Making Connections
A Series with Allison Gilbert on the Loneliness Epidemic
In a time of disorientation, division, and social distrust, we need new ideas to get connected to one another. Making Connections series, hosted by Allison Gilbert and Reimagine, directly advances the urgent call to action from the 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in his Parting Prescription for America: the need to strengthen relationships is the most pressing challenge of our time.
In spring 2025, Making Connections kicks off on April 17 with a first-of-its-kind event: 25 of the most important innovators leading the charge to end the loneliness epidemic. Luminaries will present two-minute talks about their groundbreaking work and how their pioneering efforts are already transforming lives. Presentations will be shared in a lightning round format.
In the two months that follow, Making Connections continues with events on May 22 and June 12 featuring more in-depth discussion of imaginative projects followed by peer-led breakout sessions for shared reflection through guided prompts.
Scroll down to register for each event in the series.
Upcoming Events
There are no upcoming events
Past Events
June 12, 2025
In this session of the Making Connections series, innovators share how their groundbreaking work is increasing togetherness and reducing loneliness. All are developing projects in “third places", a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg to describe locations outside of the home (the first place) and the workplace (the second place) where people go to connect.
After the first hour of discussion, we invite everyone into peer-led breakout sessions for shared reflection through guided prompts.
In a time of disorientation, division, and social distrust, we need new ideas to get connected to one another. The Making Connections series, hosted by Allison Gilbert and Reimagine, directly advances the urgent call to action from the 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in his Parting Prescription for America: the need to strengthen relationships is the most pressing challenge of our time.
Past recordings from Making Connections are available here.
Speakers
Anne Basting, PhD, is founder and President of TimeSlips, and Lead-Team member of the Memory Cafe Alliance, which aims to grow Memory Cafes in the U.S. tenfold in 10 years. An artist and writer, Basting has helped shape the field of creative aging. Named a MacArthur Fellow, Basting is author of multiple books including Creative Care (2020). Her large-scale arts projects are designed to transform social and healthcare systems by infusing them with rituals of meaning making.
Dixon Chibanda, MD, is the author of The Friendship Bench. He is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Zimbabwe and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and director of the African Mental Health Research Initiative (AMARI). His “Why I Train Grandmothers to Treat Depression,” TEDx talk has been viewed over 3.2 million times and the Friendship Bench project he founded has been featured in major media like The PBS News Hour, New York Times, LA Times, BBC World Service, and more.
https://www.friendshipbench.org/
What do you get when you combine a TV producer with a volunteer who's worked in prisons, homeless shelters, crisis support services, and inspired 1000+ conversations through his Listening Table project, and built Warmline.org, which has connected over 233,592 visitors to vetted peer support lines. You get Orly Israel, a pioneer in combining accessible communication skills, mental health practices, and a growth mindset, and leadership training in a SOCIAL FITNESS PROGRAM. Orly teaches social/emotional skills to build authentic connections that withstand life's greatest challenges. His work explores the intersection of communication, empathy, and resilience, offering insights into how meaningful human connection serves as the foundation for both personal and community wellbeing. Through his programs, participants develop their own practical strategies to strengthen the social bonds essential for navigating our increasingly complex — and digital — world.
https://thelisteningtable.com/
Host
Allison Gilbert is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of the most influential writers and speakers on how to find the inner resources to overcome life’s biggest challenges. Through research and lived experience, Allison helps audiences transform grief and loss and find connection amid the growing public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness. She is co-author of Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s final book, The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life. The book stems from the article Allison wrote for The New York Times, “Dr. Ruth Saved People’s Sex Lives. Now she wants to Cure Loneliness,” about Dr. Ruth’s appointment as New York State’s Ambassador to Loneliness, the first such position in the United States.
In collaboration with Reimagine, Allison hosts a monthly conversation series on overcoming loneliness, “Making Connections,” and previously hosted “Passed and Present,” named after her beloved book, about death and maintaining family bonds. Featured guests have included U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Anna Quindlen, V, formerly Eve Ensler, Rachel Cargle, David Kessler, Tembi Locke, Jean Chatzky, and Dr. BJ Miller.
Allison has been interviewed on the Today show, Good Morning America, and NPR, given a speech in front of the President of Iceland, appeared on stage with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Soledad O’Brien, and presented hundreds of talks to audiences at Amazon, Google, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and many other wellness retreat centers, companies, and organizations. She’s also enjoyed a fabulous dinner with Jay Shetty!
She serves on the Advisory Board of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and is a past Board Member of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief.
Allison lives in New York with her husband and two children.
Type:
Talk, Panel, & Conversation,Zoom
May 22, 2025
In this session of the Making Connections series, innovators share how their groundbreaking work -- bringing people together across generations -- reduces loneliness and social isolation.
After the first hour of discussion, we invite everyone into peer-led breakout sessions for shared reflection through guided prompts.
In a time of disorientation, division, and social distrust, we need new ideas to get connected to one another. The Making Connections series, hosted by Allison Gilbert and Reimagine, directly advances the urgent call to action from the 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in his Parting Prescription for America: the need to strengthen relationships is the most pressing challenge of our time.
Past recordings from Making Connections are available here.
Speakers
Dana Griffin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Eldera.ai, transforming increased human longevity from a healthcare crisis into a global opportunity. Eldera, meaning the Era of the Elders, leverages AI to unlock the wisdom and scale of the older generation as a new resource to benefit society with multiple critical applications. The platform connects vetted older adults with young people and with each other for mentorship and support, addressing both the mental health crises among the youth and loneliness epidemic of older adults. Eldera has been recognized as a Social Prescription by The Cleveland Clinic and as a Case Study for “Using AI to Reconnect Generations” by the UN's AI for Good. It has also been featured by MSNBC, USA TODAY, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and CNN named Eldera as one of their 2023 Good News of the Year.
Dana was raised by her grandparents in Transylvania, Romania and has been guided by elder mentors throughout her life. A former AdAge “40 under 40” executive, Dana became an age-tech entrepreneur and AI for Good advocate following the death of her closest elder mentor, Linda. She now serves on the board of BrightFocus Foundation and as a member of AI Commons, and has been advising and speaking internationally about healthy longevity and principled uses of AI for social impact.
Dana’s work has been showcased by Columbia University, Harvard Business School, and Stanford Center for Aging, and quoted in best-selling books on healthy aging. Outside of her professional life, Dana speaks six languages, enjoys reading utopian Sci-Fi, Vedic meditation, and exploring diverse wisdom traditions and cultures.
Dr. S. Renee Mitchell, an educator, artist, book author, entrepreneur, poet and performer is a nationally award-winning expert on culturally relevant social-emotional learning (SEL); and is the visionary founder of a transformative, youth leadership-development initiative called: I Am M.O.R.E. (Making Ourselves Resilient Everyday). After 25 years as a nationally award-winning newspaper journalist, where she was nominated twice for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, Dr. Renee has authored several plays, a children’s book about bullying, and a novel about surviving domestic violence and sexual assault. Renee's latest written masterpiece, which she recently completed, is titled “Trauma-Ties: How a Life Perforated with Pain Poetically Led Me To My Purpose.” Her most recent book honors the legacy of her father, a widely regarded social justice advocate and a California-based operative of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Renee’s latest book also processes how growing up in a household of eight children and yet never feeling loved, seen, or cared for after her father’s death, shaped her into the person she has become: A champion of joy, an advocate for youth and the visionary founder of The Soul Restoration Center, a unique cultural and healing-focused gathering. An internationally traveled speaker, Dr. Renee’s unique voice and poetic writing style reminds one of Maya Angelou. Her face and her magnetic energy resembles Oprah; and her pronounced gap, and revolutionary passion for social justice is evocative of Angela Davis. Yet in Portland, Renee has earned her own monikers Visionary HeARTivist and a Creative Revolutionist.
https://www.iammoreresilient.com/
Host
Allison Gilbert is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of the most influential writers and speakers on how to find the inner resources to overcome life’s biggest challenges. Through research and lived experience, Allison helps audiences transform grief and loss and find connection amid the growing public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness. She is co-author of Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s final book, The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life. The book stems from the article Allison wrote for The New York Times, “Dr. Ruth Saved People’s Sex Lives. Now she wants to Cure Loneliness,” about Dr. Ruth’s appointment as New York State’s Ambassador to Loneliness, the first such position in the United States.
In collaboration with Reimagine, Allison hosts a monthly conversation series on overcoming loneliness, “Making Connections,” and previously hosted “Passed and Present,” named after her beloved book, about death and maintaining family bonds. Featured guests have included U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Anna Quindlen, V, formerly Eve Ensler, Rachel Cargle, David Kessler, Tembi Locke, Jean Chatzky, and Dr. BJ Miller.
Allison has been interviewed on the Today show, Good Morning America, and NPR, given a speech in front of the President of Iceland, appeared on stage with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Soledad O’Brien, and presented hundreds of talks to audiences at Amazon, Google, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and many other wellness retreat centers, companies, and organizations. She’s also enjoyed a fabulous dinner with Jay Shetty!
She serves on the Advisory Board of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and is a past Board Member of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief.
Allison lives in New York with her husband and two children.
Type:
Talk, Panel, & Conversation,Zoom
April 17, 2025
This live virtual event kicks off the Making Connections series with 25 innovators who envision 2025 as a year of more togetherness and less loneliness. Luminaries will present two-minute talks about their groundbreaking work and how their pioneering efforts are already transforming lives. Presentations will be shared in a lightning round format.
In a time of disorientation, division, and social distrust, we need new ideas to get connected to one another. This gathering and the Making Connections series, hosted by Allison Gilbert and Reimagine, directly advances the urgent call to action from the 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in his Parting Prescription for America: the need to strengthen relationships is the most pressing challenge of our time.
In the two months that follow, Making Connections continues with events on May 22 and June 12 featuring more in-depth discussion of imaginative projects to reduce loneliness and social isolation.
A full program with project descriptions, bios, and links is available here.
Making Connections will showcase the following speakers and projects at the April 17th kick-off:
Chris Appleton, Art Pharmacy
Art Pharmacy bridges healthcare and the arts through social prescribing, connecting people of all ages to creative, community-based programs that reduce loneliness and improve well-being.
Jack Mayor, Best Buddies International
Best Buddies is the largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people worldwide with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Vanessa Elias, Block Party USA
Block Party USA empowers neighbors to host simple, face-to-face gatherings that combat loneliness, foster connection, and spark healing in communities across the country.
Greta McAnany, Blue Fever
Blue Fever is a supportive digital space where young people can explore emotions, find community, and connect with relatable content that helps them feel seen and less alone.
Karl Schatz, Community Plate
Community Plate Story Sharing Potluck Suppers are free, themed gatherings that use food, storytelling, and shared recipes to foster connection and celebrate common ground, culminating in a community-created cookbook.
Kentrell Porch, Confess Project
The Confess Project of America trains barbers to become mental health advocates in communities of color, using trusted spaces to break stigma and promote emotional well-being.
Carla Fernandez, The Dinner Party
The Dinner Party connects young adult grievers to a supportive peer community, turning isolation into lasting companionship, shared healing, and meaningful cultural change.
Dana Griffin, Eldera
Eldera connects older adults with children for intergenerational mentorship, fostering purpose, wisdom-sharing, and meaningful connection through safe, virtual conversations.
Dixon Chibanda, The Friendship Bench
The Friendship Bench is a global mental health initiative that uses trained lay health workers to provide evidence-based, community-rooted therapy for people facing anxiety and depression.
Madeleine Hebert, Happy Cities
Tomo on Main is a housing project designed to foster social connection through shared spaces, intentional design, and community-building programming that helps residents thrive together.
S. Renee Mitchell, I Am M.O.R.E.
I Am M.O.R.E. empowers traumatized youth with a research-based, transformational process that helps them build resilience, purpose, and self-love in the face of adversity.
Jacob Cramer, Love for Our Elders
Love For Our Elders combats loneliness in older adults through handwritten letters, storytelling, and volunteer-driven programs that spread love and connection across generations.
Anne Basting, Memory Cafe Alliance / EMC2 Alliance
Memory Cafes offer welcoming spaces for those experiencing memory loss and their caregivers to connect, and the Memory Cafe Alliance is working to expand them nationwide to combat isolation and build community.
Caleigh Brace, Minnesota Play for All
Minnesota Play for All fosters connection, inclusion, and community through accessible, intergenerational play spaces and programs that bring people of all abilities together.
Ebele Onyema, One More Hour
One More Hour is Hinge’s initiative to combat the loneliness epidemic by encouraging Gen Z to reclaim in-person connection—one meaningful hour at a time.
Luke Wall, Only7Seconds
Only7Seconds combats youth loneliness by promoting intentional connection through media, education, and youth-led programs that highlight the power of small, meaningful moments.
Chris Doucette, Project Unlonely
Project UnLonely is a global public health initiative using arts-based programs to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and foster connection among those most vulnerable to loneliness.
Hana Lee Goldin, Reading Rhythms
Reading Rhythms creates communal reading experiences that blend music, mindfulness, and literature to foster deeper connection—with self and others—in a fast-paced, digital world.
Kelli Dunlap, Take This
Take This is the first mental health nonprofit dedicated to supporting the gaming community by reducing stigma and providing culturally relevant mental health resources for both players and developers.
Kevin Robb, The Heart of Los Angeles Eisner Intergenerational Music Program
The Heart of Los Angeles Eisner Intergenerational Program brings people of all ages together through music ensembles to build community, foster connection, and celebrate the power of shared creativity.
Jillian Richardson, The Joy List
The Joy List is a weekly newsletter curating connection-focused events and stories to help New Yorkers build friendships, find community, and discover meaningful experiences.
Orly Israel, The Listening Table
The Listening Table Project creates spaces where people use the simple gift of presence to foster raw human connection and offer belonging through compassionate listening.
Debra Jack, The Longest Table
Started in NYC, The Longest Table is now an international movement that brings people together over a shared meal in public spaces to spark connection, foster empathy, and build more unified communities.
Charlotte Massey, United States Chamber of Connection
The Chamber of Connection is a civic initiative piloting in Seattle to create scalable, city-wide systems that rebuild trust and social connection in communities across the nation.
Mark Winston, US Men's Shed Association
US Men’s Sheds provide community spaces where men can connect, create, and combat loneliness through shared projects, conversations, and purpose-driven activities.
Host
Allison Gilbert is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of the most influential writers and speakers on how to find the inner resources to overcome life’s biggest challenges. Through research and lived experience, Allison helps audiences transform grief and loss and find connection amid the growing public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness. She is co-author of Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s final book, The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life. The book stems from the article Allison wrote for The New York Times, “Dr. Ruth Saved People’s Sex Lives. Now she wants to Cure Loneliness,” about Dr. Ruth’s appointment as New York State’s Ambassador to Loneliness, the first such position in the United States.
In collaboration with Reimagine, Allison hosts a monthly conversation series on overcoming loneliness, “Making Connections,” and previously hosted “Passed and Present,” named after her beloved book, about death and maintaining family bonds. Featured guests have included U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Anna Quindlen, V, formerly Eve Ensler, Rachel Cargle, David Kessler, Tembi Locke, Jean Chatzky, and Dr. BJ Miller.
Allison has been interviewed on the Today show, Good Morning America, and NPR, given a speech in front of the President of Iceland, appeared on stage with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Soledad O’Brien, and presented hundreds of talks to audiences at Amazon, Google, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and many other wellness retreat centers, companies, and organizations. She’s also enjoyed a fabulous dinner with Jay Shetty!
She serves on the Advisory Board of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and is a past Board Member of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief.
Allison lives in New York with her husband and two children.
https://www.allisongilbert.com/
About the series Making Connections
Join New York Times contributor and author Allison Gilbert for the Spring 2025 Making Connections series exploring ways we can reduce social isolation and increase feelings of belonging.
Loneliness is an underdiscussed aspect of the grief experience and research shows that it can increase the risk of disease, mental illness, and shorten life expectancy. In a time of disorientation, division, and social distrust, we need new ideas to get connected to one another. The Making Connections series directly advances the urgent call to action from the 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in his Parting Prescription for America: the need to strengthen relationships is the most pressing challenge of our time.
The spring 2025 series kicks off on April 17 with a live virtual event featuring 25 innovators who envision 2025 as a year of more togetherness and less loneliness. In a lightning round, luminaries will present two-minute talks that share how their groundbreaking work is transforming lives. In the two months that follow, Making Connections continues with events on May 22 and June 12 featuring more in-depth discussion of imaginative projects to reduce loneliness and social isolation.
Past recordings from Making Connections are available here.
Type:
Talk, Panel, & Conversation,Zoom
