Chronicle of Experts - The Intergenerational Cheerleader
From renowned thought and culture leaders, to members of our community, we learn about what gives meaning to what they do.
MYKIGAI is a dedicated space to maintain purpose and profit from career and life experience for an active 50+ community. In our newsletters we profile our Ambassador Experts to explore what makes their lives purposeful. In this edition we focus on community members actively engaging in the intergenerational exchange that will be the focus of our next MYKIGAI Roundtable (Friday July 3rd, at 12 PM ET).
Interviews by Leanne Delap who has been both the Fashion Editor and Fashion Reporter for the Globe and Mail and was the editor-in-chief of FASHION Magazine.
CANADA’S INTERGENERATIONAL CHEERLEADER AND ENTREPRENEURIAL MATCHMAKER
John Hamblin
“There are lots of seniors like me,” says John Hamblin. “We are healthy and we have money to spend.” The Nova Scotia-based consultant and mentor wears a dizzying number of hats: consultant for Smart Homes and Senior Living; the Founder of Startup Canada-Halifax and Aging 2.0 -Halifax; board member of Community Links NS; and curator for Startup Digest-Halifax.
Through Aging 2.0 , which has 123 chapters around the world from from Tokyo and Rio to Portland, Maine—Hamblin and the Aging 2.0 Halifax group are in the process of setting up a Living Lab. This will be a virtual hub for startups relating to products and services catering to seniors. As he notes, this group has buying power. “But it requires an intergenerational approach,” says Hamblin. “Entrepreneurs need input from seniors, to make sure these ideas are something seniors actually want!”
Connecting cohorts is a passion for Hamblin, who will be participating in the MYKIGAI Intergenerational Exchange panel on July 3 at noon, exploring how working with people of different ages and experiences can be an advantage for all.
Hamblin also serves as a mentor at St. Mary’s University, which has a partnership with Volta, a 75,000 square-foot innovation hub. There he sees intergenerational energy in action. But it is his experience at his winter home in Arizona, where he is on the board of a computer club that is comprised of 20,000 seniors, that opened his eyes to the market potential. Contrary to the clichés, says Hamblin, “Most seniors are tech savvy, or very interested in becoming tech savvy.” He is also involved in the creation of an online tech training course series, of particular value during the COVID crisis.
“Intergenerational teams,” says Hamblin, “have huge advantages. I strongly believe there are an awful lot of seniors who can make huge contributions in every aspect of life, who have incredible expertise and experiences to share.”
When things open back up, one of Hamblin’s goals is to set up an in-person series of “speed-match” evenings, “very much like speed dating, but connecting seniors with young people” to find synergies to get startups off the ground.
CASE STUDY: GOOGLE HOME FOR THE WIN
One particularly heartwarming success story Hamblin has to share is that of 15-year-old Jack Mugridge, a high schooler from Sydney, NS. He was part of Hamblin’s Google Home device project:
“Jack's great uncle, Bob, has some physical disabilities most notably with his hands, but is a great inventor of gadgets and Jack works with him on developing tools to help those with hand mobility issues. Jack helped install Bob's Google Mini for our project and was super interested from the start. We got him a Google Mini as well to work with Bob and provide his input on the value of the Google device and how it could be improved. When some folks from Google came to Sydney to review the project, Jack gave a 20-minute presentation. The Google team was impressed and arranged for Jack and his mother to fly to their Silicon Valley research lab. He then became a product tester with them. He is now working on 3D printing and Modelling projects with Bob and is working on a variety of initiatives/projects including one with members of the indigenous community in Cape Breton.”
Mudridge says he learned many things working with his Uncle Bob, “from how to use different tools, to wiring,” he says. “But aside from building mechanical skills, it’s also important to learn from the stories that the older generations have. These stories can teach you about different ways to solve problems that aren’t immediately obvious. These are skills that they don’t teach you at school, and are only ever learned through experience, which is why younger people such as my self should be actively seeking to learn these vital skills.”
And on the other hand, “older individuals can learn many things from the youth, such as technology skills, and alternative viewpoints.” The thing that both parties can take away from the exchange, he adds, is a more comprehensive understanding of the people in their community, whether that be their neighbourhood, their city, or a mutual online setting.
“I think it’s important to mix the wisdom of the older generations with the ambition of the younger generations, and the education this can grant to both parties is a unique and powerful thing.”
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: MEET THE NANOGRANS
Judith, Jen & Tanis
Two generations and three perspectives come together on the NanoGrans.com blog, with the goal of making tech “more relevant, accessible and fun” for older adults.
The project arose in the middle of the pandemic—Jen is the millennial mom of two in her 40s and a Professor of Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Tech and aging is her field: she is also the Schlegel Research Chair in Technology for Independent Living at the Research Institute for Aging, and Director of the Intelligent Technologes for Independent Living lab.
NanoGrans became a family affair when Jen’s Mom, Tanis (a career information systems manager), and her mother-in-law, Judy (who describes herself as the technological tortoise of the group)—quite literally the “Grans”—got excited by a tech-and-aging article Jen was writing. In the unique situation of lockdown, the flow of ideas came fast and furious. Whatever Jen couldn’t use for her article became blog fodder, from an exploration of online yoga to a tale of harddrive recovery.
The three intergenerational family members are “very keen on experience and purpose,” says Judy. “The pandemic has shown us how we can remain engaged with the world, even if it is just virtually,” citing virtual theatrical performances they have attended (highlighted in a blog post called Comfy on the Couch). And they plan to document experiences in lifelong learning courses, newly available fully online “It is a fabulous opportunity, but you have to be prepared to engage.”
Getting into the swing online is imperative, says Judy: “Our generation does need to be prepared to enjoy a more virtual life as we confront health concerns and deal with a slower pace of life.” Blogs such as NanoGrans personalize that journey, and kick-start the goal of getting generations to talk to each other, to figure out how tech can better bring us together.
The MYKIGAI Roundtable is this Friday, July 3rd at 12pm ET. Sign up below or at MYKIGAI.com