Adam and his team at Nuns and Nones seek to create a "bridge infrastructure" that allows ideas and resources to flow freely between generations and across religions. They envision a world in which young activists have access to a model for contemplative living, and sisters are supported in imagining futures for their way of life—both inside and outside religious institutions.

Two stats I learned from Adam’s visit:

1. Nearly 50% of Millennials mark "None of the Above" when being asked about their religion on a survey; and

2. There are only one-quarter as many nuns in the U.S. today as fifty years ago, and the average age of a nun is 80.

Hmm, I smell a ripe potential for collaboration here.

As outlined in this Stanford Social Innovation Review article, this collaboration has offered the following benefits to both the young activists and the older sisters with great benefit to the broader community:

• Nourishing and sustaining a commitment to social justice with people who are different than you
  
• Building mutually beneficial relationships full of reciprocal mentoring
• Creating new uses for sacred space
  
• Learning to practice values internally (especially for the younger activists

Where else in society can we create "bridge infrastructure" to allow more intergenerational collaboration?