CoGen Voices Fellowship Program Design & Evaluation | CoGenerate

Quick Project Overview

Title: Strengthening Intergenerational Civic Voice Through Program Design & Evaluation
Status: February 2026 - Ongoing

In partnership with CoGenerate, Conscious Futures supported the design and pilot implementation of the CoGen Voices Fellowship — a program advancing intergenerational civic collaboration and public voice.

This engagement focused on strengthening operational systems, cultivating a thoughtful participant experience, and embedding a learning-oriented evaluation framework to inform future scaling. The goal: ensure that this pilot not only runs smoothly, but generates insight, clarity, and replicable structures for the long-term evolution of CoGen Voices.

• Context & Background

  CoGen Voices emerged as a pilot fellowship designed to deepen youth–older adult collaboration in civic storytelling and public leadership. As with many early-stage pilots, the opportunity was twofold:

  • Deliver a strong, relational participant experience

  • Build internal systems that support iteration and scale

  The program required coordinated applicant management, session support, communications workflows, and a light but rigorous evaluation approach — all within a lean operational structure. The work needed to be steady, reliable, and strategically framed to generate learning without overburdening the pilot.

• The Challenge

  How might we design operational infrastructure that feels invisible to participants — but powerful internally?

  Specifically:

  • How do we identify meaningful cohort patterns during applicant review?

  • How do we maintain continuity across sessions?

  • How do we integrate feedback loops without disrupting flow?

  • How do we design a pilot evaluation that is light, but generative?

  The task was not just administrative. It required translating values of intergenerational collaboration into systems, materials, and communication touchpoints.

• Collaborators & Partners

  • CoGenerate — Lead convener and host organization

  • Conscious Futures LLC — Research, evaluation, and design partner

• My Role

  I provided program management, coordination, and pilot evaluation design support across five key workstreams:

  1. Applicant Management & Cohort Insights

  • Designed an applicant comparison and tracking system

  • Organized applications according to selection criteria

  • Synthesized cohort-level insights to inform final selection

  • Identified emerging themes across applicants

  2. Program Attendance & Session Support

  • Attended six 90-minute cohort sessions

  • Prepared pre-session briefs and post-session debrief notes

  • Surfaced reflections and continuity themes across meetings

  3. Program Administration & Communications

  • Built acceptance and onboarding workflows

  • Supported welcome materials and participant-facing systems

  • Managed parent permissions and stipend administration

  • Designed scheduling systems for coaches and guest faculty

  • Drafted/refined cohort communications aligned with pilot framing

  4. Evaluation & Learning Design (Pilot)

  • Developed a light evaluation plan and success metrics

  • Designed pre- and post-program surveys

  • Embedded feedback moments throughout the program flow

  • Produced a pilot learning summary with recommendations

  5. Ongoing Check-ins & Alignment

  • Participated in weekly check-ins and decision-support conversations

  • Ensured alignment between fellowship values and operational systems

• Ouputs

  • Evaluation plan and insights memos summarizing learnings across sessions

  • Landscape scan of participating organizations and intergenerational practices

  • Framework synthesis connecting civic engagement to intergenerational systems change

  • Facilitation notes, feedback forms, and session documentation

• Tools Used

  • Airtable and spreadsheet cohort tracking

  • Qualitative synthesis frameworks

  • Light-touch pilot evaluation design

  • Survey development (pre/post + embedded feedback)

  • Relational program communications

  • Systems mapping for operational continuity

  This approach balanced rigor with relational care — ensuring the fellowship remained human-centered while generating actionable insights.

Impact & Learnings

By the end of the pilot cycle, the program had:

• A structured applicant review and selection system

• Clear onboarding and communications workflows

• Embedded evaluation touchpoints integrated into program design

• A synthesized learning summary to inform iteration and scale

• Strengthened internal clarity around what makes intergenerational civic collaboration thrive

Most importantly, the CoGen Voices Fellowship moved from idea to operationally grounded pilot — with learning infrastructure in place for future evolution.

Why This Matters

Intergenerational collaboration requires more than shared sessions — it requires intentional design.

This work demonstrates how operational clarity, thoughtful evaluation, and relational systems-building can transform a pilot fellowship into a replicable model for youth–older adult civic partnership.

At Conscious Futures, we see infrastructure not as back-end work, but as cultural architecture — shaping the conditions in which imagination, collaboration, and civic voice can flourish.