Five Critical Things I Learned at the 2025 Century Summit

Attendance at the Stanford Center on Longevity event was free, but the information was priceless

In-person attendees at the 2025 Century Summit V, January 2025, convened by the Stanford Center on Longevity and the Longevity Project. Photograph from the Summit report; no copyright, fair use.

The Stanford Center on Longevity and the Longevity Project convened the two-day “2025 Century Summit V” in January 2025. The summit focused on the challenges of ageism and the potential for an intergenerational future. Expert panels presented their perspectives to about 2,000 attendees in person and online.

As one of the online attendees, I was blown away by the quality of the topics, discussions, and participants. The audience was engaged and inquisitive when it came time for questions. Kudos to the Center and the sponsors — AARP, Corbridge Financial, Estee Lauder, Wallis Annenberg GenSpace, and Roar Forward — for offering invaluable information free of charge.

While I absorbed a great deal, I thought I would share five critical things I learned at the Century Summit.

1. Ageism is pervasive across generations.
   Most of us probably associate ageism with discrimination against older people. The fact is ageism exists up and down the demographic scale. In “A Conversation on Ageism in Real Life,” four panelists, ages 24, 41, 70, and 78, spoke about how ageism affected them. The most surprising example was offered by Kate…