NCOA: Partner, Pioneer, and Champion

Connecting with people, organizations, and communities is fundamental to The Patterson Foundation’s (TPF) approach to philanthropically investing its resources. TPF works with others to achieve shared aspirations, so we can all evolve meaningfully and thrive — even in the face of adversity.

TPF has worked with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) since 2012 to achieve a greater impact with and for older adults. The National Council on Aging works to improve older adults’ health and economic security, so each of us, as we age, lives with dignity, purpose, and security.

The foundation and NCOA have catalyzed local, regional, and national communities. While connecting was the first step, the collaboration wove efforts through mutual interests to learn more, share platforms and processes, and evolve systems, which resulted in a variety of strengthened initiatives. Here are some highlights:

• Creating connective tissue through the Aging with Dignity and Independence initiative to understand the local experience of older adults in the context of community and social relationships.
  
  
• Engaging and supporting NCOA’s tri-sector collaboration with business, government, and nonprofits, the Self-Management Alliance built awareness and learned from multi-sector engagement. TPF’s partnership with NCOA included facilitation at a critical point in the collaboration.
  
  
• Learning, sharing, and exploring together, NCOA was a thought partner as TPF led the process for Sarasota County to become Florida’s first age-friendly designated community by the World Health Organization: Age-Friendly Sarasota.
  
  
• Collaborating on NCOA’s Aging Mastery Program® offered the foundation yet another opportunity to provide evidence of a viable fee for service model rather than total dependence on philanthropy. Further, TPF assisted with creating the Aging Mastery Funder Network.
  
  
• Participating in and contributing to the early exploration of bringing major players to the table to find common health measures for older adults 100 Million Healthier Lives.

From 2012 to 2020, TPF and NCOA navigated rich and diverse pathways to achieve better outcomes for our communities. Through mutual respect, TPF and NCOA built a strong foundation of trust to explore new ideas and engage in initiatives together. The alignment of leadership, willingness, readiness, capacity, and culture paved the way for success.

TPF’s total investment in its work with NCOA from February 2012 is $705,692. TPF’s evolution is moving into working on Communities for All Ages, which widens the lens of attention from aging to a lens of community engagement efforts #ForAllAges.

It is with the highest praise, respect, and gratitude that TPF salutes the past and future work of NCOA as it continues to be a pioneer and champion improving the health and economic security of millions of older adults.