News & Events

By Dr. Jane Barratt What nineteen years of disability rights advocacy reveal about making a UN convention on the rights of older people matter I haven’t been close to disability rights work for more than ten years now. But I was, once, and I still watch it from the side lines the way you watch a sport you used to play. I notice things others may not. So when I read the International Disability Alliance’s latest annual report, I wasn’t looking at it as news. I was looking at i

By Manasvi Sharma _______________________________________________ Manasvi Sharma is a 16-year-old student researcher and youth public health advocate focused on the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, and healthcare policy. She is the founder of The Mind Initiative (TMI), a youth-led organization advancing preventative mental wellness and brain health education and advocacy. Through her work, she seeks to improve people’s health and dignity by strengthening the socia

Aging is not something to reverse. It’s something to understand, adapt to—and live fully. What does it really mean to age well? That was the question at the heart of Gray Panthers NYC’s July 2026 Transformation Tuesday conversation with Dr. Rosanne Leipzig, geriatrician, educator, and author of Honest Aging: An Insider’s Guide to the Second Half of Life. In conversation with Gray Panthers board member Ron Roel, Dr. Leipzig offered a refreshingly direct perspective on aging: n

Remarks by Jack Kupferman at the High Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council, 38th plenary meeting, 07.16.26 Think globally. Act locally. The Stakeholder Group on Ageing offers concrete examples where local authorities, working with civil society, result in programs and policies accelerating the SDGs. Addressing the concerns of older persons is of great importance, yet progress and understanding is slow. Through an age lens, impactful solutions are currently being

Mary Daniel washed dishes for a paycheck she never needed, just to be allowed back into the room with her husband Steve. That was the price Mary was willing to pay during the pandemic to see her husband, most families did not have that opportunity, and this week (July 13, 2026), Congress took a real step toward making sure it never asks that again. Every member of the House Ways and Means Committee last week voted, unanimously, to send the Essential Caregivers Act to the Hous

At first glance, the newly released 2025 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) Part 1* from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development looks like good news. On a single night in January 2025, an estimated 745,652 people were experiencing homelessness across the country, a 3% decline from the record high reached in 2024. For the first time in several years, the overall national trend line is bending in the right direction. But look closer, and a different story em

At first glance, data may seem like an unlikely topic for a passionate discussion about aging and confronting ageism. But as participants in this official side event of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), “Treasure What You Measure: Older Persons and Data,” quickly demonstrated, the data we collect—or fail to collect—shapes the policies we create, the resources we allocate, and ultimately whose lives we value. The discussion brought together global leaders i

I've been resistant to standard medical tests all my life and Google has made it easier to become an educated consumer. Sure, I understand that cancer screening is widely viewed as essential preventive care. Colonoscopies and mammograms are credited with saving lives through early detection. For many people in middle age, that is true. But in older adults, routine screening can become more complicated—and sometimes more harmful than helpful. Statistics show a growing gap

At Gray Panthers NYC's June Transformation Tuesday webinar, Aging with Pride: Building Inclusive Communities, our panel explored what it truly means to create communities where LGBTQ+ older adults can age with dignity, belonging, and support. While Pride Month celebrates progress, our conversation was a reminder that many older LGBTQ+ adults continue to face unique challenges rooted in decades of discrimination, isolation, and barriers to care. Building inclusive communities

From Girl Scouts to gerontology — meet Isabel Postelnek, the Gray Panthers NYC intern who designed a patch program teaching girls about ageism, intergenerational connection, and Maggie Kuhn's legacy. Now active in New York and Texas, with New Jersey on the horizon, this initiative is proving what the Gray Panthers have always known: old and young are natural allies. Read the full story in Aging in America News. 🔗 https://aginginamerica.news/2026/06/18/the-girl-scout-way/ #Gr

Five years after COVID-19 swept through nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the United States, Gray Panthers NYC gathered advocates, family members, researchers, clergy, and long-term care leaders for a powerful conversation: A Remembrance: The COVID Tragedy Five Years Later. The webinar served as both a memorial and a call to action. It revisited the 2021 Gray Panthers documentary Honoring Nursing Home Lives Lost, while asking an urgent question: Have we learn

Join Art Against Ageism and Gray Panthers NYC, on May 28 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern for a dynamic conversation, with Christina Peoples (aka Gero-What?!), a leading voice reshaping aging by tackling ageism through culture, storytelling, and community. This gathering will feature Christina's bold initiatives, "Real Homies Want to Know" and "Black Elder Truths," as we explore how storytelling and social media can challenge bias, spark connection, and reframe how we see aging across ge

What does it really mean to care for someone? Not just clinically. Not just efficiently. But humanly. During the April 28, 2026 Transformation Tuesday, we were joined by Marcus Engel—author, speaker, and narrative medicine educator—whose lived experience reshaped how many of us think about compassion in healthcare. His story began with trauma. But what stayed with us wasn’t just survival—it was what made survival possible. The Power of “I’m Here” In the chaos following a deva

On April 23 in Atlanta, I had the honor of presenting at the 2026 ASA conference alongside Carrie on a topic that feels both timely and deeply personal to long-standing advocacy organizations: Reviving, Rebranding and Rebuilding: GPNYC for the 21st Century. We titled our session as a reflection on what it means to evolve without losing identity, history, or mission. For organizations like ours, longevity is both an asset and a challenge. We carry the vision of Gray Panthers f

I’m just going to say it: not having dementia is a low bar to set for a political leader….no matter your political party. In the last couple of years, we’ve seen the increasing age in our political leaders and many calling out their age, assigning a casual “diagnosis” of dementia, but then still re-electing them. In contrast, there have been some congressmembers who have proposed legislation to make sure that we aren’t doing so. In 2023, Representative Scott DeJarlais propose

Dedicated to the radical spirit of Maggie Kuhn If we are serious about transforming elder care in America, we must follow the money. For decades, our reimbursement system has been built around crisis—not prevention. We pay when something goes wrong: a fall, a hospitalization, a decline. But we invest very little in keeping people strong, independent, and at home. The result is a system that quietly manages decline instead of promoting autonomy. It doesn't have to be this way.

A Voluntary National Review (VNR) is one of the most important accountability tools at the United Nations for tracking progress on sustainable development—and yet it remains little understood outside policy circles. A VNR is a country-led report presented at the United Nations, specifically during the annual High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). In the report governments share their progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—

At our March 31, 2026 Transformation Tuesday, Gray Panthers NYC explored one of the most intimate, difficult, and deeply human questions any society can face: Who gets to decide how a dying person dies? In a timely and thoughtful conversation, David Leven of End of Life Choices New York helped unpack New York’s newly signed Medical Aid in Dying Act, what it does, what it does not do, and why this issue is ultimately about dignity, autonomy, compassion, and justice. Here are

Two years ago, at my first Eden Alternative Conference, I heard about a place that stopped me in my tracks: Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Canada. This year, I had the chance to learn from them again—and I was just as inspired. Because Sherbrooke isn’t just doing things differently.They are living proof of what’s possible when we truly rethink long-term care. But what struck me most is this: In many ways… Sherbrooke isn’t new at all. It’s a return to something many

As a member of the young generation in the 2000s, I grew up in a world where healthcare was at my fingertips – I could schedule an appointment online, message doctors through apps with ease, and even participate in video visits from anywhere in the world. For my generation, digital health isn’t necessarily the “future,” it's the default. However, the more I learn about global public health and intergenerational advocacy spaces, such as the Gray Panthers, the more I recognize