Worldwide, approximately 70% of children born into poverty will likely remain in poverty throughout their lifetimes (UNICEF, 2023). One promising route to increase intergenerational mobility are two-generation interventions designed to advance the education of parents and children together. Using strategic partnerships and evidence-based approaches, the Global 2Gen Education Working Group will test ways in which two-generation interventions alleviate poverty and improve human development worldwide. The group will first advise and study a government-led, country-wide two-generation model in Jamaica: Jamaica 2Gen.

Nearly a billion children worldwide live in multidimensional poverty, meaning they are without sufficient food, water, shelter, health care and education (UNICEF, 2024). Once basic needs have been met, an essential strategy for poverty reduction and improved human development is quality and accessible education for children and caregivers alike. Yet throughout the world, educational opportunities for children and adults are typically siloed.

Coordinated and aligned services for caregivers and their children, known as two-generation or multi-generation programs in the United States, can improve intergenerational mobility, generate programmatic efficiencies and create practical benefits for families. Currently, these approaches are rare outside of the United States.

The Global 2Gen Education Working Group is undertaking and promoting testing of two-generation approaches to support children’s development, caregivers’ livelihoods and the health and wellbeing of both in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries. To start, the group is studying and advising the Jamaican government’s two-generation initiative, Jamaica 2Gen, to help refine and scale the model and promote it with stakeholders locally and internationally. The group will also produce a policy brief and open access journal articles with recommended two-generation strategies in LMIC countries. 

Joan Lombardi, Senior Advisor, Center on Early Childhood; Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University

Honorable Audrey P. Marks, Jamaica's Ambassador to United States; permanent Representative of Jamaica to Organization of American States; Government Lead, Jamaica 2Gen

David Lowenstein, Managing Director, Jamaica 2Gen; CEO and Co-Founder, Lionstone Consulting

Susan Walker, Professor of Nutrition, Caribbean Institute for Health Research, University of West Indies; Research Lead, Reach Up Jamaica

Alrick Brown, Assistant Professor of Undergraduate Film & Television, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University; award-winning writer and director

Anthea McLaughlin, CEO, Caribbean Philanthropic Alliance

Taneshia Stoney Dryden, CEO, United Way of Jamaica

Katrina Mitchell, Chief Community Impact Officer, United Way of Greater Atlanta 

Joy Moore, President, JWS Media Consulting

Marjorie Sims, Managing Director, Ascend at the Aspen Institute

Melvin King, Board Member, Alliance for a Healthier Generation; former President and CEO, Sesame Workshop

Leah Austin, President and CEO, National Black Child Development Institute

Andrea Lowenstein, President, Lionstone Consulting Group

Chastity Lord, CEO, Jeremiah Program

Michael Levine, Senior Advisor, Kapor Capital

Gary Knell, Senior Advisor, Media & Social Impact, Boston Consulting Group

Charlotte Cole, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Blue Butterfly Collaborative