Pressure Relief
Why policymakers and organizations should be collaborating with parents to co-create solutions to families’ most pressing challenges
As the backdrop of golden Aspen trees ushered in a new season, Ascend Fellow Dr. Catherine Monk, who is the Diana Vagelos Professor of Women’s Mental Health at Columbia University, attended Aspen ThinkXChange: The National Forum on 2Gen Approaches excited to broaden her lens for approaching problems, generating solutions, and working across sectors as she reinvents prenatal care.
It took only one panel discussion to transform her work.
ThinkXChange opened with a panel featuring Mistral Olaverria and Ascend Parent Advisors Jesus Benitez, Tameka Henry, and Mikah Jorgensen. Each shared stories about how tapping the power of lived experience can lead to tangible results for organizations and government systems.
During the audience discussion, Catherine was particularly struck by Jesus’s story. Through a City University of New York (CUNY) program designed to engage fathers, an initially reluctant Jesus found a second chance at education and seized the opportunity. Today, he works for the same program that helped him – CUNY Fatherhood Academy at LaGuardia Community College – and has consulted with the Kresge Foundation.
“I want to help first generation Black and Latino students get a second chance,” Jesus shared on stage. “Because we don’t have opportunities like everyone else.”
After hearing Jesus’s story, Catherine knew his expertise and perspective would be an asset to her organization, which relies on the input, feedback, and ideas of parents to develop meaningful programs.
“I was immediately drawn to his humor and warmth, and deep capacity for self-reflection,” says Catherine. “His insights about fatherhood, and being a father while juggling school, are important for us to think about in our aims to support people in the transition to parenthood.”
"His insights about fatherhood, and being a father while juggling school, are important for us to think about in our aims to support people in the transition to parenthood."
Ascend Fellow Dr. Catherine Monk
Today, Jesus is an advisory board member for the Center for the Transition to Parenthood, where Catherine serves as director.
“Often, early parenthood programs focus primarily on mothers,” says Jesus. “But including fathers brings a more holistic approach, creating opportunities to better support the entire family unit.”
"Including fathers brings a more holistic approach, creating opportunities to better support the entire family unit.”
Ascend Parent Advisor Jesus Benitez
The connection between Jesus and Catherine is a quintessential example of engaging and listening to the voices of families, one of the five core principles of a two-generation (2Gen) approach.
At Ascend, we have embraced the power of engaging parents from our inception, with more than 130 Parent Advisors across the country informing each step of our work.
In September 2024, we published Ascending with Parents: A Guide to Centering Parent Voice in Policy and Practice. The report shows the importance of engaging family voice and codifies how organizations can tap into the incredible passion and wisdom of parents in their communities in a way that honors their leadership and expertise.
The response to the report was swift and robust, with nearly 7,000 unique users engaging with the content in the first three months. It was one of our most viewed reports of the year.
The report came at a crucial time for the national discourse on parent engagement. Less than a month before our report launched, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued Parents Under Pressure: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents.
Following a detailed explanation of the stresses that today’s parents face, the advisory offers a plan of action — and that’s where Ascend comes in. When outlining top priorities moving forward, the national advisory cites four different Ascend publications while calling for the country to “foster a culture of connection among parents.” It later highlights the need to “create opportunities for parents and caregivers to come together, share experiences and ideas, and support each other to strengthen parental well-being.”
From our more than 130 Parent Advisors to Ascending with Parents to our Tapping the Talent of Student Parents playbook, Ascend has long been committed to these kinds of opportunities, and we’re excited to deepen our work in partnership with parents.
Ascending with Parents was released in September, 2024.
Ascending with Parents was released in September, 2024.
Ascend's work was cited multiple times throughout the U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory.
Ascend's work was cited multiple times throughout the U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory.
Parents Advising Philanthropy
The impact of Ascend Parent Advisors is reverberating across sectors. Three Parent Advisors — Waukecha Wilkerson, Michaela Martin, and Jesus Benitez – served on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s first Family Advisory Committee, which launched in 2023. The group of 12 parents advises on topics like selection criteria for grants supporting environments and systems aimed at making children and families a priority.
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