Nominate an Organization

Powered_Aging Art w Title for Launch Email

Read the guidelines below, then CLICK HERE to submit your nomination. (You will need to login to your Sonato account.) Deadline is August 7, 2026.

The Issue

Americans are living longer than any generation before us, yet many of the systems designed to support aging have not kept pace. Financial insecurity, housing instability, caregiving challenges, digital exclusion, ageism, and social isolation are placing increasing strain on older adults and their families. At the same time, longer lives create unprecedented opportunities for contribution, connection, learning, and civic engagement.

How we respond to this demographic shift will shape not only the lives of older adults, but the well-being of families, communities, and future generations.

Aging is universal, but it is not experienced equally. A lifetime of unequal access to wealth, housing, healthcare, education, and opportunity often results in very different experiences of aging. Women, communities of color, LGBTQ+ older adults, immigrants, people with disabilities, and older adults with low incomes frequently face the greatest barriers. The question is whether longer lives become years marked by insecurity and isolation, or by purpose, belonging, and opportunity.

The Opportunity for Battery Powered

As we seek to answer our guiding question—What will it take for everyone to age with security, agency, and belonging?—Battery Powered has an opportunity to support organizations that are creating the conditions for people to thrive as they age.

We are interested in a range of approaches, from direct service and community-based support to advocacy, systems-building, and innovation. Whether addressing immediate needs or pursuing longer-term change, we seek efforts that help people age with greater security, agency, and belonging.

Our Focus Areas

1) Security

Security is the foundation on which healthy aging depends. Yet many older adults are navigating rising costs, housing challenges, and increasingly complex systems without adequate support.

We seek organizations that help older adults age with greater stability and independence. This may include efforts focused on financial security, housing, caregiving, digital inclusion, or elder justice and fraud prevention.

2) Community

Strong relationships and a sense of belonging are essential to healthy aging. Yet many older adults face isolation as families become more dispersed and traditional sources of connection weaken.

While our last theme focused on loneliness directly, this theme looks through a more specific lens: intergenerational connection. We seek organizations that bring generations together through shared purpose, mutual support, and lasting relationships. This may include efforts focused on community-building, caregiver networks, civic engagement, or shared spaces that foster connection across age groups.

3) Purpose & Agency

Many people will spend decades beyond traditional retirement age, yet our society offers too few pathways for continued contribution, learning, leadership, and growth. The desire to participate, create, and make meaningful choices about one's own life does not disappear with age.

We seek organizations that help older adults pursue purpose and exercise agency as they age. This may include efforts focused on lifelong learning, civic engagement, encore careers, creative expression, mentorship, or challenging ageism.

Nomination Guidelines

Deadline. The deadline for nominations is Friday, August 7, 2026.
Number. Each Battery Powered member may nominate up to two organizations.
Eligibility. Organizations eligible to apply include:
- 501(c)(3) nonprofit entities, including fiscal sponsors, educational and research institutions
- Collaborative initiatives led by a 501(c)(3)
- Re-granting (intermediary) organizations, especially those that make grants to local grassroots organizations
Want more detail? Read our Applicant Guidelines for more detail on the types of organizations and projects that we think are a strong fit for this theme, as well as our selection criteria.
Questions? Email [email protected].