2Gen and the Value Curve

Accelerating Advancement Along the Value Curve

To progress along the Value Curve and advance social and economic mobility, it is imperative that human services leaders and organizations effectively integrate multigenerational strategies, or a two-generation (2Gen) approach. Historically, many human services providers have focused solely on the child or the parent. Recognizing how deeply interconnected the wellbeing of children and adults are, 2Gen adopts a family-centered lens, designing and delivering services and opportunities for both the child and the adults in their lives – including the critical role of fathers – and measuring outcomes for both children and adults.

To provide the experiences, supports, and resources for families to thrive, 2Gen approaches focus on the six components of:

• Early Childhood Education and Development
• K-12 Education
• Postsecondary Education and Employment Pathways – Access to quality education and clear career pathways
• Social Capital – Connections to people, information, and opportunities to give and receive support
• Economic Assets – Financial stability
• Health and Well-Being – Access to health care and mental, physical, and behavior health improving opportunities.

The most effective 2Gen approaches integrate five key principles:

• Measure and account for outcomes for both children and their parents.
• Engage and listen to the voices of families.
• Ensure equity.
• Foster innovation and evidence together.
• Align and link systems and funding streams.

For additional details on these core components and key principles, which were developed by Ascend at the Aspen Institute (a national hub for ideas and collaborations focused on 2Gen), please visit their website at: ascend.aspeninstitute.org/2gen-approach/

For inspiration on operationalizing these ideas, you can learn about the work of the second national Kresge NextGen Human services cohort at: nextgenhumanservices.org/2gen

Redesigning Ecosystems and the Value Curve

Accelerating Advancement Along the Value Curve

Generative outcomes and impact will increasingly require health and human services leaders to build an “ecosystem” for outcomes – a network of organizations, machines, and services that coproduce new solutions to address and solve the root causes of individual, family, and community health and human services challenges.

In this ecosystem-driven future, instead of silo-based organizations attempting to fix one particular program, a “hub organization,” or “platform organization,” will coordinate an array of organizations and services that holistically address an individual’s or family’s needs. This “wrap-around” service improves the ability to solve the complex interrelationships driven by social determinants of health and wellbeing. For example, an ecosystem that aligns housing, nutrition, mental health, and career planning services will improve the ability of a family to sustainably increase their health and overall social and economic mobility. Entirely new levels of outcomes can be realized.

Advancing Racial Equity in Social and Economic Mobility

Accelerating Advancement Along the Value Curve

To move to the generative horizon of the Value Curve and create the conditions for communities to thrive, human services leaders must build organizational capacity and activate new strategies and solutions that achieve racial equity in social and economic mobility. We define racial equity as the condition that would be achieved if one’s racial identity no longer predicted in a statistical sense how one fares. Building racial equity means providing greater resources to compensate for past and current exclusion and discrimination and eliminating structural and systemic barriers to ensure that all people have equal opportunity and power to pursue and achieve social and economic well-being.

Developing this new-found capacity means expanding services and solutions to address multi-dimensional community-wide challenges and opportunities and intentionally building equity for all people into the attributes of well-being, such as health, social capital and resilience, safety, dignity, and economic security and mobility.

To inspire and guide other leaders in this critical equity work, the first national Kresge NextGen Human Services cohort developed action steps progressive leaders can take along each of the four dimensions of the Human Services Value Curve.

For additional details on their work please visit: nextgeninitiative.org/creating-outcomes/