In this series, we have interviewed members of our Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging Advisory Board who are leaders from business, health, academia, policy, and philanthropy. All aim to improve the lives of today’s older adults and ensure a better future for generations to come.

After the pandemic year of hospitalizations and deaths, failed businesses and lost jobs, social isolation and dreams deferred, these thought leaders were clear-eyed yet optimistic about the future. With progress on vaccine supply and distribution and a “new normal” on the horizon, they focused on the longer-term consequences of our COVID-19 experience, the challenges and risks ahead, and their hopes for how all of us can emerge from this difficult time for the better.

Our interviewees discussed a broad range of issues as they considered the effects of the virus. The interviews are organized by seven topics: Societal Response, Health and Wellness, Financial Security and Retirement, Advances in Bioscience, Housing and Communities, Work and Careers, and Philanthropy. While the ideas expressed by our interviewees differed, common themes surfaced—suggesting critical areas of opportunity for focus and directed efforts to realize the silver linings of a tragic pandemic.