Vital Aging Network (VAN) Mission: Promote self-determination, civic engagement and personal growth for people as they age.
We empower people to live their best lives through education, leadership development and opportunities to connect.
VAN’s Core Principles:
- Everyone has the capacity for self-determination, civic engagement, and personal growth whatever their circumstances and level of ability.
- People 50+ have the power to positively affect the quality of their own lives and have the potential to be catalytic leaders in their communities and in society.
- People need access to information and other people to help them live to their full capacity.
- Organizations with shared values and missions can be more effective by partnering with each other.
- Individuals, organizations, and communities benefit when older adults are engaged as contributing members of society.
- Everyone is responsible for addressing and resolving inequities that affect older adults in our society.
VAN Values:
- Promote a positive perspective on aging. We believeindividuals can lead full, connected, satisfying lives as they age. We emphasize what older adults can do and encourage them tobe a force for good in the world.
- Focus on older adults as change agents for themselves and others. We believe older adults have the capacity to better their lives and the lives of others. We embolden them to usetheir valuable knowledge and skills to take action on their own behalf and to join with others to improve their lives.
- Encourage older adults to contribute to their communities. We believe people have the capacity to achieve positive results in their communities. We equipolder adults with the knowledge, skills and tools needed to take action, create opportunities for them to organize and lead themselves, and provide support for their community engagement activities and projects.
- Address societal and systemic barriers that interfere with positive aging. We believe that older adults are harmed by bias and negative mindsets that are embedded in our society. We engage people in productive conversations that raise awareness about ageism, health care inequities, and the detrimental impacts of isolation and exclusion. We empower participants to address these issues and to use their power to advocate for greater equity.
- Work as an older adult led organization.We believe in the importance of older adults bringing their own perspectives to address the opportunities and challenges of aging. We model our principles and engage older adults as leaders of our organization, programs and projects.