Ai-jen Poo on The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America

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Produced by: 
KBOO
Air date: 
Fri, 05/29/2015 - 9:00am to 9:30am
Ai-jen Poo on The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America

Host Kathleen Stephenson speaks with activist Ai-jen Poo about her new book, The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America.

By 2035, 11.5 million Americans will be over the age of eighty-five—more than double today’s 5 million—and living longer than ever before. To enable all of us to age with dignity and security in the face of this coming Age Wave, our society must learn to value the care of our elders. The process of building a culture that supports care is a key component to restoring the American dream, and, as Ai-jen Poo convincingly argues in The Age of Dignity, will generate millions of new jobs and breathe new life into our national ideals of independence, justice, and dignity.

Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) and co-director of the Caring Across Generations campaign, is the winner of a 2014 MacArthur “genius” grant. She has been organizing immigrant women workers since 1996. In 2000, she co-founded Domestic Workers United (DWU), the New York organization that spearheaded the successful passage of the state’s historic Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2010. In 2007, DWU helped organize the first national domestic workers convening, out of which formed the NDWA. Poo serves on the boards of directors of Momsrising, National Jobs with Justice, Working America, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, and the National Council on Aging. Among her numerous accolades are the Ms. Foundation Woman of Vision Award, the Independent Sector American Express NGen Leadership Award, and being chosen for Newsweek’s 150 Fearless Women list and Time’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
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