Episódios
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In the latest episode of 4-Quarter Lives Podcast, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with former private equity partner Graham Heddle about the opportunities to use AI as a tool for personal reinvention. They discuss Graham's own journey of career transition and how he harnessed the power of AI, particularly ChatGPT, for personal growth and exploration. Graham shares his insights on using AI as a co-intelligence tool, facilitating deep self-reflection, and finding new purpose after leaving a long-term career.
Graham now divides his time between the charity and commercial sectors. He is Senior Advisor to recruitment firm ZRG, Chair of the Trustees at the charity Goods for Good, an ambassador at Brave Starts and Strategic Application Consultant at The Fore amongst other interests. While creating this diverse portfolio, he has been investigating AI and exploring its productive applications in both business and personal life.
Following 10 years in banking with Barclays, working in the UK, Germany and France, Graham Heddle spent 23 years as a partner at Primary Capital, a private equity firm based in London. Graham was both chair and non-executive director on several of the firm’s investments and a member of the investment committee. Graham’s first love was modern languages and after A Levels in French and German, he went on to complete his first joint honours degree in German and Spanish, with Portuguese and Dutch, at Nottingham University, then spent a year living and working in Brazil and Venezuela. He also has an MBA from INSEAD and enjoys giving guest lectures on the ups and downs of private equity investment and his current favourite subject: “how not to choose a career”.
Some Useful Links:
* ZRG Partners website
* Goods for Good website
* Brave Starts website
* The Fore website
* A Brief Guide to AI and How To Use It (with Appendices on Prompting)
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In this episode of 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Anne Thevenet-Abitbol of French food giant, Danone. Anne shares her insights on ageing, digital communication and the necessity of generational collaboration in today's workplace. She talks about the philosophy behind ageing without becoming 'old' and how personal and professional growth doesn't stop at any age. They discuss how she navigates the challenges of constant digital interaction and maintains authenticity and relatability in her communications. And Anne describes her journey from focusing on gender balance to advocating for generational balance, promoting a workplace where all ages are valued.
After 12 years in the advertising industry, in 1998 Anne Thevenet-Abitbol was recruited as Foresight and New Concepts Director of Danone by Franck Riboud, president of Danone, to work alongside him on any subject likely to move the Group forward. She is often presented as an “ideas agitator”. In this atypical role, she suggests ideas, initiates and leads projects or areas of development. She intervenes on various marketing, social or societal subjects. She is an internal creative resource for all teams seeking an alternative perspective on their subjects and she also develops her own projects. Since 2010 she has designed and led the multi-company EVE Program to help women progress in organizations. Following this in 2012 she launched the OCTAVE Program, also inter-company, which aims to get generations to work better together and better integrate the impact of new technologies. And, more recently, she launched Nold – Never Old - a media platform and brand aiming to talk to an invisible generation of people who feel they are “too old to be young, but too young to be old”, and to change perception on ageing.
Some useful links:
* Website for the Octave intergenerational program
* Nold Never Old website (French)
* Nold Never Old Instagram
* Nold Never Old Facebook
* Website for The EVE program
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In the latest episode of 4-Quarter Lives Podcast, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox delves into the fascinating world of longitudinal studies with George Ploubidis, Professor of Population Health and Statistics at University College London. George offers invaluable insights into how these studies shape our understanding of health, economic circumstances, employment, family life and wellbeing across the life course. They discuss how large-scale, population-based surveys like the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohort studies provide crucial life course data across generations, informing social policies and public health interventions. George reveals surprising findings such as the deteriorating health of Generation X compared to baby boomers, despite overall improvements in living standards. He argues that making longitudinal data freely available to researchers worldwide, reveals the huge value of open access for scientific advancement and policy development.
George Ploubidis is Professor of Population Health and Statistics at the UCL Social Research Institute and Director of the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies. He joined the Centre for Longitudinal Studies in 2014 as the Centre’s Chief Statistician, and in 2016 became CLS’s inaugural Director of Research. Prior to joining UCL George held posts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Cambridge. His research interests relate to socioeconomic and demographic determinants of health over the life course and the mechanisms that underlie generational differences in health, well-being and mortality. His methodological work in longitudinal surveys focuses on applications for handling missing data, causal inference and measurement errors.
Some Useful Links:
* George’s UCL website
* Recent keynote: The future of ageing: A cross generational life course perspective
* Centre for Longitudinal Studies website (for all info CLS related).
* CLS Data Access page (with information on how to access CLS data).
* UK Data Service (where the data can be downloaded from).
* Forbes Article by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox: The Battle Over Gen Z Minds, Sad, Bad or Mad?
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In this episode of "4 Quarter Lives," Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Tim Parr, CEO of Caddis, to explore his multifaceted journey from a serial entrepreneur in the action sports industry to revolutionizing how we perceive ageing through his innovative eyewear company focused on the Q3 demographic. Tim shares his insights on midlife reinvention, the importance of authenticity in marketing, and why embracing ageing can be your next great adventure. He talks about his own transitions, the significance of tone and understanding your audience in brand communication, and the potential of the longevity economy.
Tim has both founded new companies and worked with some of the most respected brands in the apparel and sporting goods industries, including Patagonia, L.L.Bean, Filson, Kono and others. After founding cycling brand Swobo he developed his ideas and expertise in brand building. He became GM of Patagonia’s WaterGirl surf business, then established his own brand strategy business to help others build relevant customer brand experience. He brought this expertise to the founding of Caddis, a lifestyle brand specifically addressing the needs of people over 40. And alongside this he has toured his Bluegrass band across the western USA. He is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Useful Links
* Caddis website
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Chip Conley is on a midlife mission. After disrupting the hospitality industry twice, first as the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second-largest operator of boutique hotels in the U.S., and then as Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy, leading a worldwide revolution in travel, Conley co-founded MEA (Modern Elder Academy) in January 2018 in Baja California, Mexico. Inspired by his experience of intergenerational mentoring as a ‘modern elder’ at Airbnb, where his guidance was instrumental to the company’s extraordinary transformation from fast-growing start-up to the world’s most valuable hospitality brand, MEA is the world's first ‘midlife wisdom school’ and has a campus opening on a 2,600-acre regenerative horse ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico in early 2024. Dedicated to reframing the concept of ageing, MEA supports students to navigate midlife with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility. A New York Times bestselling author, Conley's 7th book "Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age" is about rebranding midlife to help people understand the upside of this often-misunderstood life stage. In 2023 he gave a TED talk on the “midlife chrysalis."
Some Useful Links:
* Website: Chip Conley
* Book: Learning to Love Midlife – or at Amazon
* Website: Modern Elder Academy
* Chip Copley’s Daily Blog: Wisdom Well
* Blue Zones Retreat at MEA
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In this episode of 4 Quarter Lives we tackle the complexities of longevity, ageing populations, and the evolving business landscape that accompanies these global shifts. While longevity science progresses at a breakneck pace, societal norms and economic structures lag behind, posing significant challenges. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with demographic strategist Bradley Schuman. Together they take a deep dive into how businesses that leverage age diversity can outpace the competition and why addressing the unique challenges women face in midlife could be a game-changer for innovative companies. They also explore the critical skills that will define success in the future workforce, highlighting the importance of curiosity, creativity, and compassion.
Bradley Schurman is Founder and CEO of Human Change – a global strategic research and advisory firm helping public and private organizations understand the challenges and harness the opportunities of demographic change, with a focus on population ageing. Human Change works to ensure that these subjects are considered across organizational strategies from human resources, marketing and communication, public policies, and product and service design. Schurman is also the author of “The Super Age: Decoding Our Demographic Destiny”, which examines how this shift is driving social and economic change around the world. Prior to launching his company and authoring the book, Schurman was Co-Founder and Managing Partner of EconomyFour, where he led business development in Asia and Europe. He also served at AARP – the world’s largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of older people – where he was Director of Global Partnerships and Engagements.
Some Useful Links:
* Website - Human Change
* Book: The Super Age: Decoding out Demographic Destiny
* Newsletter: newrulesmedia.substack.com
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In this episode, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Michael Clinton, a visionary leader and former President, Marketing and Publishing Director of Hearst Magazines. They discuss the evolving workplace, the benefits of age inclusivity, and the transformative power of media in shaping societal views on ageing. Michael shares his perspectives on how businesses and content creators can contribute to a more inclusive environment that values experience and longevity.
Michael Clinton is a writer, photographer and former magazine publishing executive. He was publisher of GQ magazine from 1988 to 1994, senior vice president and executive VP of Condé Nast until 1997. He then joined Hearst Magazines as senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer. From 2010, he was President, marketing and publishing director of Hearst Magazines and served on the board of The Hearst Corporation. He remains special media adviser to the CEO.
He has written many books and his latest, published in 2021, is his eleventh, ROAR: Into the Second Half of Your Life (Before It's Too Late). The book draws its title from an acronym:
* Reimagine yourself
* Own who you are
* Act on what's next for you
* Reassess your relationships
The book describes how people can transform themselves later in life and pursue a new career trajectory by "rewiring or 'refiring' for what could be another 30 or 40 years of life". Michael also runs a joint venture business with Hearst called roarforward.com.
Michael is also an avid traveler and runner. He has visited more than 123 countries, run races in over 60 and run marathons on all 7 continents, including Antarctica. A former board member and supporter of Starlight Children’s Foundation, he is also the founder of Circle of Generosity, a foundation that grants random acts of kindness to people in need. He has a degree in economics and political science from Pittsburgh University, an MBA from Pace University, an honorary doctorate from Pace and, after retirement, in 2021 earned a Master of Science in Non-Profit Management from Columbia University. He lives in Manhattan, New York, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Some Useful Links:
* Michael’s JV website: Roar Forward
* Michael’s book: ROAR Into the Second Half of Your Life
* Forbes article by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox: 5 Steps to Longevity Leadership – Is Your Business Ready?
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In this episode of 4-Quarter Lives Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Ann Francke, Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute, about the pivotal role of management skills in supporting and enhancing longer career spans. They uncover startling statistics, including that 82% of managers receiving no training upon promotion, resulting in what's known as "accidental managers", and the sobering reality that only 42% of managers are open to hiring workers over 50. Their conversation touches on the unique challenges women face as they enter the third quarter (Q3) of their careers and the huge importance of managers in shaping workplace culture and team member wellbeing. Ann describes CMI's extensive research on ageism in the workplace, strategies to support older workers, and the significance of leveraging the talents of a multi-generational workforce. Together Ann and Avivah explore how individual behaviours can influence organizational culture and how managers can become catalysts for an equitable and inclusive work environment.
Ann Francke is Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute, the UK's leading professional body for management and leadership with an international member community of over 200,000. She started her career at Procter & Gamble and has held senior executive positions at Mars, Boots, Yell and BSI. She is an expert in Management and Leadership in the workplace, speaks frequently in the media and at conferences and is a regular columnist for The London Times. She’s the author of ‘Create a Gender-balanced Workplace,’ published by Penguin, and the ‘Financial Times Guide to Management.’ She holds several Board positions and Honorary Doctorates for her work in management and leadership and is an ambassador for the 30% Club.
Some Useful Links:
* The Everyone Economy. A project, as part of CMI’s 75th anniversary, to understand the current state of inclusion in the workplace. Age was one of six characteristics looked at.
* Age in the Workplace. As part of the Everyone Economy, CMI published a discussion paper examining the evidence base around age inclusion.
* The Workplace in Review: Age. Part of CMI’s documentary series on barriers to fairness and inclusion in the workplace. This 20 minute episode focuses on age in the workplace.
* Over-50s at work: 'You feel your usefulness has passed'. A BBC article from January 2023 citing CMI research into managers' openness to hiring older workers.
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In this episode of 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Pedro Pitella to explore the innovative work of global healthcare company Sanofi in fostering an inclusive work environment through Generations+, its intergenerational Employee Resource Group (ERG). Pedro is Head of People and Culture for Sanofi Brazil, and global lead for Generations+. The conversation explores the importance of age diversity in the workplace and the valuable insights Sanofi has gained in shaping the way for a diverse and inclusive future. From tackling age justice awareness to updating company policies to serve an ageing customer base, Avivah and Pedro discuss why a multi-generational workforce is not just a social justice issue, but a business imperative, and the practical steps Sanofi is taking to make an impact both locally and globally.
Pedro Pitella has 20 years of business operational experience followed by 18 years in positions with increasing responsibility in Human Resources. Prior to joining Sanofi he worked in multinational companies including C&A, Citibank, Procter & Gamble, Mondelez, Johnson & Johnson and Makro. His first-hand business operational experience has been invaluable for developing HR strategies to support organizational growth and transformation. He holds a Production Engineering Degree from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and an MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, and has lived and worked in Brazil, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
Some Useful Links:
* Sanofi’s Employee Resource Group approach
* Sanofi’s ERG ‘Allyship Guides’
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In this episode of 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Helen Tupper, Chief Executive of Amazing If, a company redefining careers for individuals and companies. Together they explore the intricacies of career transitions during midlife and how organizations can support these changes. The conversation also delves into personal experience, highlighting the essential balance between work and life.
Helen Tupper is co-founder and CEO of Amazing If, a company with an ambition to make careers better for everyone. Together with her business partner Sarah Ellis, she is the author of two Sunday Times bestsellers The Squiggly Career and You Coach You. Sarah and Helen are also hosts of the podcast Squiggly Careers which has had 4m downloads and their TED talk, The best career isn’t always a straight line, has been watched by almost 2m people. In 2023 Helen was awarded a place on EYs International Winning Women programme. Prior to founding Amazing If, Helen held leadership roles for Microsoft, Virgin and BP and was awarded the FT & 30% Club’s Women in Leadership MBA Scholarship.
Some Useful Links:
* Amazing If website.
* Book: The Squiggly Career, by Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis
* The Squiggly Careers podcast.
* Helen Tupper’s LinkedIn
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In this episode of the 4-Quarter Lives podcast, we delve into the intricate world of career transitions and identity change with renowned expert Professor Herminia Ibarra of the London Business School. As we navigate the realities of career shifts, Herminia shares invaluable insights on why these transitions often take years, not months, and the importance of managing expectations during this journey.
We confront the myth of discovering a "true self" and explore how identity is actually mutable, shaped through experimentation. Herminia guides us through the often "dark, messy middle" of career change — a period of confusion and uncertainty that paradoxically serves as a fertile ground for growth. We also discuss the significance of connecting with others in similar phases and practical steps to initiate change, such as reactivating dormant networks and embarking on side projects. Join Avivah Wittenberg-Cox and Herminia Ibarra for a deep dive into the evolving landscape of career transitions in today’s fast-paced world.
Herminia Ibarra is Charles Handy Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School. Prior to joining LBS, she served as Professor on the INSEAD and Harvard Business School faculties. An authority on leadership and career transition, Thinkers50 ranks Herminia among the top management thinkers in the world. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network, a judge for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, a Fellow of the British Academy, the recipient of the Academy of Management’s Scholar-Practitioner Award for her research’s contribution to management practice, and Governor of the London Business School.
Herminia is the author of best-selling books, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader and Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career. She writes regularly in leading academic journals and business publications including the Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times, is the author of numerous best-selling business case studies, and speaks internationally on leadership and organizational transformation. A native of Cuba, Herminia received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University, where she was a National Science Fellow.
Some Useful Links:
* Herminia Ibarra’s book on career transitions: Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career
* Herminia Ibarra’s website
* Latest Harvard Business Review Article: Why Career Transition is So Hard
* Harvard Business Review Article: Reinventing Your Career – When It’s Not Just About You
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Join Avivah Wittenberg-Cox in this episode of 4-Quarter Lives, as she sits down with Victoria Tomlinson, the innovative mind behind Next-Up. Next-Up is revolutionizing the way we think about retirement and the roles of older workers in today's workforce. We delve into the outdated concept of retirement, the challenges faced by older employees, and the importance of intergenerational working for successful companies. Victoria shares her expertise on how Next-Up assists employers in engaging with their seasoned staff through workshops and an online platform, turning apprehension about later life stages into excitement and motivation. We also explore the unique struggles of older workers in finding purpose, the significance of planning early for life transitions, and practical tips for creating a fulfilling post-retirement life. Tune in for an insightful discussion that challenges the status quo and offers a fresh perspective on retirement and the workplace.
Victoria Tomlinson founded her second business, Next-Up, five years ago at the age of 63, and has developed an online platform to help employees coming up to unretirement, as well as running workshops for pre-retirement partners in professional firms. She has spoken at TEDx on A Generation of Wasted Talent.
A former director of EY in London, she ran an award-winning comms and digital business for 30 years. She was founding chair of Women in Leeds Digital, increasing the diversity of digital teams. She chaired the management division advisory board for University of Leeds and sat on Northern Ballet’s board for eight years. She is on HMP Askham Grange employment advisory board to help ex-offenders, is a Teaching Fellow of Lancaster University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She has coached chief executives and directors, mentors start-up businesses, young people, ex-offenders and those transitioning into retirement. Next-Up’s own podcast, Re-think Retirement, helps people with inspiration and ideas for unretirement.
Some Useful Links:
* NextUp website
* NextUp Podcast Rethink Retirement
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Welcome to Season 5 of 4-Quarter Lives, a podcast exploring the profound impact of longer lives and careers … on everything: countries, companies, couples and careers. Thanks for all your support and listening over the past year, we love all the feedback and reactions. Please keep it coming!
In this season Avivah Wittenberg-Cox will start by investigating the scary, exciting and urgent topic of career change. Why is it so terrifying, how can we do it better, and why (and how) can companies help their talent to transition more smoothly across our 60-year career spans?
Introducing Richard Alderson, CEO Careershifters
This week, Avivah talks with Richard Alderson, CEO of Careershifters. After his own feeling of serious stuckness in his late 20s, and his subsequent successful and life-changing shift, Richard Alderson has devoted his career to convincing people that they can successfully change careers. He’s spent the last decade working with thousands of individuals and companies. In this podcast, he shares his learning and data. For example:
* what are the 2 big issues that block career-shifters,
* the 6 phases of transition that people go through when moving, and
* the single most important success factor of a career shift.
Created in 2006, the aim of Careershifters is to help motivated people who feel stuck in the wrong career to find and move into fulfilling work. The starting point is helping more effective career changes, with personal fulfillment at the core. Using a combination of coaching, community and technology, and drawing from entrepreneurship, psychology and design thinking, Careershifters now has an online community of over 180,000, helping people make both individual career moves, and to develop the mindset for confidence in making future shifts. Careershifters is a B-Corporation, a business that consciously balances purpose and profit and considers the impact of its decisions on workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.
After a number of years in the corporate world, Richard Alderson became disillusioned with what he was doing and quit his job in search of something more meaningful. Seeing a gap in the career guidance and support market, and following a programme at INSEAD Business School in Social Entrepreneurship, he founded Careershifters.
Some Useful Links:
* https://www.careershifters.org/
* https://www.careershifters.org/career-change-test (free assessment to discover your career change stage)
* https://careerscanchange.co.uk/
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In this wrap-up episode to the latest season of 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox reviews the 10 fascinating conversations she has had over the last 10 weeks. Her discussions with Haleh Nazeri (World Economic Forum), Philip O’Keefe (Ageing Asia Research Hub) and Emi Kiyota (Singapore National University) explored the challenges presented by aging populations, at a regional and national level. She followed this with conversations about the implications of older workers and customers for companies. James Root (Bain & Co), Michael Fossat (Schneider Electric), Lisa Edgar (Saga), Sibylle Le Maire (Club Landoy) and Lyndsey Simpson (55 Redefined) discussed their research and organizational responses to the issue. Finally, she looked at what all this means for individuals, their careers – and career prospects. Her conversations with Mona Mourshed (Generation: You Employed) and Julie Miller (AARP) provided fascinating insights for all of us.
As Avivah concludes, The season has been a good example of what she has been aiming to do with 4-Quarter Lives - namely to chart the impact of the new longevity on careers, companies and countries and the complexity and inter-relationships between these areas. And to show how generational balance is to the 21st century what gender balance was to the 20th.
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In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Sibylle Le Maire, Executive Director of the media group Bayard, based in France. She is the Founder and President of Club Landoy, which consists of 24 member companies and is focused on the impact of demographic transitions, aiming to bring out new approaches and innovative solutions for social progress. Today, a third of the French (and developed world’s) population will spend a third of their time in ‘retirement’. This is something that has never previously happened in the history of humanity. This raises many questions and will profoundly change social balances, and economic and personal trajectories. Club Landoy explores this phenomenon, and stimulates business awareness of the impact of longer lives.
Sibylle Le Maire worked in the publishing industry in London before joining Bayard in 2002 as head of overseas sales rights. In 2009 she was appointed Deputy Director of the Group’s International Business Development Unit and, in 2017, executive director of audience and information of websites notrefamille.com and notretemps.com, and General Manager of Bayard Media Development, a subsidiary of Bayard in charge of diversification and B2B and B2C development for the group. She is also the Founder and President of ViveS Media, the first 100% digital media in France dedicated to the relationship between women and money. She is a board member of Forces Femmes, an association that supports women over 45 in their efforts to return to work and set up their own businesses, and of Orpea, a major provider of care services.
Some Useful Links:
* Club Landoy website
* Bayard website
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This week’s guest with Avivah Wittenberg-Cox on 4-Quarter Lives is Dr Mona Mourshed, the founder and CEO of Generation, a global non-profit organisation that prepares, places and supports adult learners of all ages into careers that are otherwise inaccessible, delivering sector-leading employment and income results consistently.
Generation has recently worked with the OECD to publish a report on The MidCareer Opportunity. It recognises that the world of work is getting older, with profound implications for the labour market, government finances, healthcare and welfare systems, and millions of midcareer workers. The OECD and Generation teamed up to survey thousands of hiring managers, employed, and unemployed people across Europe, the UK, and the US. The resulting report reveals unfounded but deep-seated ageism, explores barriers and enablers to career success, and lays out the steps that business, policymakers, and midcareer and older workers themselves can take now to navigate our transition to a more digital and sustainable world.
Launched in 2015, Generation comprises a global hub (Generation You Employed, or GYE) and a network of in-country affiliates. To date, the network has over 100,000 graduates and helped more than 14,000 employers across 40 professions and 18 countries. When learners join Generation, 90% are unemployed, of which nearly half are long-term unemployed. Three months after completing Generation’s programme, graduates have an 80% job placement rate, rising to 90% within six months. Of their employed graduates, 68% are hired by repeat employer partners, and 88% are in jobs directly related to the profession for which Generation has trained them. Employed graduates immediately earn an average of 3-4 times their previous earnings. Two to five years after graduation, 70% of alumni continue to meet their daily financial needs and 40% save for the future. To date, Generation’s global graduates have earned some $900 million in wages.
Dr Mona Mourshed has decades of experience as a leader in the education and workforce space. She has authored widely cited education reports, including Education to Employment: Getting Europe’s Youth Into Work, Education to Employment: Designing a System That Works, How the World’s Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better, and How the World’s Best Performing School Systems Come Out on Top.
Previously she founded and led McKinsey & Company’s global education practice, and led McKinsey’s global social responsibility agenda. She was selected as one of Fortune Magazine’s ’40 under 40’, sits on the boards of Last Mile Health, New America and Teach for All, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur, and previously served on the Board of Governors of the International Baccalaureate Organization. Mona has a B.A. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from MIT. She holds dual Egyptian and American citizenship.
Some Useful Links:
* Generation website
* The MidCareer Opportunity – Report by Generation and the OECD
* Forbes Article: ‘Employers May Not Value 25 Years Experience As Much As 5, New Data Shows’, by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox
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In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Lisa Edgar from Saga, a British company which, since its creation over 70 years ago, has focused on services for the over 50s market. Its operations range from holidays, cruise ships and tours, to a wide range of insurance products, personal financial services and personal alarms. Its Saga Magazine has a monthly readership of over 1 million. In 2022 there were some 26.1 million people over 50, and this is expected to increase to 28.2 million by 2032. Currently this represents 39% of the UK population, which is estimated to spend some £292 billion on non-household expenditure. Saga is a key player in this marked and a byword for having seen and responded to the interests of the older customer.
Lisa is Saga’s Chief Customer Officer and the Chief Executive of its own wholly owned insight agency, the Big Window. She joined the Saga Executive Leadership Team in February 2022 to drive its vision of knowing its customers, and what it means to get older. Prior to Saga, Lisa owned and led insight agencies for over 20 years and is a multi-award-winning and published speaker on ageing consumers, together with how they behave and respond. During that time, Lisa worked with leading UK and global players, including Aviva, Zurich, Bupa, Hargreaves Lansdown, BBC and many others, helping them to develop leading-edge insight into their strategies and tactics. Over the last 10 years, Lisa focused her attention on the ageing population and , in particular, ageing and decision-making for consumers, employees and employers. She is now regarded as a leader in the field of what it means to age as a consumer and employee, what needs are created by this, and how to best satisfy those needs with products and services.
Some Useful Links
* Saga’s Customer-facing website
* Saga’s Corporate and Investor website
* The Big Window website
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In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Dr Emi Kiyota, Founder and director of Ibasho, an organization that facilitates the co-creation with elders of socially integrated, sustainable communities that value their elders. In Japanese, Ibasho means ‘A place where you can feel like yourself’.
Emi Kiyota was born and grew up in Japan in a 4-generation household. She thought living with grandparents and great-grandparents was both normal and essential - until she discovered the world thought otherwise. After a doctorate in the US, and living in American nursing homes, she thought there must be a better way to design life for our future selves. She founded the Ibasho concept, which flips the script. Instead of caring for elders, it’s the elders who care for us. With projects already in Japan, she’s now bringing the idea to Singapore.
Dr. Kiyota holds a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is an environmental gerontologist and a consultant with over 20 years experience in designing and implementing person-centered care in long-term care facilities and hospitals globally. Her current focus is on creating socially integrated and resilient cities where elders are engaged and able to actively participate in their communities. She has published journal articles and book chapters and serves on the board of directors of the Global Ageing Network. Dr. Kiyota has been awarded fellowships to investigate this topic, including the Loeb Fellowship at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, the Rockefeller Bellagio Residency Fellowship, and the Atlantic Fellowship for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute at University of California, San Francisco. She is currently Deputy Executive Director, Centre for Population Health, at the National University of Singapore, and Associate Professor, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and College of Design and Engineering.
Useful Links:
* Website of Ibasho
* Article: Ibasho House, A Communal Place in an Aging Local Community
* World Bank Report: The Ibasho Toolkit
* Wiley Online Library: Co-creating Environments: Empowering Elders and Strengthening Communities through Design
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In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Michael Fossat, head of Schneider Electric’s Future Ready program. With a 180-year history, Schneider is now focused on assisting and driving the energy transition to an electric and digital future. Yet this 150,000 strong company discovered that its 51+ employees (what Avivah calls Q3) weren’t as motivated and engaged as the rest. Schneider determined to fix that, especially given the talent wars they feel pressing on their business needs every day. The Future Ready Program is their response.
Michael Fossat has worked at Schneider for much of his professional career. Passionate about sustainable business and people’s central role in achieving it, he joined Schneider Electric in France as an HR apprentice in an industrial department, participated in the creation of HR shared services for the entire group and worked in the R&D division, before moving to Barcelona to create the HR Metrics function globally. Returning to Paris he was successively HR VP for one of the business units, HR head of Central and Eastern Europe and HR leader for European plants and distribution centres. In taking on his current role in 2021 as head of the Future Ready Program he brought a wide knowledge of what motivates people across the group.
Schneider Electric website
Schneider Electric – Company Purpose
https://www.kornferry.com/content/dam/kornferry/docs/pdfs/KF-Future-of-Work-Talent-Crunch-Report.pdf
https://www.aarpinternational.org/
Articles by Avivah on other Corporate Initiatives: Unilever and Aviva
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In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with Dr Julie Miller, Director of Thought Leadership, Financial Resilience, at the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Dr Miller seeks to propel new conversations and cultivate partnerships that will challenge the status quo of longevity and empower people to have the financial and economic stability to live longer, healthier lives.
Prior to joining AARP, Julie Miller spent a decade as a social science researcher at the MIT AgeLab, where she led translational social science research across key topical areas of longevity planning, caregiving and wellbeing, housing and home logistics, and transportation and livable communities. As a Rappaport Public Policy Fellow through Harvard University’s Rappaport Institute, Dr. Miller supported the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs in its administration of the nation’s first statewide Governor’s Council to Address Aging. She served as a lecturer and program founder and coordinator at Northeastern University, Boston University, and UC Berkeley and produced two documentary films centering “Vibrant Aging.”
Dr. Miller work has appeared in The New York Times, Barron’s, Rethinking65, CNBC, Innovation in Aging, The Journal of Financial Planning, The Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Families in Society, The Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, The Journal of Gerontological Social Work, Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, The Journal of Workplace and Behavioral Health, and numerous edited books. She received her doctorate of philosophy in social work at Boston College, her masters in social work with a concentration in gerontology from The University of California, Berkeley, and her bachelors of science from Northeastern University, where she studied Human Services and American Sign Language.
Some Useful Links:
* The reports Julie describes and other resources can be found at aarpinternational.org
* Unleashing the Economic Power of Older Women
* How Women 50+ Are Driving the Global Economy
* An Analysis of Governmental Plans for Healthy Aging from Around the WorldThe Business Case for Healthy Longevity Workbook
* o Longevity Economy Outlook
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