virtual conversations.
(04:52):
And that matching is Honestly,initially, based on my
experience, I was hand-matchingeveryone initially, and I still
approve every final match.
SPEAKER_01 (05:05):
Oh, do you?
I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_02 (05:07):
Yeah.
It was very exciting.
My team is not that excitedabout it.
They're implementing all thealgorithms to pull me out of the
product, but one of...
because it is my superpower,it's also one of my favorite
things to do.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
So thank you for
SPEAKER_02 (05:26):
asking.
Thank you.
Thank
SPEAKER_01 (05:27):
you.
Yes.
Eldera is such a unique platformand it focuses on that
connection, like you said,between older adults and younger
generations.
What was the inspiration behindthis idea?
Can you start by telling us howyou came to be involved in this?
Yes,
SPEAKER_02 (05:46):
absolutely.
So I'll just tell you that Inever expected to be a founder.
And that was not the goal.
I was raised in Transylvania inRomania, and I was raised by my
grandparents.
And I continue to surroundmyself with older adults my
(06:06):
entire life.
To this day, at least a third ofmy friends are between 60s and
90s.
And I know who to go to foradvice from anything from
investment to healthcare, torecipes and to dating.
And I pursued, I came to theUnited States for university and
(06:28):
I ended up staying because Ifell in love with this country.
And I ended up pursuing a careerin advertising and data, as you
mentioned earlier.
And I thought that was thetrajectory that I was on until
my closest mentor, elder motherfigure in New York, Linda, ended
up being diagnosed with braincancer and passing away.
(06:53):
And when that happened, I wascompletely struck by grief.
There's no going around it.
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (07:01):
I just wanted to do something that celebrated her
memory.
And You know, she wasinstrumental in my life, as have
been several amazing olderadults throughout my life.
She changed the trajectory of mylife.
So I figured, what if every kidcould have a Linda, like I had
(07:22):
my Linda, and you have yourPatty.
So that was the impetus forstarting Eldera.
And initially, it was an idea.
And People started hearing aboutit and joining the mission and
we started building it together.
So now we're four and a halfyears in.
We have mentors like Linda wasfor me and Patty is for you
(07:45):
today.
In all 50 states, all of ourmentors are background checked,
but kids sign up from all overthe world and their parents sign
them up from all over the world.
And our two biggest countriesare the U.S.
and South Korea.
If you had told me this when Istarted Eldera in 2020, I would
have been blown away.
(08:07):
I never, ever expected this tohappen.
SPEAKER_01 (08:10):
It's really taken off and you have exciting plans
for the future too.
The thing I love most aboutEldera is how it values the
contributions of both the youngmentees and the older adult
mentors.
Can you share a bit more abouthow your platform works?
SPEAKER_02 (08:28):
Sure.
So we believe that everyone hassomething to contribute and
something to teach and alsosomething to learn.
So the way our platform works isour core service, if you want,
is one on one intergenerationalconnection.
It's the mentoring componentwhere mentors and parents and
(08:50):
kids sign up.
And we use their profiles tomatch them for weekly virtual
conversations.
And some of these conversations,as you know, have been going on
for over four years every week.
They use video to talk weeklyand, you know, they form a bond.
The kids actually call it thebond.
(09:10):
We didn't come up with it.
And it's just incredible to see.
What's underlying the one-on-onementoring is an entire community
of older adults with a purpose.
And mentors support each otherin being better mentors.
And they support me and the teamin building Eldera better.
And, you know, just going backto Patty, who we love.
(09:33):
You know, Patty is retired andshe spends her days at home.
So she came up with the idea ofcreating socials for the other
mentors so that nobody ever hasto feel alone, even in between
talking to the kids.
So now she started also a bookclub, which is her first book
(09:54):
club ever that she runs.
And mentors love it so much.
And older adults love it so muchthat we're actually expanding
the product so that people cansign up just to be part of the
social network of older adultswith a purpose and be able to
(10:14):
collaborate, learn and teachfrom other older adults.
as they get ready andcomfortable mentoring a young
person.
So
SPEAKER_01 (10:22):
they don't have to sign up initially as a mentor.
They might not be ready.
They might be a little scared.
They want to learn moreinformation.
They can join this amazing grouparound the country, getting
together virtually, and they canbuild some social connections.
SPEAKER_02 (10:37):
Exactly.
And frankly, one of the coolestthings we've learned is that
older adults who met at Elderastruck up friendships.
And now some of them createdwalking groups in their
communities.
To get together in person?
So cool.
Yes, they get together inperson.
(10:57):
And we are so excited about thisbecause, as I mentioned before,
we background check older adultsinitially to keep the kids safe.
SPEAKER_00 (11:04):
But
SPEAKER_02 (11:05):
now what we realize is that the older adults are
safe together because they knoweveryone out there has
background check.
So if they decide to go for acoffee walk with someone, they
know that person went throughthe exact same level of vetting
that they have and they're safe
SPEAKER_01 (11:20):
together.
They can feel really safe tomeet up with a stranger, so to
speak, and do some fun together.
SPEAKER_02 (11:26):
Nice.
Exactly.
Which you know better thananyone is one of the key things
to being able to age in place.
Yes.
Those social
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
connections, so, so critical.
And that intergenerationalsocial connection is extremely
important.
special and powerful.
And that is a big part of yourmentorship concept, right?
So can you share some maybesuccess stories or impactful
(11:55):
moments that you've seen on thisplatform where the older adults
have really made a difference inthe lives of the younger
generation?
I'd love to hear your stories.
SPEAKER_02 (12:07):
I have so many stories of this, but I'll start
with the most recent one, whichwas so wonderful and unexpected.
We were just approached by theBoston Globe to write a story
about Aldera, which we love andsaid yes to immediately.
And they asked us to interviewsome mentors and mentees.
(12:30):
And one of the mentees, she's 12years old, and she told a
reporter that on zoom that hermentor is her secret weapon oh
that she is winning at schooland at life because of her
mentor and that i quote italmost feels like cheating
because other kids don't have akathleen
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
that's so amazing
SPEAKER_02 (12:54):
love it game over yes i cannot put it any better a
great spokesperson for alderaThis is the really cool thing.
I'm so grateful to be invitedand so honored, but I'm actually
not qualified to use Eldera.
I am not over 60 or under 18.
(13:16):
So our mentors and our menteesand our parents like you, are in
fact better spokespeople forwhat we do because they're the
ones who benefit directly fromEldera.
SPEAKER_01 (13:27):
Right.
And I'm sure they have tons ofstories and we are going to do a
little bit of interviewing mydaughter and her mentor, Patty,
later on.
So folks will be able to hearlike how that relationship works
and what these sessions are likefor the kids and the mentors.
So you're right.
They do a great job of speakingfor Eldera.
They have such a greatexperience and they want to
(13:48):
share it with the world.
SPEAKER_02 (13:49):
Exactly.
I'm so excited about it.
You know, another story thatcomes to mind, two quick ones.
One of our mentors, actually inthe Chicago area, we paired him
up with an 11-year-old boy.
And the mentor has a long andillustrious career in public
health.
And he said, hey, you seem to bereally good at math.
(14:12):
You seem to be really specialabout it.
You should write a book.
I will help you.
Wow.
They did.
They did.
They wrote a book together?
They wrote a book.
The kid wrote the book aboutmath.
Oh, wow.
The mentor wrote the foreword.
They published it.
It's for sale on Amazon.
It's called Beautiful TheoremsThat Changed Math.
(14:34):
How?
By an 11-year-old.
Here's the kicker.
They decided to give all theproceeds to the American
Pediatric Cancer Society.
And they're already working onsomething new.
So...
I want you to take a moment andthink about this is what we call
the magic.
Yes.
(14:54):
Not scripted.
In fact, we are the onlyplatform that has no curriculum
because we truly believe thatolder adults are the last
generation who still know how tobuild true human connection and
how to see what's special inanother person.
Why do you think that is?
(15:15):
I think because several reasons.
Once, they grew up withoutmobile phones and without the
internet.
True, yes.
They did, and they were, forbetter or worse, they had to
build relationships, not justwith family and school, but
peers and communities early on.
There's something else that wetalk about a lot at Eldera, is
(15:39):
that older adults, and even ourgeneration, Gretchen, we grew up
with the idea of go out thereand change the world.
See what you can do.
Be brave.
Make a difference.
Yep.
The difference, right?
Well, the young people todaywent through COVID.
Social media is really, reallyplaguing them.
(16:02):
There's so much research aroundhow it's bad for them.
And they're dealing with a lotof existential crisis.
Yes.
So while we were told to go outthere and change the world, they
are told to go out there andsave the world.
SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Oh, interesting.
Yes.
There's a real distinctionthere.
It's a very big lot of pressure.
So much pressure.
And it implies that things arebroken and it's their job to fix
it.
SPEAKER_02 (16:31):
Which is a lot and they feel alone.
They are actually the loneliestgeneration.
You know, you and I are in theaging field and we are told that
older adults are lonely.
And they are.
One in three older adults arelonely.
And that's bad.
What's actually worst is that71% of teenagers feel lonely.
(16:53):
Wow.
71%.
That's
SPEAKER_01 (16:55):
almost all of them.
SPEAKER_02 (16:56):
It's almost all of them.
And when they do, they don't yethave the coping mechanisms to
deal with it.
SPEAKER_01 (17:02):
Right.
They're still young and theirbrains are still developing.
SPEAKER_02 (17:05):
They're young.
So they need some
SPEAKER_01 (17:07):
help.
SPEAKER_02 (17:08):
Yeah, exactly.
They go to social media.
They go to chatbots.
That's exacerbating theirloneliness, which is then
leading them to a mental healthcrisis.
So they fundamentally need totalk to a human.
They do.
Yes.
And I think you and I talkedabout this before, but there's
research from the Harvard Centerfor Childhood Development that
(17:30):
shows that when kids formtrusted one-on-one relationships
with non-parental adults, ithelps them build resilience.
And resilience is really a keyto thriving.
So, you know, that's theresearch.
But the truth is, we've seen atEldera for four and a half years
(17:51):
now.
Those
SPEAKER_01 (17:51):
intergenerational relationships are so beautiful.
Did you have one more story youwanted to share?
You said three, I might'veinterrupted you.
Oh
SPEAKER_02 (18:00):
yes, I do have one more story.
This is so cute.
We have a mentor in Florida andher mentee was a teenager, a
high schooler going into hersenior year and trying to get
her first job.
And she had a really hard timegetting her first job and she
was beating herself up for it.
So the mentor came up with thisstrategy that every morning she
(18:24):
had to do affirmations in themirror.
I am smart.
I am worthy.
I'm hardworking, all the things.
And the mentee told us thatinitially she thought it was
really silly.
She didn't want to do it.
Yeah, it's not cool.
But the mentor told her, soshe's like, yeah, what's the
(18:45):
harm?
So she did it for a week andthen she got a job.
after trying for two months.
And listen, I'm sure there weremany factors that came into
play, but the mentee says thatit was because she listened to
her mentor and she did theaffirmations that she got the
job.
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
And it was a boost to her confidence, even just
knowing that her mentor wasbehind her, giving her a
suggestion and a little bit of ashoe in to what she wanted in
life.
SPEAKER_02 (19:15):
Exactly, exactly.
And don't we all need
SPEAKER_01 (19:18):
that at the end of the
SPEAKER_02 (19:19):
day?
SPEAKER_01 (19:19):
That is so beautiful.
Such great stories.
I'm just overcome by the impactthat this program is having.
I just, every time I talk toyou, I learn new things about
the impact.
Thank you.
And, you know,
SPEAKER_02 (19:31):
talking about impact, one of the biggest
impacts is actually on thementors.
You know, there is so muchresearch run by Dean Linda Freed
back when she was at JohnsHopkins, but there's I can go on
and on about the research thatwhen older adults engage in
healthy social connection, inparticular intergenerational
(19:53):
connection, it halts and incertain cases reverses early
cognitive decline.
Dean Fried was able to provethis with fMRIs.
So it's not just a qualitativemeasurement.
And this is research that thelisteners can find on the NIH
website.
So when older adults engageengage and help young people or
(20:17):
just listen to them and have funand play games, they directly
contribute to their own health.
Profoundly so.
Let me tell you, Gretchen,there's no longevity supplement
that you can take out there thathas a fraction of the benefits
that meaningful socialconnections have.
(20:38):
And in fact, the longeststanding Harvard research, I
think it's going in the 88thdecade now, shows that the only
marker of longevity is healthysocial connection.
It's not smoking.
It's not education.
It's not even cholesterol.
If you have meaningful socialconnections and people who you
(21:01):
love and love you and who lookforward to seeing you, that is
going to lead to healthylongevity.
SPEAKER_01 (21:08):
It impacts your physical, your mental health and
your longevity.
Mm hmm.
Those are great statistics toshare.
We can put a link in the shownotes to that research that you
mentioned.
So we've been investigating andtalking a lot about ageism in
our culture and how that affectsall of us, how it impacts young
(21:30):
people, it impacts middle-agedpeople, and older adults
especially are harmed by that.
How do you think theseintergenerational relationships
impact our societal views aboutaging.
Because I think you guys arechanging the world all over the
place.
And I think theseintergenerational relationships
(21:51):
are going to have an impact onour society overall.
But I'd love to hear yourthoughts on that.
SPEAKER_02 (21:57):
I completely agree on that.
First, let's start with theproblem.
Ageism is a huge problem.
And it's even more than beingimposed on older adults.
Our personal...
attitude around aging can affectour longevity by up to nine
(22:21):
years, seven or nine years.
So if we're good about aging andwe're optimistic about it, we're
going to live on average sevento nine years longer.
First of all, it's self-imposed.
And that's something that we canwork on and change right away
with technology.
In fact, you and I talked alittle bit about this.
(22:42):
This is the next product thatwe're going to launch.
You know, when an older adultsigns up for Aldera, we ask them
a series of questions.
We ask them about theirsuperpower and we ask them to
share with us about their lifeand their passions.
And we learn so much about themand we use that information in
matching, which is why 94% ofthe people that we connect and
(23:05):
talk once go on to TalkingWeekly.
Well, we realized we nevershowed them how special we think
they are.
So our new product invites everyolder adult over 60 who does not
have a criminal background.
We do criminal background checkto join Aldera as a member.
And we're going to remind themwe created what we call a wisdom
(23:28):
portrait.
that reminds them and societywhy they're so incredibly
valuable and how they arecontributing.
Okay,
SPEAKER_01 (23:35):
this sounds amazing.
What is a wisdom portrait?
SPEAKER_02 (23:39):
So a wisdom portrait takes all the information that
you want to share about yourselfin the Eldera signup and
summarizes it in And also youupload your photo and we show
the impact that you're having.
We show your superpower.
We show your wisdom.
We show how people can benefitfrom it and connect to you
(24:02):
because of those things.
And then you can choose to takebaby steps.
You can first connect with otherolder adults like you in the
community.
And then when you're ready, youcan start helping a young
person.
And then the ultimate thing, theultimate goal is the one-on-one
weekly mentoring, like yourdaughter, because that has the
(24:22):
highest health benefits and lifebenefits for both.
But step one is for older adultsto stop feeling invisible.
You know, as I mentioned at thebeginning, I was raised by my
grandparents and I just lovegravitating around older adults.
And I am so heartbroken whenthey say, say that they feel
(24:46):
invisible because they'rebrilliant right and they have
incredible life experience
SPEAKER_01 (24:53):
so much to offer and share
SPEAKER_02 (24:55):
much to offer and you know this from personal
experience but when kids joinaldera they do not drop their
mentors you know um our churn isvery low because Older adults
are in very, very high demand atAldera.
Today, we have over 900 parentsand kids in the waitlist.
(25:15):
Wow.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (25:17):
no.
And
SPEAKER_02 (25:17):
a
SPEAKER_01 (25:17):
lot of your mentors have more than one child mentor,
right?
Yeah.
So you keep them busy, too, andyou still have a waitlist.
We still have a waitlist.
But we need more older adults
SPEAKER_02 (25:28):
to sign up.
We do.
We need them to realize thatthey are very, very needed.
And if you don't believe it,just sign up.
We'll connect you with peoplewho really need you and want to
talk to you and want to hearfrom you.
In fact, the funniest thing I'llsay is that we've learned from
older adults that if the mentoris even five minutes late on the
(25:50):
Zoom, the kid is like, excuseme.
I've been waiting.
Where were you?
I'm ready.
I have so much to tell you.
And it's so lovely.
Yes, it's so.
So, yeah, it's it's truly aboutbuilding through human
relationships, especially inthis world that where we see
chatbots and AI and social mediareplacing a lot of those
(26:14):
authentic conversations.
We just talk to someone who isnot perfect.
is not perfect, who has livedthrough life, who has stories to
tell and who you know, we canlearn from and they can learn
from us.
I cannot even tell you how manymentors read Harry Potter and
know about K-pop and everythingthat's cool with kids way more
(26:36):
than me because I don't havekids.
SPEAKER_01 (26:38):
Right, because they have to keep up with their
mentees.
So it's good for both of them.
They're learning new things fromeach other.
And because of the way you matchthem, they already usually have
some things in common that theycan start a conversation from
and some interests in common,which is also what wonderful
thing about Eldera is that wholematching system.
But yeah, I know from experiencewhen we miss a session, we're
(27:02):
out of town or the mentor's outof time, my daughter really
misses that time.
She looks forward to it.
And during the week, she savesup ideas and things that she
wants to talk to Miss Pattyabout.
And she even texts with MissPatty.
And I feel safe about thatbecause I know there's
background checks in place.
And it's like the one thing thatshe can do independently on
social media that I don't worryabout.
(27:24):
You know, if she wants toconnect with Miss Patty, I have
no worry about that at all.
It's like the best way for herto engage in text messaging and
social media is with Miss Patty.
So that's another great thingabout it.
It's like that safe space andthat parents can feel
comfortable with thatrelationship.
SPEAKER_02 (27:43):
That's exactly it.
You know, we set a goal and wewill continue to outpace
everybody any standards insafety so right now at aldera we
not only background check uh allof the older adults we also vet
them on top of that we trainthem and we record every
(28:04):
conversation so if there's anyquestion we can pull the
recording and as you know we askparents to be involved and
introduce themselves and get toknow the mentor So there are so
many different things that weput into place to make sure that
kids are safe, older adults aresafe, and the entire community
(28:27):
is safe and thriving.
SPEAKER_01 (28:28):
That's a beautiful thing.
Having a safe space.
There's just nothing like it.
So we need to get more olderadults involved.
We need to spread the word aboutthis.
What are your dreams for thefuture of this platform?
Like, where do you want to go?
There's so many things you cando.
SPEAKER_02 (28:47):
Well, thank you for asking that.
You know, Eldera stands for theera of the elders.
And as you mentioned at thebeginning, we truly understand
that older adults are the onlyuntapped and growing natural
resource on the planet.
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (29:06):
What a great way to frame that.
SPEAKER_02 (29:07):
Thank you.
And we're squandering it today.
You know, we have a billionpeople over 60 today.
By the time I'm going to be inmy 60s in 2050, we're going to
have 2.1 billion.
And we need an infrastructurethat leverages this incredible
lived experience and wisdom.
(29:29):
And the first application wehave for it is to help kids
because we rely so much on youngpeople.
But that's just the firstapplication.
We believe that when olderadults are supported by
technology, they can truly solvesome of the larger societal
(29:49):
challenges.
So we're starting with mentalhealth and loneliness, because
frankly, there is no globalsolution to loneliness.
And if you tell me that talkingto a chatbot is going to make
you less lonely, I'm going toreally, really worry about you.
That's
SPEAKER_01 (30:03):
right.
The chatbot is not where it'sat.
No.
SPEAKER_02 (30:07):
It's not where it's at.
Only human connection can make ahuman less lonely.
And How wonderful that we havethis incredible worldwide
resource.
So my goal is to initially getevery kid and older adult in
America on Eldera, supportingeach other.
Because when we do that, welower the cost.
(30:27):
pretty much erase loneliness inolder adults.
And we lower the cost of mentalhealth in kids and make both of
their lives better.
We extend
SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
people's longevity.
We save health care costsbecause we're improving health
outcomes for both the kids andthe adults.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (30:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, you know, how incredibleand simplistic that one
technology supporting onerelationship can solve
everything.
two of the largest currenthealthcare challenges on the
planet, which is loneliness andmental health.
You're right.
That is
SPEAKER_01 (31:04):
powerful.
SPEAKER_02 (31:05):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I invite every older adultover 60.
If you're younger than 60, youdo not qualify yet.
You need to gather more wisdom.
SPEAKER_00 (31:17):
Keep working on it.
SPEAKER_02 (31:19):
Yes.
But if you're over 60 and youdon't have a criminal
background, please join Eldera.
Join us as a member.
Check us out.
And then when you're ready,hopefully you'll start impacting
a kid's life just like Patty'sdoing.
SPEAKER_01 (31:33):
Great.
I hope our listeners will takeyou up on that offer.
So wonderful.
This has just been a fabulousconversation.
Thank you so much, Dana, forwhat you're doing and what
you're creating and putting outinto the world and for your time
today and sharing that with uson this podcast.
It has been a wonderfulconversation.
SPEAKER_02 (31:54):
Thank you so much.
I'm so grateful to be able toshare Aldera with your listeners
and to be able to talk to youand learn from you about your
experience and our friendship.
It's been great.
Thank you, Dana.
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
Before we wrap up today's episode, we wanted to
take a moment to hear directlyfrom the people who are at the
heart of Aldera.
These are the voices of twopeople who are experiencing the
real world impact of thisplatform.
I'm about to have a casualconversation with my daughter,
(32:33):
Margo, and her mentor, Patty,who have formed a strong bond
through Aldera.
So stick around as we dive intoa special interview where
they'll share their personalstories and insights with us.
Hey, that was perfect timing.
(32:55):
All right, good.
How are you guys?
Good, how are you?
I'm good.
Did you have a goodThanksgiving?
Yeah, I did.
It was fun.
Yeah, me too.
I went to Vermont and it snowed.
You told me.
It's funny because I was lookingat your questions, and one of
your questions was, what do wetalk about?
(33:16):
Well, we talk about everything,but we do talk about our
families a lot.
Yeah.
You know, and it goes both ways.
We do.
We talk about our, because ourfamilies are our world,
basically.
SPEAKER_00 (33:32):
You
SPEAKER_01 (33:33):
know, the people we live with, you know, or in my
case, the grown-up and left andbuilt their own families.
So that's what we talk aboutthat.
We also talk about food a lot.
We both, both
SPEAKER_00 (33:48):
are foodies.
SPEAKER_01 (33:54):
We talk about just about anything, don't we, Margo?
Yeah.
Just about anything.
I mean, whatever was going onthat day or something that
happened that day or we just,and I just, You always, we
always end up laughing.
I will never forget the firstmeeting when you were kind of
like, I don't know how she'll dowith you.
(34:15):
And like five minutes in, she'slike, see you, mom.
Yeah, she wanted me to leaveimmediately.
This is my friend.
You can go.
You can be signed up.
So let's go.
I actually have learned a greatdeal about Down syndrome.
SPEAKER_00 (34:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:29):
Because of all the...
of all the kids withdisabilities that I've worked
with, I have never worked withone with Down syndrome.
And I can remember when I firstmet you, you told me in the
email, Gretchen, that she likesto talk about her diagnosis.
So I purposely did not Googleanything about Down syndrome
because I wanted Margo to teachme.
(34:52):
And she has.
And she's really shared so muchabout what it's like and the
joys and the sorrows.
SPEAKER_00 (35:05):
A lot of songs I always listen to.
SPEAKER_01 (35:08):
Yeah.
So I've learned a great dealabout, and I still haven't
Googled anything about Down
SPEAKER_00 (35:14):
syndrome.
Oh my gosh.
To that day.
SPEAKER_01 (35:17):
Which is, you know, because I Google everything.
Okay.
But then you just end up withthe stereotypes.
And if you've met one personwith Down syndrome, you've met
one person with Down syndrome.
They're all different.
So this leaves you open tounderstanding it.
Yep.
It really did.
And I'm glad that I was smartenough to wait for her to teach
(35:37):
me.
That was very smart.
I love it.
Do you remember the day that Icame on with the can of whipped
cream and you were like, what iswrong with this woman?
I said to her, I had a can ofwhipped cream in my hand.
And I said, hi, Margo.
And I just squirted whippedcream into my mouth.
And I said, does that tell youwhat kind of a day I'm having?
(35:58):
And she looked at me like, okay,girl, whatever you think.
The best thing about Margo is Iam, I know there's emotional
(36:18):
safety there.
I know she's going to accept meno matter what, even when I'm
being completely goofy with acan of whipped
SPEAKER_00 (36:27):
cream.
I never let you live that down.
Yep.
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (36:34):
She is.
She is.
I'm team Margo and she's teamPatty.
Yep.
And I like that a lot.
Yep.
She's a very loyal friend.
yeah what is your favorite thingabout
SPEAKER_00 (36:47):
oh um i think she's very very funny you talked about
her life all the time but i lovethose stories and i think and
how she's very positive all thetime and i like that she's gonna
be very nice
SPEAKER_01 (37:03):
now we've never said a mean word to each other i
don't think we've ever had acrossword i don't think even
though there's been a coupletimes we needed to have some
serious talks they worked outreally well i
SPEAKER_00 (37:16):
think it's because we can't see the end and we want
to grow from our
SPEAKER_01 (37:21):
own i think it's because at the core we really
care about each other verydeeply yeah Very much so.
I was looking through my oldemails for the link for this
call today.
And I went way back to thebeginning.
And I realized that this monthis your three-year anniversary.
That's right.
(37:42):
Oh, my gosh.
That's right.
Wow, three years.
Oh,
SPEAKER_00 (37:48):
my gosh.
If you help me through them, Ithink it's amazing about
friendship.
SPEAKER_01 (37:54):
It has been so wonderful to watch her grow and
change these last three years.
And I know that you don't thinkof teenagers as growing and
changing.
I'm talking more emotionally andmaturity wise.
I've seen such a difference inher.
I mean, it's just been such apleasure to watch.
Can you think of a couple thingsthat you've learned from Miss
(38:17):
Manny?
Specific things you've learnedfrom her?
I learned to always look on thebright side of things.
Oh, because you're so positive,you said.
Yeah.
And I learned that not everyoneis going to like me, which is
okay.
And that's okay?
Yeah.
A lot of people do, a lot ofpeople don't, and that's okay.
Have you learned anything fromMargot?
Oh, my gosh.
(38:41):
Well...
she reminded me what it's liketo be a teenager and that it's
not always easy.
And it brought back some ofthose feelings that I kind of
had, you know, I was like, Oh, Iremember feeling like that.
I'm feeling like awkward withpeople and, and like, Oh, do I
(39:02):
fit in those kinds of worries?
Yeah.
We, we, And I've learned, oh mygosh, I don't even know how to
tell you how much I've learnedfrom her.
Such, such a wealth ofunderstanding and, and
friendship that I never expectedto find in someone so young,
SPEAKER_00 (39:26):
you know,
SPEAKER_01 (39:27):
to feel like I'm, I'm, I don't think I'm talking
to, I'm talking to an 18 yearold girl.
I just think I'm talking toMargo and she's my friend.
And the age, you know, we, Imean, the age is there, but
it's, it doesn't hit me in theface.
It's really, it's really aboutwhat's inside.
(39:49):
You know, it's so funny becauseI've had people say, why would
kids want to talk to an oldperson?
And I'm like, I don't know what,you know, friends are friends
who cares what age.
SPEAKER_00 (40:02):
Yeah.
It's a different.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (40:05):
Yeah.
You are who you are.
And I do try to accepteverybody.
Yeah.
I mean,
SPEAKER_00 (40:11):
I can remember who she is.
It has gray hair.
It does fine.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (40:15):
exactly.
You know, and we're like that.
She's like, you know, shedoesn't see my gray hair and
wrinkles.
And I don't notice, I don't seethe, I don't see down syndrome
when I look at her.
I just see Margo's eyes.
I see Margo's eyes and Margo'sshining through those eyes.
And I, the rest of it isn'tthere.
It's just, I see Margo.
(40:35):
Awesome.
She's a cool kid.
She's a cool kid.
You are a cool kid.
SPEAKER_00 (40:40):
Thank you.
And Patty's a great mentor.
SPEAKER_01 (40:42):
Yeah, all around.
Now, these have been really,this really have, and you know,
and she's, there was a day lastspring that she really, she
really was far more aware oftuned into me more than I ever
(41:04):
realized she was.
And it was when my husband wasgoing through some heart testing
and things.
And I was, and I was worried,but I didn't say anything to
her.
We got on that day and, youknow, we were talking, I thought
we were just being normal andshe just stops and she goes, are
you okay?
Yeah.
That's what she said to me.
(41:24):
She says, are you okay?
She said, And she literallysaid, are you worried about your
husband?
Yeah.
Would you like to talk about it?
Yeah.
And I just thought my and I wasI literally almost started to
cry right there.
And I was like, you know what?
I really would like to becauseit's kind of worrying me.
(41:45):
And she just listened to theboring stuff about tests and
and, you know, that kind ofstuff.
But it felt so nice to talkabout it.
Because we really weren'ttelling our families or our kids
yet because we wanted to waituntil we had all the results.
So it was so nice to go, I cantell Margo.
I really appreciated that somuch for you to notice that I
(42:10):
wasn't being myself.
SPEAKER_00 (42:12):
Yeah.
I mean, I always say, tell meeverything to my friends when
they're upset.
And I think telling you that Youknow,
SPEAKER_01 (42:29):
what my mother would call grown-up things, you know,
that she's never had.
You know, being an older personand you start thinking about
medical stuff.
And it was just so nice becauseI was worried.
And I guess maybe she justpicked up that I, and it was,
she was definitely tuned in.
(42:49):
It has been so nice to get toknow you and to know that Margo
has someone in her life that Itotally trust for her to come
and talk to.
That's the other great thing.
Yeah.
The way the match system worksand the safety and everything in
Eldera really helps.
And I tell her and I tell all myEldera kids that everything we
(43:09):
say, I don't repeat to anybodyunless I feel that there's a
danger of some kind orthere's...
something that really needs tobe addressed.
Other than that, everything wesay is between us.
And you like having that privateplace where you can have
conversations and where you cansay stuff that you don't want
anybody else to hear.
(43:29):
And Eldera did a lot.
And I think I've told Margo thisbefore, but during the pandemic
with my chronic health issues, Ibecame so isolated and And
Eldera really, and Margo, andlooking forward to talking to
her every week.
(43:50):
And then doing more, gettingmore and more involved in Eldera
with the social things.
It's really helped a lot.
It's really helped a lot.
And I am now getting out moreand more, which feels good.
But there was a period of timewhere I was quite isolated.
And Eldera, I mean, I literallyfeel like it saved me.
(44:11):
And Margo, you helped me.
have a sense of purpose again.
But to reconnect with kids waswonderful.
It was good to talk with you,Gretchen.
Thank you for this.
You too.
Thank you so much for doingthis.
I really appreciate it.
My pleasure.
Believe me.
Thank you for listening to TheAge Guide, Perspectives on the
(44:33):
Aging Journey.
Age Guide coordinates andadministers many services for
older adults in NortheasternIllinois.
Thank you, and we will see younext time on The Age Guide.
(45:10):
Guide podcast.
you
SPEAKER_01 (00:04):
Welcome to the Age Guide podcast, Perspectives on
the Aging Journey.
I'm your host, GretchenKnowlton, and today we have a
guest whose work is deeplypersonal to me.
Dana Griffin is the co-founderand CEO of Eldera, a
groundbreaking global platformconnecting older and younger
(00:25):
generations through meaningfulconversations and wisdom
sharing.
Eldera operates on the profoundbelief that older Adults are an
untapped resource uniquelyequipped to address societal
challenges and nurture the nextgeneration.
Aldera has been recognized as asocial prescription by the
(00:49):
Cleveland Clinic and as a casestudy for using AI to reconnect
generations by the UN's AI forGood.
It has also been featured byMSNBC, USA Today, The Atlantic,
The Wall Street Journal, TheWashington Post, and CNN, also
(01:10):
named Aldera as one of their2023 Good News of the Year.
Before founding Aldera, Dana wasa successful data and
advertising executive recognizedby Ad Age as one of their 40
under 40 for transforming theadvertising industry.
Dana's work has been showcasedby Columbia University, Harvard
(01:33):
Business School, and StanfordCenter for Aging, and quoted in
bestselling books on healthyaging.
Outside of her professionallife, Dana speaks six languages,
enjoys reading utopian sci-fi,Vedic meditation, and exploring
diverse wisdom traditions andcultures.
(01:54):
Dana, welcome to the podcast.
It's such an honor to have youhere today.
SPEAKER_02 (02:00):
Oh, the honor is all mine.
Thank you so much for having me,Gretchen.
SPEAKER_01 (02:04):
Oh, you are so welcome.
It is our privilege.
And I want to share withlisteners on a personal note
that my own daughterparticipates in Eldera.
And through her connection, I'vehad the pleasure of witnessing
the magic of theseintergenerational bonds
firsthand through thisconnection.
(02:26):
And I've gotten to know Dana,and I hope I'm not alone in
thinking that we've becomefriends ourselves, which really
speaks to the warmth andauthenticity that you bring to
this incredible mission, Dana.
SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Well, thank you so much, and thank you for the kind
words.
You're going to make me cry.
You know, every otherrelationship, like your
daughter's, is completelyunique, and the magic is
actually between the two peoplethat connect.
All we do at Eldera is createthe platform and the safety and
(03:02):
the resources to make thatconnection happen.
But the magic comes from thepeople and it always will.
SPEAKER_01 (03:08):
That's true.
That's true.
But I feel like even that littlebit of magic has a broader
effect and it spreads.
So like as a parent, I have arelationship with my daughter's
mentor now too.
And I've gotten to know you andother amazing people at Eldera.
So it spreads and it continues.
And my daughter tells otherpeople about her mentor and then
(03:29):
they sign up for Eldera.
So it's really a neat cycle ofconnection.
SPEAKER_02 (03:36):
Thank you.
Thank you.
That's the hope.
That's the hope.
And thank you for saying that.
We love hearing that.
You know, we've been buildingEldera for four and a half
years, but we feel like it'sjust day one every day.
So we're excited to hear aboutevery single story and every
life that we touch and everyfamily that we touch with
(03:57):
Eldera.
SPEAKER_01 (03:58):
Perfect.
And we're excited to have youshare with our listeners today.
And just this chance to be ableto sit down with you and ask you
some questions.
I have so many things I want toask you.
But first, I'm going to ask youa question that I learned from
you, because you said that youlike to ask people what their
superpower is, because everybodybrings unique gifts to the
(04:21):
world, right?
So I'm going to ask you, Dana,what is your superpower?
What is your superpower?
SPEAKER_02 (04:27):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
I love that question.
As you know, it's built intoevery facet of Eldera.
So I'd say my very obvioussuperpower is that I'm good at
building relationships.
And that's actually built infundamentally at Eldera because
we match and connect people forweekly virtual conversations.
(04:52):
And that matching is Honestly,initially, based on my
experience, I was hand-matchingeveryone initially, and I still
approve every final match.
SPEAKER_01 (05:05):
Oh, do you?
I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_02 (05:07):
Yeah.
It was very exciting.
My team is not that excitedabout it.
They're implementing all thealgorithms to pull me out of the
product, but one of...
because it is my superpower,it's also one of my favorite
things to do.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
So thank you for
SPEAKER_02 (05:26):
asking.
Thank you.
Thank
SPEAKER_01 (05:27):
you.
Yes.
Eldera is such a unique platformand it focuses on that
connection, like you said,between older adults and younger
generations.
What was the inspiration behindthis idea?
Can you start by telling us howyou came to be involved in this?
Yes,
SPEAKER_02 (05:46):
absolutely.
So I'll just tell you that Inever expected to be a founder.
And that was not the goal.
I was raised in Transylvania inRomania, and I was raised by my
grandparents.
And I continue to surroundmyself with older adults my
(06:06):
entire life.
To this day, at least a third ofmy friends are between 60s and
90s.
And I know who to go to foradvice from anything from
investment to healthcare, torecipes and to dating.
And I pursued, I came to theUnited States for university and
(06:28):
I ended up staying because Ifell in love with this country.
And I ended up pursuing a careerin advertising and data, as you
mentioned earlier.
And I thought that was thetrajectory that I was on until
my closest mentor, elder motherfigure in New York, Linda, ended
up being diagnosed with braincancer and passing away.
(06:53):
And when that happened, I wascompletely struck by grief.
There's no going around it.
SPEAKER_00 (06:59):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (07:01):
I just wanted to do something that celebrated her
memory.
And You know, she wasinstrumental in my life, as have
been several amazing olderadults throughout my life.
She changed the trajectory of mylife.
So I figured, what if every kidcould have a Linda, like I had
(07:22):
my Linda, and you have yourPatty.
So that was the impetus forstarting Eldera.
And initially, it was an idea.
And People started hearing aboutit and joining the mission and
we started building it together.
So now we're four and a halfyears in.
We have mentors like Linda wasfor me and Patty is for you
(07:45):
today.
In all 50 states, all of ourmentors are background checked,
but kids sign up from all overthe world and their parents sign
them up from all over the world.
And our two biggest countriesare the U.S.
and South Korea.
If you had told me this when Istarted Eldera in 2020, I would
have been blown away.
(08:07):
I never, ever expected this tohappen.
SPEAKER_01 (08:10):
It's really taken off and you have exciting plans
for the future too.
The thing I love most aboutEldera is how it values the
contributions of both the youngmentees and the older adult
mentors.
Can you share a bit more abouthow your platform works?
SPEAKER_02 (08:28):
Sure.
So we believe that everyone hassomething to contribute and
something to teach and alsosomething to learn.
So the way our platform works isour core service, if you want,
is one on one intergenerationalconnection.
It's the mentoring componentwhere mentors and parents and
(08:50):
kids sign up.
And we use their profiles tomatch them for weekly virtual
conversations.
And some of these conversations,as you know, have been going on
for over four years every week.
They use video to talk weeklyand, you know, they form a bond.
The kids actually call it thebond.
(09:10):
We didn't come up with it.
And it's just incredible to see.
What's underlying the one-on-onementoring is an entire community
of older adults with a purpose.
And mentors support each otherin being better mentors.
And they support me and the teamin building Eldera better.
And, you know, just going backto Patty, who we love.
(09:33):
You know, Patty is retired andshe spends her days at home.
So she came up with the idea ofcreating socials for the other
mentors so that nobody ever hasto feel alone, even in between
talking to the kids.
So now she started also a bookclub, which is her first book
(09:54):
club ever that she runs.
And mentors love it so much.
And older adults love it so muchthat we're actually expanding
the product so that people cansign up just to be part of the
social network of older adultswith a purpose and be able to
(10:14):
collaborate, learn and teachfrom other older adults.
as they get ready andcomfortable mentoring a young
person.
So
SPEAKER_01 (10:22):
they don't have to sign up initially as a mentor.
They might not be ready.
They might be a little scared.
They want to learn moreinformation.
They can join this amazing grouparound the country, getting
together virtually, and they canbuild some social connections.
SPEAKER_02 (10:37):
Exactly.
And frankly, one of the coolestthings we've learned is that
older adults who met at Elderastruck up friendships.
And now some of them createdwalking groups in their
communities.
To get together in person?
So cool.
Yes, they get together inperson.
(10:57):
And we are so excited about thisbecause, as I mentioned before,
we background check older adultsinitially to keep the kids safe.
SPEAKER_00 (11:04):
But
SPEAKER_02 (11:05):
now what we realize is that the older adults are
safe together because they knoweveryone out there has
background check.
So if they decide to go for acoffee walk with someone, they
know that person went throughthe exact same level of vetting
that they have and they're safe
SPEAKER_01 (11:20):
together.
They can feel really safe tomeet up with a stranger, so to
speak, and do some fun together.
SPEAKER_02 (11:26):
Nice.
Exactly.
Which you know better thananyone is one of the key things
to being able to age in place.
Yes.
Those social
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
connections, so, so critical.
And that intergenerationalsocial connection is extremely
important.
special and powerful.
And that is a big part of yourmentorship concept, right?
So can you share some maybesuccess stories or impactful
(11:55):
moments that you've seen on thisplatform where the older adults
have really made a difference inthe lives of the younger
generation?
I'd love to hear your stories.
SPEAKER_02 (12:07):
I have so many stories of this, but I'll start
with the most recent one, whichwas so wonderful and unexpected.
We were just approached by theBoston Globe to write a story
about Aldera, which we love andsaid yes to immediately.
And they asked us to interviewsome mentors and mentees.
(12:30):
And one of the mentees, she's 12years old, and she told a
reporter that on zoom that hermentor is her secret weapon oh
that she is winning at schooland at life because of her
mentor and that i quote italmost feels like cheating
because other kids don't have akathleen
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
that's so amazing
SPEAKER_02 (12:54):
love it game over yes i cannot put it any better a
great spokesperson for alderaThis is the really cool thing.
I'm so grateful to be invitedand so honored, but I'm actually
not qualified to use Eldera.
I am not over 60 or under 18.
(13:16):
So our mentors and our menteesand our parents like you, are in
fact better spokespeople forwhat we do because they're the
ones who benefit directly fromEldera.
SPEAKER_01 (13:27):
Right.
And I'm sure they have tons ofstories and we are going to do a
little bit of interviewing mydaughter and her mentor, Patty,
later on.
So folks will be able to hearlike how that relationship works
and what these sessions are likefor the kids and the mentors.
So you're right.
They do a great job of speakingfor Eldera.
They have such a greatexperience and they want to
(13:48):
share it with the world.
SPEAKER_02 (13:49):
Exactly.
I'm so excited about it.
You know, another story thatcomes to mind, two quick ones.
One of our mentors, actually inthe Chicago area, we paired him
up with an 11-year-old boy.
And the mentor has a long andillustrious career in public
health.
And he said, hey, you seem to bereally good at math.
(14:12):
You seem to be really specialabout it.
You should write a book.
I will help you.
Wow.
They did.
They did.
They wrote a book together?
They wrote a book.
The kid wrote the book aboutmath.
Oh, wow.
The mentor wrote the foreword.
They published it.
It's for sale on Amazon.
It's called Beautiful TheoremsThat Changed Math.
(14:34):
How?
By an 11-year-old.
Here's the kicker.
They decided to give all theproceeds to the American
Pediatric Cancer Society.
And they're already working onsomething new.
So...
I want you to take a moment andthink about this is what we call
the magic.
Yes.
(14:54):
Not scripted.
In fact, we are the onlyplatform that has no curriculum
because we truly believe thatolder adults are the last
generation who still know how tobuild true human connection and
how to see what's special inanother person.
Why do you think that is?
(15:15):
I think because several reasons.
Once, they grew up withoutmobile phones and without the
internet.
True, yes.
They did, and they were, forbetter or worse, they had to
build relationships, not justwith family and school, but
peers and communities early on.
There's something else that wetalk about a lot at Eldera, is
(15:39):
that older adults, and even ourgeneration, Gretchen, we grew up
with the idea of go out thereand change the world.
See what you can do.
Be brave.
Make a difference.
Yep.
The difference, right?
Well, the young people todaywent through COVID.
Social media is really, reallyplaguing them.
(16:02):
There's so much research aroundhow it's bad for them.
And they're dealing with a lotof existential crisis.
Yes.
So while we were told to go outthere and change the world, they
are told to go out there andsave the world.
SPEAKER_01 (16:15):
Oh, interesting.
Yes.
There's a real distinctionthere.
It's a very big lot of pressure.
So much pressure.
And it implies that things arebroken and it's their job to fix
it.
SPEAKER_02 (16:31):
Which is a lot and they feel alone.
They are actually the loneliestgeneration.
You know, you and I are in theaging field and we are told that
older adults are lonely.
And they are.
One in three older adults arelonely.
And that's bad.
What's actually worst is that71% of teenagers feel lonely.
(16:53):
Wow.
71%.
That's
SPEAKER_01 (16:55):
almost all of them.
SPEAKER_02 (16:56):
It's almost all of them.
And when they do, they don't yethave the coping mechanisms to
deal with it.
SPEAKER_01 (17:02):
Right.
They're still young and theirbrains are still developing.
SPEAKER_02 (17:05):
They're young.
So they need some
SPEAKER_01 (17:07):
help.
SPEAKER_02 (17:08):
Yeah, exactly.
They go to social media.
They go to chatbots.
That's exacerbating theirloneliness, which is then
leading them to a mental healthcrisis.
So they fundamentally need totalk to a human.
They do.
Yes.
And I think you and I talkedabout this before, but there's
research from the Harvard Centerfor Childhood Development that
(17:30):
shows that when kids formtrusted one-on-one relationships
with non-parental adults, ithelps them build resilience.
And resilience is really a keyto thriving.
So, you know, that's theresearch.
But the truth is, we've seen atEldera for four and a half years
(17:51):
now.
Those
SPEAKER_01 (17:51):
intergenerational relationships are so beautiful.
Did you have one more story youwanted to share?
You said three, I might'veinterrupted you.
Oh
SPEAKER_02 (18:00):
yes, I do have one more story.
This is so cute.
We have a mentor in Florida andher mentee was a teenager, a
high schooler going into hersenior year and trying to get
her first job.
And she had a really hard timegetting her first job and she
was beating herself up for it.
So the mentor came up with thisstrategy that every morning she
(18:24):
had to do affirmations in themirror.
I am smart.
I am worthy.
I'm hardworking, all the things.
And the mentee told us thatinitially she thought it was
really silly.
She didn't want to do it.
Yeah, it's not cool.
But the mentor told her, soshe's like, yeah, what's the
(18:45):
harm?
So she did it for a week andthen she got a job.
after trying for two months.
And listen, I'm sure there weremany factors that came into
play, but the mentee says thatit was because she listened to
her mentor and she did theaffirmations that she got the
job.
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
And it was a boost to her confidence, even just
knowing that her mentor wasbehind her, giving her a
suggestion and a little bit of ashoe in to what she wanted in
life.
SPEAKER_02 (19:15):
Exactly, exactly.
And don't we all need
SPEAKER_01 (19:18):
that at the end of the
SPEAKER_02 (19:19):
day?
SPEAKER_01 (19:19):
That is so beautiful.
Such great stories.
I'm just overcome by the impactthat this program is having.
I just, every time I talk toyou, I learn new things about
the impact.
Thank you.
And, you know,
SPEAKER_02 (19:31):
talking about impact, one of the biggest
impacts is actually on thementors.
You know, there is so muchresearch run by Dean Linda Freed
back when she was at JohnsHopkins, but there's I can go on
and on about the research thatwhen older adults engage in
healthy social connection, inparticular intergenerational
(19:53):
connection, it halts and incertain cases reverses early
cognitive decline.
Dean Fried was able to provethis with fMRIs.
So it's not just a qualitativemeasurement.
And this is research that thelisteners can find on the NIH
website.
So when older adults engageengage and help young people or
(20:17):
just listen to them and have funand play games, they directly
contribute to their own health.
Profoundly so.
Let me tell you, Gretchen,there's no longevity supplement
that you can take out there thathas a fraction of the benefits
that meaningful socialconnections have.
(20:38):
And in fact, the longeststanding Harvard research, I
think it's going in the 88thdecade now, shows that the only
marker of longevity is healthysocial connection.
It's not smoking.
It's not education.
It's not even cholesterol.
If you have meaningful socialconnections and people who you
(21:01):
love and love you and who lookforward to seeing you, that is
going to lead to healthylongevity.
SPEAKER_01 (21:08):
It impacts your physical, your mental health and
your longevity.
Mm hmm.
Those are great statistics toshare.
We can put a link in the shownotes to that research that you
mentioned.
So we've been investigating andtalking a lot about ageism in
our culture and how that affectsall of us, how it impacts young
(21:30):
people, it impacts middle-agedpeople, and older adults
especially are harmed by that.
How do you think theseintergenerational relationships
impact our societal views aboutaging.
Because I think you guys arechanging the world all over the
place.
And I think theseintergenerational relationships
(21:51):
are going to have an impact onour society overall.
But I'd love to hear yourthoughts on that.
SPEAKER_02 (21:57):
I completely agree on that.
First, let's start with theproblem.
Ageism is a huge problem.
And it's even more than beingimposed on older adults.
Our personal...
attitude around aging can affectour longevity by up to nine
(22:21):
years, seven or nine years.
So if we're good about aging andwe're optimistic about it, we're
going to live on average sevento nine years longer.
First of all, it's self-imposed.
And that's something that we canwork on and change right away
with technology.
In fact, you and I talked alittle bit about this.
(22:42):
This is the next product thatwe're going to launch.
You know, when an older adultsigns up for Aldera, we ask them
a series of questions.
We ask them about theirsuperpower and we ask them to
share with us about their lifeand their passions.
And we learn so much about themand we use that information in
matching, which is why 94% ofthe people that we connect and
(23:05):
talk once go on to TalkingWeekly.
Well, we realized we nevershowed them how special we think
they are.
So our new product invites everyolder adult over 60 who does not
have a criminal background.
We do criminal background checkto join Aldera as a member.
And we're going to remind themwe created what we call a wisdom
(23:28):
portrait.
that reminds them and societywhy they're so incredibly
valuable and how they arecontributing.
Okay,
SPEAKER_01 (23:35):
this sounds amazing.
What is a wisdom portrait?
SPEAKER_02 (23:39):
So a wisdom portrait takes all the information that
you want to share about yourselfin the Eldera signup and
summarizes it in And also youupload your photo and we show
the impact that you're having.
We show your superpower.
We show your wisdom.
We show how people can benefitfrom it and connect to you
(24:02):
because of those things.
And then you can choose to takebaby steps.
You can first connect with otherolder adults like you in the
community.
And then when you're ready, youcan start helping a young
person.
And then the ultimate thing, theultimate goal is the one-on-one
weekly mentoring, like yourdaughter, because that has the
(24:22):
highest health benefits and lifebenefits for both.
But step one is for older adultsto stop feeling invisible.
You know, as I mentioned at thebeginning, I was raised by my
grandparents and I just lovegravitating around older adults.
And I am so heartbroken whenthey say, say that they feel
(24:46):
invisible because they'rebrilliant right and they have
incredible life experience
SPEAKER_01 (24:53):
so much to offer and share
SPEAKER_02 (24:55):
much to offer and you know this from personal
experience but when kids joinaldera they do not drop their
mentors you know um our churn isvery low because Older adults
are in very, very high demand atAldera.
Today, we have over 900 parentsand kids in the waitlist.
(25:15):
Wow.
Oh,
SPEAKER_01 (25:17):
no.
And
SPEAKER_02 (25:17):
a
SPEAKER_01 (25:17):
lot of your mentors have more than one child mentor,
right?
Yeah.
So you keep them busy, too, andyou still have a waitlist.
We still have a waitlist.
But we need more older adults
SPEAKER_02 (25:28):
to sign up.
We do.
We need them to realize thatthey are very, very needed.
And if you don't believe it,just sign up.
We'll connect you with peoplewho really need you and want to
talk to you and want to hearfrom you.
In fact, the funniest thing I'llsay is that we've learned from
older adults that if the mentoris even five minutes late on the
(25:50):
Zoom, the kid is like, excuseme.
I've been waiting.
Where were you?
I'm ready.
I have so much to tell you.
And it's so lovely.
Yes, it's so.
So, yeah, it's it's truly aboutbuilding through human
relationships, especially inthis world that where we see
chatbots and AI and social mediareplacing a lot of those
(26:14):
authentic conversations.
We just talk to someone who isnot perfect.
is not perfect, who has livedthrough life, who has stories to
tell and who you know, we canlearn from and they can learn
from us.
I cannot even tell you how manymentors read Harry Potter and
know about K-pop and everythingthat's cool with kids way more
(26:36):
than me because I don't havekids.
SPEAKER_01 (26:38):
Right, because they have to keep up with their
mentees.
So it's good for both of them.
They're learning new things fromeach other.
And because of the way you matchthem, they already usually have
some things in common that theycan start a conversation from
and some interests in common,which is also what wonderful
thing about Eldera is that wholematching system.
But yeah, I know from experiencewhen we miss a session, we're
(27:02):
out of town or the mentor's outof time, my daughter really
misses that time.
She looks forward to it.
And during the week, she savesup ideas and things that she
wants to talk to Miss Pattyabout.
And she even texts with MissPatty.
And I feel safe about thatbecause I know there's
background checks in place.
And it's like the one thing thatshe can do independently on
social media that I don't worryabout.
(27:24):
You know, if she wants toconnect with Miss Patty, I have
no worry about that at all.
It's like the best way for herto engage in text messaging and
social media is with Miss Patty.
So that's another great thingabout it.
It's like that safe space andthat parents can feel
comfortable with thatrelationship.
SPEAKER_02 (27:43):
That's exactly it.
You know, we set a goal and wewill continue to outpace
everybody any standards insafety so right now at aldera we
not only background check uh allof the older adults we also vet
them on top of that we trainthem and we record every
(28:04):
conversation so if there's anyquestion we can pull the
recording and as you know we askparents to be involved and
introduce themselves and get toknow the mentor So there are so
many different things that weput into place to make sure that
kids are safe, older adults aresafe, and the entire community
(28:27):
is safe and thriving.
SPEAKER_01 (28:28):
That's a beautiful thing.
Having a safe space.
There's just nothing like it.
So we need to get more olderadults involved.
We need to spread the word aboutthis.
What are your dreams for thefuture of this platform?
Like, where do you want to go?
There's so many things you cando.
SPEAKER_02 (28:47):
Well, thank you for asking that.
You know, Eldera stands for theera of the elders.
And as you mentioned at thebeginning, we truly understand
that older adults are the onlyuntapped and growing natural
resource on the planet.
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (29:06):
What a great way to frame that.
SPEAKER_02 (29:07):
Thank you.
And we're squandering it today.
You know, we have a billionpeople over 60 today.
By the time I'm going to be inmy 60s in 2050, we're going to
have 2.1 billion.
And we need an infrastructurethat leverages this incredible
lived experience and wisdom.
(29:29):
And the first application wehave for it is to help kids
because we rely so much on youngpeople.
But that's just the firstapplication.
We believe that when olderadults are supported by
technology, they can truly solvesome of the larger societal
(29:49):
challenges.
So we're starting with mentalhealth and loneliness, because
frankly, there is no globalsolution to loneliness.
And if you tell me that talkingto a chatbot is going to make
you less lonely, I'm going toreally, really worry about you.
That's
SPEAKER_01 (30:03):
right.
The chatbot is not where it'sat.
No.
SPEAKER_02 (30:07):
It's not where it's at.
Only human connection can make ahuman less lonely.
And How wonderful that we havethis incredible worldwide
resource.
So my goal is to initially getevery kid and older adult in
America on Eldera, supportingeach other.
Because when we do that, welower the cost.
(30:27):
pretty much erase loneliness inolder adults.
And we lower the cost of mentalhealth in kids and make both of
their lives better.
We extend
SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
people's longevity.
We save health care costsbecause we're improving health
outcomes for both the kids andthe adults.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (30:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, you know, how incredibleand simplistic that one
technology supporting onerelationship can solve
everything.
two of the largest currenthealthcare challenges on the
planet, which is loneliness andmental health.
You're right.
That is
SPEAKER_01 (31:04):
powerful.
SPEAKER_02 (31:05):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I invite every older adultover 60.
If you're younger than 60, youdo not qualify yet.
You need to gather more wisdom.
SPEAKER_00 (31:17):
Keep working on it.
SPEAKER_02 (31:19):
Yes.
But if you're over 60 and youdon't have a criminal
background, please join Eldera.
Join us as a member.
Check us out.
And then when you're ready,hopefully you'll start impacting
a kid's life just like Patty'sdoing.
SPEAKER_01 (31:33):
Great.
I hope our listeners will takeyou up on that offer.
So wonderful.
This has just been a fabulousconversation.
Thank you so much, Dana, forwhat you're doing and what
you're creating and putting outinto the world and for your time
today and sharing that with uson this podcast.
It has been a wonderfulconversation.
SPEAKER_02 (31:54):
Thank you so much.
I'm so grateful to be able toshare Aldera with your listeners
and to be able to talk to youand learn from you about your
experience and our friendship.
It's been great.
Thank you, Dana.
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
Before we wrap up today's episode, we wanted to
take a moment to hear directlyfrom the people who are at the
heart of Aldera.
These are the voices of twopeople who are experiencing the
real world impact of thisplatform.
I'm about to have a casualconversation with my daughter,
(32:33):
Margo, and her mentor, Patty,who have formed a strong bond
through Aldera.
So stick around as we dive intoa special interview where
they'll share their personalstories and insights with us.
Hey, that was perfect timing.
(32:55):
All right, good.
How are you guys?
Good, how are you?
I'm good.
Did you have a goodThanksgiving?
Yeah, I did.
It was fun.
Yeah, me too.
I went to Vermont and it snowed.
You told me.
It's funny because I was lookingat your questions, and one of
your questions was, what do wetalk about?
(33:16):
Well, we talk about everything,but we do talk about our
families a lot.
Yeah.
You know, and it goes both ways.
We do.
We talk about our, because ourfamilies are our world,
basically.
SPEAKER_00 (33:32):
You
SPEAKER_01 (33:33):
know, the people we live with, you know, or in my
case, the grown-up and left andbuilt their own families.
So that's what we talk aboutthat.
We also talk about food a lot.
We both, both
SPEAKER_00 (33:48):
are foodies.
SPEAKER_01 (33:54):
We talk about just about anything, don't we, Margo?
Yeah.
Just about anything.
I mean, whatever was going onthat day or something that
happened that day or we just,and I just, You always, we
always end up laughing.
I will never forget the firstmeeting when you were kind of
like, I don't know how she'll dowith you.
(34:15):
And like five minutes in, she'slike, see you, mom.
Yeah, she wanted me to leaveimmediately.
This is my friend.
You can go.
You can be signed up.
So let's go.
I actually have learned a greatdeal about Down syndrome.
SPEAKER_00 (34:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:29):
Because of all the...
of all the kids withdisabilities that I've worked
with, I have never worked withone with Down syndrome.
And I can remember when I firstmet you, you told me in the
email, Gretchen, that she likesto talk about her diagnosis.
So I purposely did not Googleanything about Down syndrome
because I wanted Margo to teachme.
(34:52):
And she has.
And she's really shared so muchabout what it's like and the
joys and the sorrows.
SPEAKER_00 (35:05):
A lot of songs I always listen to.
SPEAKER_01 (35:08):
Yeah.
So I've learned a great dealabout, and I still haven't
Googled anything about Down
SPEAKER_00 (35:14):
syndrome.
Oh my gosh.
To that day.
SPEAKER_01 (35:17):
Which is, you know, because I Google everything.
Okay.
But then you just end up withthe stereotypes.
And if you've met one personwith Down syndrome, you've met
one person with Down syndrome.
They're all different.
So this leaves you open tounderstanding it.
Yep.
It really did.
And I'm glad that I was smartenough to wait for her to teach
(35:37):
me.
That was very smart.
I love it.
Do you remember the day that Icame on with the can of whipped
cream and you were like, what iswrong with this woman?
I said to her, I had a can ofwhipped cream in my hand.
And I said, hi, Margo.
And I just squirted whippedcream into my mouth.
And I said, does that tell youwhat kind of a day I'm having?
(35:58):
And she looked at me like, okay,girl, whatever you think.
The best thing about Margo is Iam, I know there's emotional
(36:18):
safety there.
I know she's going to accept meno matter what, even when I'm
being completely goofy with acan of whipped
SPEAKER_00 (36:27):
cream.
I never let you live that down.
Yep.
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (36:34):
She is.
She is.
I'm team Margo and she's teamPatty.
Yep.
And I like that a lot.
Yep.
She's a very loyal friend.
yeah what is your favorite thingabout
SPEAKER_00 (36:47):
oh um i think she's very very funny you talked about
her life all the time but i lovethose stories and i think and
how she's very positive all thetime and i like that she's gonna
be very nice
SPEAKER_01 (37:03):
now we've never said a mean word to each other i
don't think we've ever had acrossword i don't think even
though there's been a coupletimes we needed to have some
serious talks they worked outreally well i
SPEAKER_00 (37:16):
think it's because we can't see the end and we want
to grow from our
SPEAKER_01 (37:21):
own i think it's because at the core we really
care about each other verydeeply yeah Very much so.
I was looking through my oldemails for the link for this
call today.
And I went way back to thebeginning.
And I realized that this monthis your three-year anniversary.
That's right.
(37:42):
Oh, my gosh.
That's right.
Wow, three years.
Oh,
SPEAKER_00 (37:48):
my gosh.
If you help me through them, Ithink it's amazing about
friendship.
SPEAKER_01 (37:54):
It has been so wonderful to watch her grow and
change these last three years.
And I know that you don't thinkof teenagers as growing and
changing.
I'm talking more emotionally andmaturity wise.
I've seen such a difference inher.
I mean, it's just been such apleasure to watch.
Can you think of a couple thingsthat you've learned from Miss
(38:17):
Manny?
Specific things you've learnedfrom her?
I learned to always look on thebright side of things.
Oh, because you're so positive,you said.
Yeah.
And I learned that not everyoneis going to like me, which is
okay.
And that's okay?
Yeah.
A lot of people do, a lot ofpeople don't, and that's okay.
Have you learned anything fromMargot?
Oh, my gosh.
(38:41):
Well...
she reminded me what it's liketo be a teenager and that it's
not always easy.
And it brought back some ofthose feelings that I kind of
had, you know, I was like, Oh, Iremember feeling like that.
I'm feeling like awkward withpeople and, and like, Oh, do I
(39:02):
fit in those kinds of worries?
Yeah.
We, we, And I've learned, oh mygosh, I don't even know how to
tell you how much I've learnedfrom her.
Such, such a wealth ofunderstanding and, and
friendship that I never expectedto find in someone so young,
SPEAKER_00 (39:26):
you know,
SPEAKER_01 (39:27):
to feel like I'm, I'm, I don't think I'm talking
to, I'm talking to an 18 yearold girl.
I just think I'm talking toMargo and she's my friend.
And the age, you know, we, Imean, the age is there, but
it's, it doesn't hit me in theface.
It's really, it's really aboutwhat's inside.
(39:49):
You know, it's so funny becauseI've had people say, why would
kids want to talk to an oldperson?
And I'm like, I don't know what,you know, friends are friends
who cares what age.
SPEAKER_00 (40:02):
Yeah.
It's a different.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (40:05):
Yeah.
You are who you are.
And I do try to accepteverybody.
Yeah.
I mean,
SPEAKER_00 (40:11):
I can remember who she is.
It has gray hair.
It does fine.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_01 (40:15):
exactly.
You know, and we're like that.
She's like, you know, shedoesn't see my gray hair and
wrinkles.
And I don't notice, I don't seethe, I don't see down syndrome
when I look at her.
I just see Margo's eyes.
I see Margo's eyes and Margo'sshining through those eyes.
And I, the rest of it isn'tthere.
It's just, I see Margo.
(40:35):
Awesome.
She's a cool kid.
She's a cool kid.
You are a cool kid.
SPEAKER_00 (40:40):
Thank you.
And Patty's a great mentor.
SPEAKER_01 (40:42):
Yeah, all around.
Now, these have been really,this really have, and you know,
and she's, there was a day lastspring that she really, she
really was far more aware oftuned into me more than I ever
(41:04):
realized she was.
And it was when my husband wasgoing through some heart testing
and things.
And I was, and I was worried,but I didn't say anything to
her.
We got on that day and, youknow, we were talking, I thought
we were just being normal andshe just stops and she goes, are
you okay?
Yeah.
That's what she said to me.
(41:24):
She says, are you okay?
She said, And she literallysaid, are you worried about your
husband?
Yeah.
Would you like to talk about it?
Yeah.
And I just thought my and I wasI literally almost started to
cry right there.
And I was like, you know what?
I really would like to becauseit's kind of worrying me.
(41:45):
And she just listened to theboring stuff about tests and
and, you know, that kind ofstuff.
But it felt so nice to talkabout it.
Because we really weren'ttelling our families or our kids
yet because we wanted to waituntil we had all the results.
So it was so nice to go, I cantell Margo.
I really appreciated that somuch for you to notice that I
(42:10):
wasn't being myself.
SPEAKER_00 (42:12):
Yeah.
I mean, I always say, tell meeverything to my friends when
they're upset.
And I think telling you that Youknow,
SPEAKER_01 (42:29):
what my mother would call grown-up things, you know,
that she's never had.
You know, being an older personand you start thinking about
medical stuff.
And it was just so nice becauseI was worried.
And I guess maybe she justpicked up that I, and it was,
she was definitely tuned in.
(42:49):
It has been so nice to get toknow you and to know that Margo
has someone in her life that Itotally trust for her to come
and talk to.
That's the other great thing.
Yeah.
The way the match system worksand the safety and everything in
Eldera really helps.
And I tell her and I tell all myEldera kids that everything we
(43:09):
say, I don't repeat to anybodyunless I feel that there's a
danger of some kind orthere's...
something that really needs tobe addressed.
Other than that, everything wesay is between us.
And you like having that privateplace where you can have
conversations and where you cansay stuff that you don't want
anybody else to hear.
(43:29):
And Eldera did a lot.
And I think I've told Margo thisbefore, but during the pandemic
with my chronic health issues, Ibecame so isolated and And
Eldera really, and Margo, andlooking forward to talking to
her every week.
(43:50):
And then doing more, gettingmore and more involved in Eldera
with the social things.
It's really helped a lot.
It's really helped a lot.
And I am now getting out moreand more, which feels good.
But there was a period of timewhere I was quite isolated.
And Eldera, I mean, I literallyfeel like it saved me.
(44:11):
And Margo, you helped me.
have a sense of purpose again.
But to reconnect with kids waswonderful.
It was good to talk with you,Gretchen.
Thank you for this.
You too.
Thank you so much for doingthis.
I really appreciate it.
My pleasure.
Believe me.
Thank you for listening to TheAge Guide, Perspectives on the
(44:33):
Aging Journey.
Age Guide coordinates andadministers many services for
older adults in NortheasternIllinois.
Thank you, and we will see younext time on The Age Guide.
(45:10):
Guide podcast.
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