Kate Abate did not set out to revolutionize how we think about growing older in America. She simply wanted her loved ones to have better lives. That desire, modest in its origin but profound in its implications, has guided her into the specialized field of intergenerational community development, where she now works to reimagine the very structures through which we experience our later years.
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The motivation was personal before it became professional. Abate watched people she cared about navigate the complexities of aging and saw how often the systems meant to support them instead diminished their sense of agency and joy. She began to ask questions that seemed simple but proved radical: What if older adults had more control over their lives? What if growing older meant expanding possibilities rather than shrinking them? These questions led her from New York to Washington DC and into work that challenges fundamental assumptions about what it means to age with dignity.
There was a moment at Broadview at Purchase College that crystallized everything for her. She had been working to create a residential environment that offered not just care but genuine choice, and one resident with multiple sclerosis took full advantage of the possibilities she had helped design. He crafted his best life from the options she had fought to make available. Watching him design, live, and enjoy that life made an entire year's worth of effort feel worthwhile. It was the kind of moment that reminds a person why they chose this work in the first place.
When Abate speaks to students or early-career professionals entering gerontology today, her message is both urgent and hopeful. Keep going, she tells them. The story of gerontologists has not yet been written. She believes that our capacity for social restoration, our ability to truly connect with one another and resolve the epidemic of loneliness, depends on people who will celebrate growth and advanced life stages rather than treat them as decline. The work is hard, she acknowledges, but it is essential.
For Abate, being a healthcare professional comes down to a single question that she asks herself repeatedly: How may I serve? It is a deceptively simple framework that demands constant attention and humility. It means showing up not with predetermined answers but with a genuine openness to what others need and want.
Looking toward the future, Abate envisions a healthcare landscape transformed by greater autonomy at the end of life and increased empowerment and visibility for older adults. She wants to see more research focused on this population, more recognition of their contributions and experiences. The next generation, she believes, can help make these changes happen by bringing fresh perspectives and renewed commitment to the work. They can write the story that has not yet been told, the one where growing older means continuing to live fully rather than slowly disappearing from view.