The idea of Aiding Generations started at Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration in the fall of 2021. Steve Kurland, working with other SHA MMH students, built and presented the skeleton of Aiding Generations (formerly called Senior Corps). It was well-liked and it rose again in another innovation class the following semester. It was at this point that Yutong Coco Qin started to work on the program. She brought her own great ideas, and both the class and professor were very supportive.

As Steve and Coco were working on the idea, they were looking for senior living expertise and spoke with Serena Lipton, another MMH student, and a senior living professional. She supported the idea immediately and wanted to take it from a project to an actual entity. From the summer of 2022 through the start of the 2023 spring semester, the team (Steve, Coco, and Serena) connected with the BUild Lab and the MIT/ BU Law Clinic to round out our ideas and become a functioning, non-profit organization.

The team developed the project, now called Aiding Generations, and entered the Poyiadjis Innovation Competition, placing third out of 40-plus teams and taking home $10,000 in prize funds. These funds will be used to propel Aiding Generations even further. The team is working with community leaders, senior living professionals, and BU organizations and plans to place the first cohort of teens by the end of 2023.

The future is bright!