About Us

Our Vision:

Senior citizens all over the nation will contribute mightily to the nurturing, mentoring, and academic success of children who are struggling with the effects of poverty. Children will contribute mightily to the happiness, well being, and sense of community for senior citizens.

Our Mission:

Generations Incorporated unites older adults and youth in partnership to strengthen individuals and communities. In recent years, our mission has been realized through our Experience Corps program.

We recruit, train, and support hundreds of senior citizens to serve as literacy volunteers to thousands of children who are not proficient in literacy. By engaging volunteers of all ages, we offer a high-impact experience for Experience Corps, AmeriCorps, and AmeriCorps VISTA members.

Recent Awards and Honors:

2010 – Generations Incorporated named 2010 Greater Boston Social Innovator
2009 – NBC News highlights our Experience Corps program on the Making a Difference series
2008 – Social Innovation Partner Award, with John Hancock Financial Services
2007 – AARP selects Generations Incorporated as the designated non-profit at the Life@50+ National Conference and Expo
2007 – MetLife Award of Achievement in Older Volunteer Program Management

Our History:

2009 – Release of results of Washington University study shows that Experience Corps programs help students to improve key literacy skills by 60% more than similar students not served by the program.
2009 – Experience Corps volunteers provide over 75,000 hours of service to 2,094 students
2008 – Expand our programs to Revere, engaging 56 older adult volunteers to serve 481 students
2007 – Atlantic Philanthropies funds Washington University evaluation Experience Corps Programs
2005 – Experience Corps volunteers provide over 40,000 hours of service to children
2002 – Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds four-year expansion, growing our program from 50 volunteers serving 500 students, to more than 300 volunteers serving over 2,000 students annually
1999 – Join the national Experience Corps program
1997 – Change our name to Generations Incorporated, reflecting our goal of uniting the generations through promoting children’s literacy
1991 – Peri Smilow founds Magic Me Boston, an innovative program with an intergenerational focus