Program Overview – Six Easy Pieces

Main Theme

Work With Me: Intergenerational Conversations for Nonprofit Leadership challenges nonprofit staff to reflect on
intergenerational tensions and opportunities in our organizations. It provides tools to:
• Analyze the what, how, and why of current relationships.
• Consider different approaches and new strategies to promote intergenerational collaboration and growth.
• Help us become catalysts for positive change in our nonprofit community.

Goals

1. To critically assess the assumptions, practices, and societal changes that lead to cross-generational tension in
our organizations and our larger nonprofit community.
2. To develop our commitment and capacity to recognize and support each other's aspirations and growth in a
personal, organizational, and systemic context.
3. To explore new ways to articulate and implement strategies to build strong and diverse organizations, and a
retooled nonprofit sector that maximizes capacities and connections across generations.

Six Easy Pieces

The six sessions in this workbook provide a tool and format to encourage conversation and dig below the surface
of some complex intergenerational dynamics. Along the way, they provide exercises and methods to tackle
obstacles, generate new ideas, and offer a chance for engagement.
We are aiming for maximum flexibility. Most of these sessions can be done in a packed 90 minutes or more
leisurely two hours. They can be expanded to two and a half hours with opportunity to talk more and dig
deeper. Use them in the way that suits your needs.
The six units we're presenting here are structured to take participants on a journey that begins with naming the
cross-generational tensions that we are experiencing and concludes with participants identifying steps they can
take individually and organizationally to ease those same tensions. We suggest that you start with one of the first
four exercises before attempting numbers five or six (“The Operating System” and “Mission: Possible,”
respectively). The first four exercises will provide a grounding to launch into the more complicated work of the
last two. In order to make this document as useful as possible, we highly recommend, at minimum, choosing
one of the first four and following it up with “Mission: Possible,” which answers the 'what's next?' question about
intergenerational dialogue.
Here is a brief look at the six pieces of Work With Me:

1 Stand-off at Generation Gulch – Why do Boomer and Next Generation leaders so often seem to be at
odds, talking past each other, or not talking at all? How does that affect us and our organizations? Can we
imagine a different dynamic?

This session shines a light on intergenerational tensions that lurk below our organizational surface, and sometimes
bubble to the top. It describes the points of friction and exposes some of the feelings that feed the
intergenerational disconnect. This unit includes a lively, satirical “Readers' Theater,” and plenty of discussion
of stereotypes. It offers some small initial steps that participants can take across the great divide.

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2 What We Bring to the Table – Imagine that we are joining together to create a delicious potluck supper.
What conversations and traditions do we bring to the table? What delights can we share with our
colleagues?

This session invites participants to share their histories and the events that brought them to the nonprofit sector. It
gives us an opportunity to learn about each other and reflect on how each generation entered the work,
what unique qualities each generation brings, and what we all contribute to the future of the sector.

3 Powerful Partnerships – How can we plan for our own leadership trajectory and the leadership of others?
How can we help each other advance toward our goals across the generational divide?

This is a hands-on session about supportive work relationships and peer learning. It introduces a simple individual
planning tool for professional growth; provides a set of coaching/mentoring tips; offers an opportunity to
practice collaborative peer learning; and suggests some simple next steps to move participants toward their
goals.

4 Professional Development Collaborator (PDC) Speed Dating – How can we meet more people across
our organization or sector that can help us develop goals and cheer us on? In other words, how can we
meet the PDC of our dreams?

This session uses a “speed dating” format as a fun way to meet others and get “matched” with a colleague who will
provide support as a Professional Development Collaborator - a unique connection and relationship that's even
possible for introverts and those with commitment issues. The desired outcome is a follow-up lunch date with a
potential PDC to allow the participants to decide whether a longer-term relationship would be useful.

5 The Operating System – What personal, organizational, and systemic issues cause conflict among
generations in nonprofit organizations? How can we address these issues? What are some steps to promote
change throughout the sector and society at large?

This session places cross-generational tensions as well as other issues in a systemic context. We lay out a
framework to consider systemic issues, offer a true-to-life scenario to sharpen our problem-solving, and
provide a way to break these issues into smaller pieces that we can tackle as individuals, as organizations,
and as part of the nonprofit sector.

6 Mission: Possible – What are some healthy and successful practices for intergenerational learning and
growing? How can we, individually and collectively, advance such initiatives?

This session identifies key issues in intergenerational conflict and offers participants both an opportunity to
brainstorm potential solutions and share commitments for personal, organizational, and systemic change. This
session is designed as a follow-up for a group or organization that has already engaged in one or more of the
other conversations in this workbook.

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