4-Quarter Lives

Everyone talks about longevity. Very few organisations are redesigning anything for it. In this mini-series, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox speaks with three leaders across public health, global hospitality, and telecommunications who are actively moving the dial. Three principles run through every conversation: influence, accessibility, and dignity.NHS: Change From the MiddleHelen BevanReal transformation in large institutions rarely comes from the top. Helen Bevan argues it emerges from experienced leaders embedded within systems — people with the credibility, relationships, and institutional memory to drive change across organisational boundaries. In this framing, age is an asset: experience becomes social capital, and older workers are architects of change, not defenders of the status quo.“Instead of seeing older workers as defenders of the status quo, organisations should recognise them as essential architects of change.”NOVOTEL: Longevity, EverydayJean-Yves Minet, Global Brand President, NovotelLongevity shouldn’t be a luxury product. Novotel’s ‘quiet wellbeing’ philosophy focuses on four everyday foundations — sleep, nutrition, movement, and human connection — with the goal of small, compounding improvements rather than dramatic interventions (1% each day = 37% each year). Hotels are redesigning social spaces, menus, and meeting rooms to quietly support healthier lives across all generations and price points.“Longevity becomes embedded in daily life rather than marketed as a specialist intervention.”AT&T: Digital DignityMylayna Albright, VP Corporate Responsibility, AT&TThe barrier to digital participation for older adults isn’t access to devices — it’s confidence. AT&T’s Connected Learning Centers, embedded in trusted community spaces like YMCAs and libraries, start with the basics and build from there. The result: renewed independence, stronger social connections, and in many cases a return to work. AI’s conversational interfaces are opening new doors, turning complex tools into plain-language assistants for everyday tasks.“Curiosity does not age out. When people are treated with dignity and given the right support, they remain capable of learning, adapting, and contributing.”Listen* Change from the Middle — Helen Bevan (NHS)* Democratising Longevity — Jean-Yves Minet (Accor)* Digital Dignity — Mylayna Albright (AT&T) Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is joined by Helen Bevan, one of the UK’s most respected thinkers on large-scale change inside complex systems.Drawing on more than 35 years working inside NHS England, Helen explains why lasting change rarely starts at the top. It starts in the middle. With peers. Through relationships. And through informal influence rather than titles.Helen shares hard-won lessons from cancer care reform, showing how improvement only works when people feel change is done with them, not to them. She unpacks why clinicians resist change when autonomy is threatened, and why trust, follow-through, and peer credibility matter more than formal authority.The conversation explores Helen’s well-known idea of “change from the middle,” linking mid-career and midlife to real agency. She explains why people in the middle of organisations often hold the greatest influence, especially those with long-standing relationships and earned respect.She also introduces organisational network analysis, where roughly 3 percent of people drive up to 85 percent of internal conversations. These informal connectors, often invisible to senior leaders, are where real momentum sits.Age plays a critical role. Experience builds trust, networks, and credibility. Yet systems often overlook older professionals, or re-engage them without follow-through, turning hope into deeper scepticism. Helen explains why honouring commitments is essential, especially with seasoned contributors.The episode closes with a hopeful view of ageing workforces, longer careers, and people-powered leadership. Helen argues the future depends on believing in people, creating psychological safety, and designing systems that let experience shine rather than fade.Helen Bevan is a global authority on large-scale change, improvement, and leadership in complex systems. She has worked inside the NHS for over 35 years, supporting national programmes in cancer care, quality improvement, and system-wide transformation. Now Professor of Practice in Health and Care Improvement at Warwick Business School, she provides strategic advice to help leaders build people-centred systems that balance stability with innovation.Useful Links:* Helen Bevan’s website: https://helenbevan.uk* Helen’s Warwick Business School resume: https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/change-leader-takes-on-new-challenge-as-wbs-professor-of-practice/* Stephen Covey, Circles of Influence: https://www.franklincovey.com Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives Podcast, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is joined by Jean-Yves Minet, Global Brand President of major hospitality group Accor, to explore how longevity is moving beyond luxury retreats and into mainstream hospitality.Jean-Yves brings a cross-industry lens to the conversation. After more than a decade at Estée Lauder Companies, where he helped shape the brand’s approach to longevity in beauty, he transitioned into hospitality with a novel ambition: to democratise longevity.At Novotel, that means shifting the narrative from expensive, short-term wellness retreats to what he calls “1% improvement every day.” Instead of positioning longevity as elite biohacking or anti-ageing promises, Novotel is embedding four basic pillars into its global guest experience: sleep, nutrition, movement and connection.Drawing inspiration from Blue Zones research and the quiet luxury movement, Jean-Yves describes the rise of “quiet wellbeing” — a more discreet, accessible, and sustainable approach to living longer, better lives. From redesigned social lobbies and energy-focused meeting spaces to plant-forward menus and family-inclusive stays, Novotel is reframing its hospitality as a platform for everyday health. As populations age and travel rebounds post-COVID, Jean-Yves argues that hospitality has a responsibility not just to host guests, but to support longer, healthier and more sustainable lives, as a daily practice.Jean-Yves Minet is Global Brand President, Midscale and Economy at Accor, where he leads a portfolio representing more than 70 percent of the Group’s global footprint, including Novotel, Mercure, TRIBE, Handwritten Collection, ibis, ibis Styles, ibis budget, and greet. A member of Accor’s Premium, Midscale and Economy Executive Committee, he shapes the strategic vision, positioning, and guest experience across more than 4,600 hotels worldwide. With over 25 years of international leadership experience, Jean-Yves brings deep expertise in global brand strategy, business expansion and commercial performance.Useful Links* Accor’s Novotel ‘Longevity Everyday’ strategy: https://group.accor.com/en/news-stories/novotel-launches-longevity-everyday* Accor Group: https://group.accor.com* Jean-Yves Minet on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/minet/ Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

As we move into 2026, I’m launching a series of focused mini-series conversations on my 4-Quarter Lives podcast — three or four episodes clustered around one big strategic theme. And this is our first synthesis episode.Over the past few weeks, I’ve spoken with Anu Madgavkar from McKinsey on the hard economics of demographic decline and AI, Dan Pontefract on what he calls “age debt” inside organisations, and Rick Robinson from AARP Innovation on the commercial scale of the longevity economy.Individually, each conversation stands alone.Together, they tell a much bigger story.We are living through a structural convergence: shrinking workforces, accelerating automation, and a rapidly ageing consumer base. These are not separate trends. They are interlocking forces reshaping how we design work, build companies, and define growth.So in today’s episode, I’m stepping back from the individual interviews to connect the dots.What happens when demographic scarcity meets artificial intelligence?What are organisations quietly losing when they mishandle experience?And why is the so-called “longevity economy” less a niche and more the new baseline?If you’re leading a company, designing strategy, or simply trying to make sense of what the next twenty years look like — this one is for you.Let’s zoom outThese three recent conversations converge on a reality that most executive teams still underweight:We are not entering a demographic shift. We are already operating inside one.And AI has arrived at precisely the same moment.Ageing is still too often treated as a soft HR issue. AI is still too often treated as a technical IT issue. Both framings are now strategically obsolete. Demographic contraction and technological acceleration are twin forces reshaping labour supply, productivity, and market demand — simultaneously.This is not incremental change. It is structural redesign.Here’s 3 key lessons you can pull from these three experts.1. Scarcity Meets AutomationTwo-thirds of the global population now lives in countries with fertility rates below replacement. In advanced economies, the ratio of “working-age” adults (I know, I struggle with this outdated segmentation too) to over-65s is heading from roughly 4:1 toward 2:1 by mid-century.That is not an “ageing story.”It is a growth constraint.Shrinking labour supply is not a temporary market distortion. It is the new operating environment. The post-war demographic dividend has flipped into a headwind — and it will not reverse on any five-year strategic timeline.At the same time, AI is expanding productive capacity. A significant share of today’s work can technically be automated. A growing proportion of work hours will be repurposed says Anu Madgavkar (and the two essential McKinsey reports we discuss).The word that matters is not “replacement.” It is redesign.Demographic contraction reduces available human labour. AI increases task efficiency. Automation becomes the economic buffer against depopulation — but only if leaders redesign work to match.Waiting for talent markets to “normalise” is waiting for a world that no longer exists.In ageing societies, AI is not a discretionary innovation programme. It is a competitiveness necessity.2. The Hidden Liability: Age DebtInside organisations, a quieter cost is accumulating.Dan Pontefract calls it age debt — the liability companies build when they mishandle later careers, push out experienced professionals too early, and assume succession is a neat baton pass rather than a fragile knowledge transfer.Age debt shows up as:* institutional memory walking out the door* overstretched middle managers carrying unrecorded expertise* expensive hiring cycles to replace tacit knowledge* subtle cultural signals that ageing equals irrelevanceThe career architecture most firms still operate on was built for 40-year lives and retirement at 65. We are now building 60-year careers inside systems that were never redesigned for them.The cost is not sentimental. It is operational.Now add AI.As AI systems scale, the need for human judgment increases. Algorithms generate output; humans remain accountable. Context, pattern recognition, risk intuition, ethical calibration — these do not sit neatly inside code.Here is the paradox most boards have not fully absorbed:The more AI you introduce, the more you need experienced judgment.Automation raises the premium on wisdom.Push out seasoned professionals prematurely and you are not rejuvenating the workforce. You are eroding the human governance layer that makes AI safe and valuable.Retain and redesign later careers and you convert age debt into an experience dividend — a compounding asset of judgment, mentorship, decision quality, and system stability.Experience is not a cost centre. It is a strategic hedge.3. Innovation Beyond TheatreExternally, the blindness is just as pronounced.The so-called “longevity economy” is still widely misunderstood as a niche healthcare segment. It is not. It is the mainstream consumer market of extended lives.Older consumers hold a disproportionate share of wealth and will do so for decades. Yet marketing, product design and brand narratives remain youth-coded.This is not just a cultural bias. It is a commercial oversight.Rick Robinson’s work at AARP highlights a growing ecosystem of startups building for longer lives — not as charity, but as opportunity. The focus is autonomy, connection, caregiving, financial resilience, mobility, housing, participation. Everyday life, extended.The critical insight: older consumers are not tech-resistant. They are dignity-sensitive.They adopt technology when it offers control, usefulness, safety, and respect. They disengage when it patronises or excludes.Design for longer lives and you unlock durable revenue streams. Continue designing for a shrinking youth segment and you compress your future.The longevity opportunity is not a side market. It is the new baseline.The Leadership Shift RequiredDemographics and AI are not parallel trends. They are interdependent.Internally, this means redesigning careers as phased transitions rather than cliff-edge exits. It means valuing transferable skills — communication, judgment, systems thinking — alongside digital fluency. It means investing in reskilling across the life course, not front-loading it in early adulthood.Externally, it means recognising ageing populations not as burdens, but as engines of demand and innovation. Product development, marketing, and customer experience must reflect the reality of longer, multi-stage lives.This is not about “managing ageing.”It is about designing for extended vitality.Leaders who succeed in the next decade will pair human judgment, experience, and empathy with technological partners. They will see longevity not as a risk to mitigate but as the context in which all strategy now operates.The demographic shift is not coming.It is here.AI will not save you without experience.And experience will not compound unless you redesign the system that contains it.The organisations that thrive in 2040 are being designed today.Is yours’? Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives Podcast, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is joined by Dan Pontefract to tackle one of the last big blind spots in corporate leadership. Age.Dan is a long-time culture and leadership thinker, former Chief Learning Officer, and the author of six books on work, purpose, and performance. His latest book, The Future of Work Is Grey, turns the spotlight on what he calls “age debt”, the hidden cost organisations accumulate by ignoring demographics, longevity, and experience.The conversation starts with Dan’s own wake-up call at 50, when he realised how invisible age had been throughout his executive career. From there, Avivah and Dan unpack why ageing has become the corporate issue nobody wants to own, despite collapsing birth rates, longer working lives, and growing talent scarcity across Europe, the UK, and beyond.Dan introduces a clear set of ideas that help leaders move past generational stereotypes. Instead of Gen X, Y, or Z, he frames working lives through three phases. Rivers, Rocks, and Rubies. Early career learners, mid-career stabilisers, and later-career wisdom holders. The problem, he argues, is that most organisations manage today’s 50-plus talent using outdated mid-career assumptions, creating burnout in the middle and waste at the top.Together, they explore the real business costs of age blindness. Lost knowledge, stressed middle managers, pension and workforce planning failures, and rising ageism hidden in hiring and promotion systems. Dan describes four forms of age debt already hitting company balance sheets. Demographic ignorance, lost wisdom, unplanned longevity, and embedded age bias.The discussion then shifts to solutions. Dan shares concrete examples from BMW, Tokyo Gas, L’Oréal, and Canadian public organisations that are redesigning careers, retaining experience, and creating structured transitions instead of abrupt exits. These organisations are turning age debt into experience dividends.Avivah and Dan also dig into one of the hardest topics. Money. They challenge the assumption that experience always equals inflexibility or unsustainable cost, and explain why purpose, contribution, and fair reward matter more than linear pay ladders in later career stages.The episode closes with a forward look. What will distinguish organisations that succeed in an ageing, talent-scarce economy? Dan’s answer is simple and demanding. Leaders must become age-aware first, then age-invisible. Seeing talent, not birthdays, while designing systems that work across longer lives.Dan Pontefract is a leadership strategist, keynote speaker, and award-winning author based in Canada. He has held senior executive roles including Chief Learning Officer in global organisations across technology and telecommunications. Dan is the author of six books on leadership, culture, and work, including Flat Army, The Purpose Effect, and The Future of Work Is Grey. His work focuses on how organisations can build healthier cultures, think long-term, and better integrate purpose, experience, and human potential across longer working lives. He is a regular contributor to global business conversations on leadership and the future of work.Useful Links* Dan Pontefract Website: https://www.danpontefract.com* The Future of Work Is : https://www.danpontefract.com/the-future-of-work-is-grey/* Dan Pontefract on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpontefract Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is joined by Rick Robinson, who leads innovation at AARP and is the driving force behind the Agetech Collaborative.Rick shares how a career spent at the edge of emerging technology led him to longevity innovation. From early work in online media to running AARP’s innovation lab, his focus has stayed constant. Build what matters next, and make it real.The conversation traces AARP’s shift from internal pilots to ecosystem building. Rick explains why he moved away from what he calls innovation theater and toward startups with products already solving real problems for people over 50. During COVID, that shift accelerated, giving rise to the Agetech Collaborative.Today, the Collaborative connects more than 650 startups, investors, enterprises, and testbeds across health, caregiving, fintech, mobility, housing, and AI. Rick’s goal is clear. Reach 1,000 companies and create a self-sustaining global market for longevity innovation.He and Avivah explore concrete examples already changing lives. Simpler digital wills. AI support for dementia caregivers. Secure digital vaults for family records. Exoskeleton clothing that boosts mobility. Captioning glasses for real-world conversations. Tools that help grandparents read bedtime stories in augmented reality.Rick also tackles the hard questions. Privacy. Ethics. AI in the home. He argues that older adults are far more tech-ready than most leaders assume, and that convenience, dignity, and control matter more than novelty.The episode closes with a direct challenge to big business and investors. Demographics are destiny. By 2035, people over 65 will outnumber children in many countries. The growth market is already here, and it is being ignored at real cost.Rick Robinson is Vice President of Product Innovation at AARP and is the architect of the Agetech Collaborative. With a career spanning early online media, digital product leadership, and emerging technologies, Rick has consistently worked at the frontier of what comes next. At AARP, he has helped drive innovation from internal experimentation t a global startup ecosystem focused on real-world impact for people over 50 and their families. His work connects startups, investors, enterprises, and researchers to accelerate practical solutions for longevity, caregiving, health, and independent living.Useful Links* Agetech Collaborative: https://agetechcollaborative.org* AARP Innovation: https://www.aarp.org/innovation* Trust & Will: https://trustandwill.com* Amicus Brain: https://amicusbrain.com* Zoog: https://getzoog.com* Neko Health: https://www.nekohealth.com Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives Podcast, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is joined by Anu Madgavkar, a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, to explore the collision of two defining forces shaping our future: global demographic decline and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.Anu has led two major McKinsey reports published in the same year, one on depopulation and shifting dependency ratios, and the other on AI, agents, robots and the future of work. In this conversation, she explains why these forces cannot be understood in isolation. Falling birth rates and longer lives are shrinking the global labour supply at the same moment that AI is expanding productive capacity.Together, Avivah and Anu unpack the scale of the demographic shift already underway. Two thirds of the world now live in countries below replacement fertility. In many advanced economies, the ratio of working-age adults to people over 65 will fall from four to two by 2050. Without changes to how we work and how long we work, this alone could remove around 0.5 percentage points of annual GDP growth.AI enters the picture as a potential counterweight. Anu shares McKinsey research showing that 57 percent of current work hours in the US could technically be automated with existing technologies. By 2030, around 30 percent of work hours may be repurposed. This does not point to mass unemployment, but to a deep redesign of jobs, workflows, and skills.A central theme is AI fluency. Demand for it has risen sevenfold in just two years, faster than any other skill. Anu argues this is not a young person’s advantage. Mid-career and older professionals often bring deep system knowledge, judgement, and pattern recognition that matter even more as work shifts from task execution to oversight, sense-checking, and redesigning processes that include AI co-workers.Anu also highlights eight high-prevalence transferable skills that appear in 70 to 90 percent of job postings. These include communication, problem solving, detail orientation, writing, operations thinking, and customer awareness. In a world of constant job change, these form the backbone of sustainable 60-year careers, especially when combined with hands-on experience using AI tools.The conversation closes with a clear message for midlife professionals. Experiment, use AI directly learn by doing. The future of work will reward those who pair human judgement, experience, and empathy with new technological partners.Anu Madgavkar is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and a leader at the McKinsey Global Institute, where she focuses on the future of work, productivity, demographics, and technology. She has co-authored major global research on depopulation, ageing societies, AI, automation, and workforce transitions. Anu advises business leaders and policymakers worldwide on how economic and technological shifts affect jobs, skills, and growth. She is widely recognised for translating complex data into practical insights on how work and society are changing.Useful Links:* McKinsey Global Institute. Depopulation and Dependency Reporthttps://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/dependency-and-depopulation-confronting-the-consequences-of-a-new-demographic-reality* McKinsey Global Institute. AI, Agents, Robots, and the Future of Workhttps://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/generative-ai-and-the-future-of-work-in-america* Anu Madgavkar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anu-madgavkar/* McKinsey & Company Website: https://www.mckinsey.com Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is joined by Simon Chan and Dr. Kate Schaefers, co-chairs of the Nexel Collaborative, a not-for-profit network of academic thought leaders promoting college-based midlife transition programmes. As societies shift toward age-diverse populations and 60-year careers, they explore why higher education must evolve from a front-loaded, early-life model to one that supports adults through multiple transitions across the life course.Together, they examine the rise of midlife and later-life learning programs, the demographic and economic pressures reshaping universities, and the growing demand from individuals seeking purpose, reinvention, and community beyond traditional retirement. Drawing on their work with Nexel, CoGenerate, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, Simon and Kate highlight the emerging ecosystem—from intergenerational classrooms to university-based retirement communities—now pointing toward an era of lifelong, cross-generational campuses.Simon Chan is the Founder and CEO of Adapt with Intent Inc., advising organizations on longevity, work, higher education, and retirement. He partners with senior leaders to build resilient workforces, modernize retirement, and design systems for 100-year lives. A Global Ambassador for the Stanford Center on Longevity, he translates research into practice. Simon co-chairs The Nexel Collaborative to advance midlife transitions and serves on Yale’s Experienced Leaders Initiative Advisory Board. A Senior Fellow at CoGenerate, he champions intergenerational innovation. He chairs Wilfrid Laurier University’s Board of Governors and frequently speaks and writes on longevity and workforce change across various sectors in Canada and around the world.Dr. Kate Schaefers a psychologist, educator, and director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and The Midlife Academy at the University of Minnesota. As co-chair of The Nexel Collaborative, she works with universities across the U.S. to advance midlife learning, intergenerational classrooms, and innovative program design for adults in transition. She previously led the University of Minnesota’s Advanced Careers Initiative, where she developed one of the country’s first “midternship” models blending academic exploration with applied work experience. Kate’s work centers on adult development, identity shifts, and how institutions can better support individuals at pivot points such as career change, caregiving, empty nest, and post-retirement reinvention.Useful Links* Nexel Collaborative website* Campus CoGenerate: https://cogenerate.org/harnessing-the-power-of-cogeneration-on-campus/* University Retirement Communities: https://www.universityretirementcommunities.com/* Inside Higher Education Enrollment Cliff, Meet Longevity Boom: https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2024/08/08/longevity-boom-boost-higher-ed-opinion* CoGenerate Webinar - Three College Presidents on Cogeneration, Innovation and Higher Ed’s Bottom Line: * The Midlife Academy at the University of Minnesota https://ccaps.umn.edu/midlife-academy* National Resource Center for Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes: https://sps.northwestern.edu/oshernrc/* Long Life Learning and the Age Integration of Higher Education, Stanford Social Innovation Review: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/long_life_learning_and_the_age_integration_of_higher_educat Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

In Series 10 of 4-Quarter Lives Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with the leaders of a growing number of university faculties running programmes for individuals looking to change direction as they enter their 3rd Quarter of life. She discusses the origins and motivations for these programmes and how they fit into the evolving role of higher education. This week she speaks with Professor Virginia Cha, Academic Director of the new Distinguished Senior Fellows Program at the National University of Singapore (NUS)—Asia’s first university-based midlife transition program.They explore why Singapore, one of the world’s fastest-ageing societies, is pioneering this new model; how the program blends longevity science, purpose projects, fieldwork, and an ASEAN immersion trip; and the remarkable friendships and impact emerging from this inaugural cohort.Virginia shares why she launched this 13-week, executive-level program—rooted in longevity literacy, purpose, and impact—designed specifically for adults navigating their 3rd Quarter of life. She describes Singapore’s demographic pressures, the untapped “third demographic dividend,” and why midlife talent represents one of Asia’s most powerful yet overlooked assets. She and Avivah discuss the program’s unique structure: curated seminars across philosophy, religion, culture, arts, and science; a signature module, Thriving in the 100-Year Life; and team-based impact projects.Virginia also reflects on her own turning-65 moment, rediscovering early passions in anthropology and religion, and designing the program she wished existed. Unexpectedly, the deepest impact has been friendship—“like kindergarten again,” she says—revealing the joy, stimulation, and motivation that come from learning in community in later life.Professor Virginia Cha is the Academic Director of the Distinguished Senior Fellows Program at the National University of Singapore (NUS). An award-winning educator, entrepreneur, and longtime adjunct faculty member at NUS, she brings decades of experience spanning technology leadership, innovation, and executive development. After a global career in tech and business—including multiple CEO roles—Virginia turned her attention to longevity, purpose, and the future of ageing in Asia.Useful Links* Distinguished Senior Fellows Program (NUS)* SmiLing Gecko Cambodia — social enterprise & education project Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe

In Season 10 of 4-Quarter Lives, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox talks with the leaders of a growing number of university faculties developing programmes for individuals looking to change direction in their 3rd Quarter of life. We explore the origins and motivations behind these programmes—and how they fit the evolving role of higher education in ageing societies.This week we are republishing Avivah’s conversation with Céline Abecassis-Moedas, Pro-Rector for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in Lisbon, Portugal, and Co-Director of the Longevity Leadership Program at Catolica. As becomes clear during their conversation, her fellow director on this program is Avivah Wittenberg-Cox!Not surprisingly their conversation focuses on the need for and value of a Longevity Leadership programme of this kind. Launched in June 2024, the week-long program addresses the growing impact of lengthening lives for individuals, businesses and society. Céline explains how it offers a unique, holistic approach that combines three elements – personal development, business strategy and societal perspectives on longevity. Lisbon is itself emerging as a longevity hub in various ways, making it a valuable location for the program. Céline describes how her personal experience sparked her interest in longevity and her recognition of a gap in executive education in part (though not specifically) for the 55+ demographic, and examining the growing significance of longer careers. Working with Avivah, they developed this into the larger concept of a course also exploring the organisational and societal implications of changing demographics, and structured a program that covers macro-economic trends, business opportunities, career transitions, personal health and finance, and even urban planning, bringing in a range of experts on each of these topics. Participants, ranging in age from late 20s to early 60s, gender balanced and from a range of corporate and non-corporate backgrounds, reported exceptionally high satisfaction ratings.Céline Abecassis-Moedas is a Professor and Pro-Rector for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Universidade Católica Portuguesa and an Ambassador at the Stanford Center on Longevity. She holds a PhD in Management from École Polytechnique, Paris and an MA in Management from the Université Paris Dauphine. She is a graduate from École Normale Supérieure de Cachan and La Sorbonne in Economics and Management. Celine was Dean for Executive Education at Catolica Lisbon from 2019 to 2024 and previously Assistant Professor at the Centre for Business Management at Queen Mary, University of London. She worked in Business Development at Lectra in New York and as a Consultant at AT Kearney in London. Céline’s research interests are on the role of design in innovation, design management, innovation management and entrepreneurship mostly in creative industries, and her work as been widely published. In addition to her academic experience, Celine is non-executive director at CUF, Vista Alegre Atlantis and Lectra.Some Useful Links:* Catolica Lisbon Longevity Leadership Program Overview* Catolica Lisbon Longevity Leadership Program Structure* Catolica Lisbon Longevity Leadership Program Application Form* Stanford Center on Longevity Ambassador Get full access to 4-Quarter Lives | Elderberries at elderberries.substack.com/subscribe