Pictured; 2026 Selby Scholar Isabella Castro-Cardona (center) joins the younger generation who will help enhance the Selby Foundation's work. Provided photo.

The nonprofit sector is in a transition of sorts. CEOs are retiring after sharing essential experiences in both formal and informal ways. Fresh voices are stepping into boardrooms with ideas that once seemed impractical. We are going to new places—some by design, and others imposed as the world changes in larger ways. Possibility is nurtured through a combination of seasoned wisdom and new thinking. Both are important.

The Selby Foundation supports these organizations, and we also invest in post-secondary education for amazing young people, giving the future a turbocharge. We witness the ways multiple generations in one space can uniquely contribute to learning and change.

Seniors passing their knowledge on to young people is one thing. Exchanges in which people of different age groups actively learn from each other are something else. Nonprofits in our region that put youth and older adults together in intentional ways will tell you that each generation gets something big from the connections, often unexpectedly.

Throughout my career, I have been the fortunate recipient of time from those who develop future leaders. They supported me within their professional roles or because they wanted to “give back” based on what someone did for them. They understood that as younger leaders grow, different ways of thinking and doing emerge.

As a middle-aged person, I have had chances to pass along my knowledge to budding leaders. With every interaction, I also learn from them. I marvel at how much they have done with their unique gifts and how they have leveraged their experiences. I wonder how their vision of the world will take shape, and where they will eventually make concessions as all of us are required to do.

At the Selby Foundation, we have systems for supporting scholarship recipients that have worked well over many years. Simultaneously, we have learned that being student-centric—focused on what students tell us they need—can help us be more effective in programming that falls outside of financial aid. This is always informed by students themselves, and as such, constantly evolves.

When talking to nonprofit partners, the Selby Foundation learns that our decades of capital grants continue to be important. But in working to understand an organization’s capacity, we want to know more about how strategic thinking happens. The environment is changing quickly. Adaptations are required to address the realities people are facing and the fundraising that is needed to support the work. Good thinking requires a combination of learning from seasoned leaders and innovation from new ones. Multiple generations on a board of directors, on a program team, and in leadership roles can make a difference.

Let’s talk about the big picture here. How much brain power are we using to lament older systems that worked but are going away? How much energy are we devoting to the emerging world that may not come with our choice of features but requires us to adapt?

Should we laser focus on a few key areas, do more and expand, become better connected to partners, adopt new leadership practices, invest in new technology, improve systems, take a different approach?

These are all good questions. What happens when different generations come together to answer them? All generations have experience, knowledge, and the ability to bring new thinking to the table. And yet, they also bring unique lenses. The combination of personal experiences, perspectives, and peer influences takes us to different places.

Since we have the ability to seek and gather across generations, let’s do it intentionally. We have so much to gain.

Susie Bowie is the President/CEO of The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation.

Pictured; 2026 Selby Scholar Isabella Castro-Cardona (center) joins the younger generation who will help enhance the Selby Foundation's work. Provided photo.