Changing the Narrative – Ending Ageism Together
Who we are
Changing the Narrative is a campaign of NextFifty Initiative to end ageism, using evidence-based strategies, strategic communications and innovative public-facing campaigns.
What we do
Educate, Motivate, Activate, Advocate
What do we mean by evidence-based strategies?
Our strategies align with the World Health Organization’s three strategies to reduce ageism: education; intergenerational connection; and policy and law.
Vision
Imagine a world without ageism—one where the strengths and contributions of people of all ages are honored and appreciated, with public policies in place to ensure that all of us can thrive at any age. That’s our vision, and one increasingly shared by many across the world.
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Our Values
Community Leadership
We believe that, in the words of civil rights leader Grace Lee Boggs, we are the leaders that we are waiting for. While informed by research, our work has been shaped by listening to the voices of older adults.
Co-generation
We believe that it will take all generations, all identities, all zip codes to end ageism. We’ve developed toolkits for intergenerational conversations, and all of our work emphasizes how ageism affects younger people as well as older adults.
Innovation
We try a lot of things, based on the latest research on ageism and the suggestions and challenges we hear from people on the ground. We constantly field-test ideas, keeping what works and learning from what didn’t.
Reframing
We believe in the principles of reframing and in calling people in, not out. It’s always “we” not “you”. The goal is to come together with new, inclusive, and realistic stories about aging and to do that we have to listen and learn, as well as challenge stereotypes and assumptions.
Action
We believe it’s not sufficient to raise awareness of an issue; we need to motivate and activate people to take action. We make calls for action in all of our programs, and more important, we create concrete, actionable tools for people to do so, like our Guidelines for Age-Inclusive Communications and our “Speak Up” charts.