Plenary Sessions

The three plenary sessions will explore what it means to declare interdependence as we work to enact a new vision of aging in community. Our plenary guide will be Al Condeluci. As an author, national speaker and president of UCP of Pittsburgh, Dr. Condeluci has decades of experience building community and helping diverse stakeholders find common ground.  He will provide the foundational understanding of interdependence in the first plenary, “Interdependence for All” and establish its significance in our primary settings—in our workplaces, local communities and in the relationships we create during our meeting in Philadelphia.

The first plenary will be followed by small group break-out sessions to further our goal of onsite community-building. Facilitators will lead learning circles and encourage a critical dialogue about interdependence, modeling an approach to inquiry that we will cultivate throughout the conference experience.

Joe Angelelli, Director of Networking and Development for the Pioneer Network, will lead the second plenary, “In Order to Form a More Perfect Movement,” building on the issues emerging from the learning circles and relating them to understanding interdependence at the broader, secondary level. His talk will explore how interdependence of a wide range of organizations and national initiatives committed to supporting elders and their care partners will further advance the culture change movement. Joe will use engaging photography, video and audio recordings to situate our efforts in an historical context.

The final plenary, “Let Freedom Ring,” will feature a facilitated dialogue exploring the personal dimension of interdependence — how elders and their families supported by professionals working in aging services can take individual and collective action steps that embody interdependence in our own lives.

The conference will close with a spirited ratification of the Pioneer Network’s “Declaration of Interdependence.”