Open Mind, Open Heart: Evolving the nature of Eldering with Alain Gauthier of the Regenerative Elder Process

About this episode

The episode explores the evolving role of elders in society with guest Alain Gauthier, focusing on intergenerational collaboration and wisdom.

In a culture where age is, at best, ignored, how do we rebuild a cohort of genuine Elders fit for the rapid transitions of the 21st Century: those who can combine the wisdom of wide boundary perspectives with the humility that allows flexibility of thinking, feeling and being? This is one of the core questions of our time and this week's guest is working to find answers. Alain Gauthier is co-founder and coordinator of the Regenerative Elder Process at the Elders Action Network. With John Izzo, he is co-host of The Way Forward Regenerative Conversations podcast and over his long life, he has been an international consultant, facilitator, coach, researcher-educator, and author. His book Actualising Evolutionary Co-Leadership: To Evolve a Creative and Responsible Society was published in 2014 - and is only available on Kindle (sorry) - but it is nonetheless a fascinating and inspiring read. A graduate from HEC (Paris), with an MBA from Stanford University, Alain was once a senior consultant at McKinsey & Company, As you'll hear, a life-changing experience led him to co-found Core Leadership Development in Oakland, California and to focus his professional work on developing…

People in this episode

Guest: Alain Gauthier

Topics covered

• Eldering
• Regenerative processes
• Wisdom and humility
• Intergenerational collaboration
• Education transformation
• Community life

Keywords

• Elders
• Regenerative Elder Process
• co-leadership
• community
• education
• wisdom
• humility
• intergenerational
• transformation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Elders Action Network, Core Leadership Development, McKinsey & Company, The Way Forward Regenerative Conversations

Books & works: Actualising Evolutionary Co-Leadership: To Evolve a Creative and Responsible Society

Places: Oakland, California, Paris, Stanford University

More episodes of Accidental Gods

• Grown Up Politics: A Chance for Change - Round Table with Neal Lawson of Compass and Rupert Read of the Climate Majority Project · June 10, 2026 · 60 min
• Breaking open the Story of Bread: How stories of food can change the future with Abby Rose of Farmerama · June 3, 2026 · 1h 11m
• Trust like the Web (of Life) trusts - Biomimicry for Social Innovation with Toby Herzlich · May 27, 2026 · 1h 24m
• Thoughts from the Edge: Manda explores Thrutopian narratives, the building of intent and the paths to a future we'd be proud to leave behind · May 20, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Playing the (New) Money Game - how to recreate sustainable money with Stef Kuypers of Happonomy · May 13, 2026 · 1h 25m
• Brave Containers: Sharing stories, pushing boundaries & creating trust with the Generative Journalism Alliance · May 6, 2026 · 1h 11m