Elders for Sound Democracy - Youth Civic Engagement Action Team
2025-05-07 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-05-21 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom video conferencing
Youth Civic Engagement Action Team
This Spring a few determined elders are pioneering strategies to overcome the long-term challenges of encouraging civic engagement among high schoolers and supporting voter registration drives. We are beginning now to engage educators and leaders this summer for student-led drives – supported by The Civics Center – in the Fall.
Join us on Wednesdays: April 23, May 7 and/or May 21 at 2:00 pm ET / 11:00 am PT.
For more information, email Therese at: theresef@eldersaction.org
REGISTER
After registering, you will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us) with a unique link to join the event. Please check your email inbox.

Host a Nonnas Watch Party
2025-05-09 00:00 - 2025-06-30 00:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Elders Action Network is excited to share a wonderful opportunity for you to bring families, friends and communities together and share a moment of laughter, fun meaningful conversations.
Consider hosting a Nonnas Watch Party
A coalition of the Grandmother Collective, CoGenerate, Generations United, and 1Community have come together to encourage families and communities worldwide to host Nonnas watch parties between May 9 through June 30. From cozy living rooms to bustling community centers, watch parties will create of a global movement celebrating food, traditions, and the wisdom of older women.
Nonnas is a new film which releases on Netflix on May 9, 2025. This heartwarming film, featuring stars like Vince Vaughn, Susan Sarandon, Linda Cardellini, and Lorraine Bracco and draws inspiration from Staten Island’s renowned restaurant, Enoteca Maria.
How do I host a watch party?
Click here for information and all the resources you will need to host a watch party.
Why host a watch party?
In today’s fast-paced and often isolating world, social connection and community are more essential than ever for our emotional and mental well-being. As we spend more time working remotely, living far from family, and interacting through screens we become more distant from each other. These gatherings can provide a space for connection and spark meaningful conversations.

Welcome to Elders Climate Action Monthly Session
2025-05-09 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-06-13 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-07-11 15:00 - 16:00, 2025-08-08 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Welcome to Elders Climate Action! We are a community of elders who care about preserving our planet for our grandchildren, future generations and all life. As a new member we would like to invite you to a special Welcome Session where you can hear more about who we are, what ECA has been doing, our plans for the future, and how you can get more involved.
2nd Friday, Monthly
3 pm Eastern, 12 Noon Pacific
REGISTER NOW
Please register to receive a link to join the call. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We encourage you to join by computer so you can see the presenter’s slides. If you are unable to attend this Welcome Session, don’t worry, plan to join next month! We offer a Welcome to Elders Climate Action Session on the 2nd Friday of each month. Watch for our next call bulletin or announcement in the upcoming newsletter or check our website for the event listing.
We look forward to meeting you!

Elders for Sound Democracy Community Meeting
2025-05-14 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Barbara McQuade, author of Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America, will speak about disinformation in our politics and government and what we can do about it.
McQuade is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and a co-host of the Sisters in Law podcast.
Barbara L. McQuade is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, where she teaches courses in criminal law, national security, and data privacy. She is also a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.

From 2010 to 2017, Prof. McQuade served as the U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. She was appointed by President Barack Obama and was the first woman to serve in her position. Before becoming U.S. Attorney, Prof. McQuade worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, a lawyer in private practice, and a judicial law clerk. She and her husband have four children and live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
She has been recognized by The Detroit News with its Michiganian of the Year Award, the Detroit Free Press with its Neil Shine Award for Exemplary Regional Leadership, and Crain’s Detroit Business as one of Detroit’s Most Influential Women.

register

After registering, you will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us) with a unique link to join the event. Please check your email inbox.

Building Bridges Community Gathering
2025-05-15 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
12:00-1:30 pm PT / 3:00-4:30 pm ET
Transforming Disagreements Into Solutions
Can you solve a problem if you’re locked into a particular position? Are you trying to solve a “problem” that others don’t even see? Find out how to guide yourself and others through a process to clearly identify the problem and its root causes, then find and agree on solutions. We’ll use a real-life situation to create possible solutions during this session. Register here for this interactive 90-minute session.
The Building Bridges Community meets every two months to practice and learn effective ways to build understanding to help bridge America’s cultural divides. We offer a welcoming approach to theory and practical skills for avoiding conflict, asking good questions and building understanding. If you’re interested in learning to engage yourself and, by extension, your community in this process, this group is for you.
REGISTER
After registering for the event, you will receive a confirmation email from Zoom containing your unique link to join the meetings.

Healing Our “Generational Legacy”
2025-05-20 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sponsored by Sage-ing International and EAN
Tuesday, May 20
10:00 am – 12:00 pm PT / 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET
An Elder is a person who deserves respect and honor, and whose work is to synthesize wisdom from long life experience and formulate this into a legacy for future generations.
–The Live Oak Project, Debbie and Barry Barkan
For many of us in our 60s, 70s, and 80s, the state of the world causes us great concern. Whether it be climate change, democracy, growing inequity, or any number of issues, this is not the world we want for those we love – yet this is our “generational legacy” – a world that is in crises.
As individuals, we are likely engaging in our individual practices and reflections as we become elders, harvest our lives, create our legacies, mentor others, and more. But how do we go forth acknowledging the concerns of our “generational legacy?”
In this webinar, we will apply Joanna Macy’s teachings of “Active Hope” as a process that we can use when hope feels elusive. Honoring our concerns, we will acknowledge what is true in our world, explore our resilience, and discover the power of constructive, collaborative action as we go forward into the future.
Facilitated by Lynne Iser and Rabbi Mordechai Lieblin.
Lynne Iser, the Founding Director of the Spiritual Eldering Institute, along with Reb Zalman. She currently works with Elders Action Network, “building a movement of elders addressing the social and environmental issues of our time,” and continues to teach Sage-ing and the Deep Ecology work of Joanna Macy, in webinars and retreat centers.
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling was the founding director of the Social Justice Organizing program at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and most recently served as the Senior Advisor to POWER Interfaith, the largest faith-based community organizing network in PA. He is the Vice-Chair of Faith in Action which organizes in 22 states and 12 countries.
Fees
Supporter – $45
Basic – $40
Reduced – $35
To request one of the limited number of scholarships or with any questions, please email Rosemary Cox, r.cox@sage-ing.org.
REGISTER

Elders for Sound Democracy - A Conversation for Democracy
2025-05-21 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-06-25 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-07-23 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-08-27 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
10:00 – 11:00 am PT / 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET
What Can I Do to Make a Difference?
Join with like-minded elders in “A Conversation for Democracy”
As Cory Booker reminded us: “I do not know what John Lewis would have… done [if he were here]. I do know he would have done something….” This Spring, many of us are trying to figure out what [and/or what else] we can do to make a difference.
Several of us who have been active in Elders for Sound Democracy want to:

Welcome elders who are exploring ways to support democracy
Share a number of ways in which we are trying to support democracy
Brainstorm together for new ideas and approaches to support democracy

register

After registering, you will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us) with a unique link to join the event. Please check your email inbox.

Book Study Group
2025-05-26 09:00 - 2025-07-21 10:30, 2025-06-09 09:00 - 2025-08-04 10:30, 2025-06-23 09:00 - 2025-08-18 10:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Currently reading:
How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion
By David McRaney (2022)
What made a prominent conspiracy-theorist YouTuber finally see that 9/11 was not a hoax? Can you finally have a productive conversation about politics with your uncle at the next family gathering? How does an ordinary person find the courage to leave a cult? Can widespread social change only take place when a generation dies out?
Inspired by curiosity and underpinned by diligent research, How Minds Change is an expansive, big-hearted journalistic narrative for our divided times, told with David McRaney’s trademark humor, compassion, and scientific inquiry. In engaging chapters built around eye-opening interviews and anecdotes—featuring psychologists and neuroscientists, and also former cult members, conspiracy theorists, and political activists—McRaney shows why illusions like The Dress captivate (and break) the internet; how conversational techniques can crack hardened attitudes; and what miracles are possible when we show up with open minds and a better understanding of how the human brain works.
Reaching surprising and thought-provoking conclusions, How Minds Change demonstrates that the ability to uncover our own motives and beliefs—and understand those of others—may be the greatest persuasive tool of all.
Schedule:
May 26 through July 21, 2025
Every other Monday for 90 minutes
9:00 am PT / 10:00 am MT / 11:00 am CT / 12:00 pm ET
more info & register

Unlocking Your Purpose
2025-05-27 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Sponsored by Sage-ing International and EAN
Four Tuesdays: May 27, June 24, July 22, August 26
10:00 – 11:30 am PT / 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET
This series is based on the 4th Edition of the book, The Power of Purpose, written by Richard Leider and David Shapiro. Using a highly interactive format, Richard and Gary will invite participants to explore the role of purpose in their lives.
Fees
Supporter – $95
Basic – $75
Reduced – $40
To request one of the limited number of scholarships or with any questions, please email Rosemary Cox, r.cox@sage-ing.org.
REGISTER

Connect & Refresh with the Civic Values & Culture Team
2025-05-27 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Tuesday, May 27
12:00 – 1:00 pm PT / 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET

Join our Civic Values & Culture Team as we pause from our activism and release our serious concerns during this challenging year. Once again, we will come together to enjoy our virtual and restorative community. We will reaffirm the values that guide our collaboration:

Integrity & Authenticity
Deep Listening with Openness, Curiosity and Presence
Appreciation of Differences

Register below to receive the Zoom link. Email event host Therese Flaherty at theresef@eldersaction.org with any questions.
register

Elders for Sound Democracy Community Meeting
2025-06-18 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Wednesday, June 18, 10:00 – 11:30 am PT / 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET
The ESD Leadership Team recognizes the serious threat that disinformation poses to our democracy. The Disinformation Action Team has diligently researched the techniques and amplification methods that drive disinformation across social media platforms to address this challenge. Our mission in this first campaign is to empower social media users, particularly those in the 18 to 35-year-old group, to think critically about the information they encounter.
Join us on June 18 to learn about the launch of the ESD Disinformation Action Team’s social media campaign! Hear about and contribute ideas for our strategies to counter disinformation and discover ways you can get involved in this critical movement.
Let’s take action to combat disinformation and protect the integrity of information in our communities and beyond. Together, we can make a difference.

register

After registering, you will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us) with a unique link to join the event. Please check your email inbox.

Resilience and Acceptance in the Face of Collapse
2025-06-18 16:30 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
We are offering a course for people to gather and learn, to grieve, to plan, and have the space to speak our truths together. It focuses on inner resilience, adaptive responses, collective acceptance of the climate crisis and provides a worldview pertaining to a new and different future.

This is a free, nine-session online course starting on Wednesday, June 18 at 4:00 pm PT / 7:00 pm ET. Registration will begin on May 14.
After the course attendees will be able to:

Define collapse.
Articulate their own understanding about the Great Unraveling and at what stage of awareness they are.
More freely navigate their emotional responses to a collapse.
Name and put into practice several tools for inner resilience.
Describe and weigh out the benefits of localization for outer resilience.
Live in greater balance and harmony with all the spirits which create and support life.
Identify the benefits of acceptance most pertinent to them and their life circumstances.
Meetings are 1 ½ hours. Preparation: 2-3 hours a week

REGISTER (Maximum 25 participants)

Message From the Course Developers
“With great sadness and great love, we are convinced that this is a time of unraveling…biodiversity loss, ocean degradation, urban flooding, political strife, climate crisis and migrations, economic and political instability, food shortages, wildfires, soil degradation.
We have two choices: turning away or turning toward. For a long time, we have learned to turn our eyes away and live as we have always lived.
With these moving thoughts from the Developer’s in mind: We believe that closing our eyes has not served us. It’s time to turn towards—wake up and see what is happening in the world and in ourselves, in the ways we relate to the entire Community of Life. Turning toward takes courage, honesty and love.”
This course is not about traditional resilience solutions. Instead, the course leads participants through a process of opening their eyes in awareness and turning towards what-is with ever-deepening acceptance, through wise responses to our predicament.”

Elders for Sound Democracy - Youth Civic Engagement Action Team
2025-06-24 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-07-22 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-08-26 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Youth Civic Engagement Action Team
For three years, Elders from EAN and ESD have supported the programs of The Civics Center by writing letters and postcards (over 55,000 to PA and AZ parents in 2024), researching, and helping to connect high schools across the country with the free resources offered by The Civics Center.
If you would like to learn more or consider getting involved, join us on Tuesdays, June 24, July 22, and/or August 26 at 11:00 am PT / 2:00 pm ET.
For more information, email Therese at: theresef@eldersaction.org
REGISTER
After registering, you will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us) with a unique link to join the event. Please check your email inbox.

Elders for Sound Democracy Community Meeting
2025-07-16 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Wednesday, July 16, 10:00 – 11:30 am PT / 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET
Our internal research following the November election suggested a sentiment among voters that underweighted core democratic values, and we concluded that disinformation and political corruption were key factors in the results, which were largely unfavorable to democracy. In our last two community meetings, we’ve focused on disinformation, including the work of our Disinformation Action team.
At our July meeting, the Countering Political Corruption team will highlight major problems related to political corruption in our democracy and suggest some potential solutions. For issues needing a rapid response, our Defend Democracy Now team will outline its strategy. We’ll discuss actions each of us can take to help restore integrity and work toward a government that’s more of, by, and for the people, as our founders envisioned.
Please join us to hear about our research and plans, contribute your ideas, and discover ways you can get involved in this critical moment. Together, we can make a difference.

register

After registering, you will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us) with a unique link to join the event. Please check your email inbox.

Exploring Elderhood
2025-07-22 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Session One: Tuesday, July 22
Session Two: Tuesday, July 29
Session Three: Tuesday, August 5
10:00 – 11:30 am PT / 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET
Join us in this journey into what it means to be an Elder in a time of immense change. If you are new to Elders Action Network or want to rediscover your purpose, inner joy, sense of our interconnectedness or where to get into action, this is the journey for you.
We will explore together the redefinition of who is an elder, what it is the earth is calling us to be and why our heart, mind and soul are needed to create a new future for all life on this planet.
You will be introduced to the essence of elderhood, experience processes that will allow what is deep within you to come to the forefront, feel a sense of community and ways to get into action.
This is a three-week journey with each session running 90 minutes. There will be pre-work before each week.
Space is limited, so please register early.
Suggested donation: $55
This is a suggested amount and participants are free to offer more or less depending on their individual financial situation. We do not want financial considerations to be a deterrent to participation, and it is not necessary to make a donation in order to register.
register

Connect & Refresh with the Civic Values & Culture Team
2025-07-22 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Tuesday, July 22
12:00 – 1:00 pm PT / 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET

Join our Civic Values & Culture Team as we pause from our activism and release our serious concerns during this challenging year. Once again, we will come together to enjoy our virtual and restorative community. We will reaffirm the values that guide our collaboration.

Integrity & Authenticity
Deep Listening with Openness, Curiosity, and Presence
Appreciation of Differences

Register below to receive the Zoom link. For more information, email Therese Flaherty at theresef@eldersaction.org.
register

Elders for Sound Democracy Community Meeting
2025-08-20 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Wednesday, August 20, 10:00 – 11:30 am PT / 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET
Join us on August 20 as we welcome back David Pepper—lawyer, author, political activist, adjunct professor of election and voting rights law, and former state party chair. A graduate of Yale University (BA) and Yale Law School (JD), David returns to share insights from the newly released Second Edition of Saving Democracy: A User’s Manual—a practical guide for resisting autocracy and advancing democracy, especially at the local and state levels.
David is also the author of the influential non-fiction book, Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines (2021). He has written four political thrillers: A Simple Choice (2022) The Voter File (2020) The Wingman (2018) The People’s House (2016) In addition to his books, David is an active voice on democracy issues, posting daily on Pepperspectives Substack and regularly appearing on Substack Live in interviews with fellow experts on resisting autocracy. This event will be a timely and important conversation. Join us to discover concrete, practical ways each one of us can help defend and strengthen democracy—starting right in our own communities.
register

After registering, you will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us) with a unique link to join the event. Please check your email inbox.

Connect & Refresh with the Civic Values & Culture Team
2025-08-26 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Tuesday, August 26
12:00 – 1:00 pm PT / 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET

Join our Civic Values & Culture Team as we pause from our activism and release our serious concerns during this challenging year. Once again, we will come together to enjoy our virtual and restorative community. We will reaffirm the values that guide our collaboration.

Integrity & Authenticity
Deep Listening with Openness, Curiosity, and Presence
Appreciation of Differences

Register below to receive the Zoom link. For more information, email Therese Flaherty at theresef@eldersaction.org.
register

Future Design Group
2025-09-10 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Wednesday, September 10
Second Wednesday of each month
4:00 – 5:00 pm PT / 7:00 – 8:00 pm ET
At this meeting, the team will share updates on workshops and projects as well as marketing opportunities and ways you can get involved in spreading the word about Future Design in your area.
Register below to receive the Zoom link. For more information, email Teri Whitehair at teriw@eldersaction.org.
register
