Every conference begins with an invitation.
An invitation not simply to attend, but to imagine, question, connect, and help shape what comes next.
That is the invitation of On Aging 2027.
Each year, the conference theme reflects where the aging field finds itself at a particular moment—and where we believe we must go together.
Last year, The Power of Belonging challenged us to ask a simple but profound question: Who gets to age with dignity, purpose, and opportunity? It reminded us that healthy longevity depends not only on services and supports, but on whether people feel seen, valued, and connected.
This year, we take the next step.
Creating Community is more than the conference’s theme.
It is an invitation to the entire field—and one of the defining conversations we’ll have together in San Diego from March 29-April 1, 2027.
More importantly, it’s the experience we’re intentionally creating throughout On Aging 2027.
An experience that moves us beyond silos and toward collaboration. That transforms not only how we serve older adults, but how we work together. That recognizes the opportunities and challenges of longevity can no longer be addressed by one organization, one profession, or one sector alone.
Because if belonging is the outcome we seek, community is how we build it.
On Aging 2027 Arrives at Exactly the Right Moment
Across the country, people are asking many of the same questions. How do we change the story of aging so it reflects possibility rather than decline? How do we expand access to the care, services, technology, and opportunities people need to thrive? How do we build greater economic stability across longer lives? How do we strengthen care and caregiving systems? How do we advance health and well-being, cultivate belonging and meaning, and create the places where people of every age can flourish?
These are not separate conversations.
They are the future of aging.
And they are the conversations we will have together in San Diego.
Woven throughout every learning experience are two ideas that connect them all: Connecting Across Sectors and Creating Community.
That’s why we’ve intentionally designed On Aging 2027 around the issues shaping the future of aging. Together, we’ll explore Belonging & Meaning, Building Economic Stability, Changing the Story of Aging, Expanding Access, Health & Well-Being, Strengthening Care & Caregiving, and The Places We Age. Woven throughout every learning experience are two ideas that connect them all: Connecting Across Sectors and Creating Community.
Because none of these challenges exists in isolation.
Neither will their solutions.
That is what has always made On Aging special.
Yes, we come to discover new research, innovative practices, and emerging ideas. But we also come to find one another. We reconnect with colleagues who inspire us. We meet people working on similar challenges from entirely different perspectives. We leave with new relationships, fresh ideas, and renewed purpose.
On Aging Doesn’t Simply Talk About Community, It Creates It
And creating community requires all of us.
Not because we all do the same work, but because we each bring something essential to the future of aging.
Some of us are bridgers—people who encounter new perspectives, connect across differences, and help us see challenges through someone else’s eyes.
Some are builders—leaders who coordinate across sectors, forge partnerships, and transform ideas into collective action.
Some are narrators—storytellers, advocates, researchers, communicators, and artists who reshape how we talk about aging and expand what’s possible through the stories we tell.
Some are practitioners—professionals, caregivers, volunteers, and community leaders who take what they learn and apply tools and ideas to improve people’s lives.
Most of us are a little of each.
The point isn’t the role you play.
The Point is That There is a Place for You
Whether you work in healthcare, aging services, housing, transportation, technology, business, philanthropy, government, higher education, research, advocacy, or community organizing, your perspective matters. Whether you are a caregiver, policymaker, entrepreneur, educator, student, volunteer, practitioner, or older adult yourself, you are part of the community we are creating.
The future of aging will not be built by one profession or one sector.
It will be built by all of us.
As ASA continues to evolve, so too does On Aging.
You’ll continue to find the enduring programmatic pillars that have long defined ASA’s work: Ageism & Culture, Economic Security, Justice & Equity, Health & Well-Being, and Innovation & Social Impact. At the same time, this year’s conference expands the conversation through nine reimagined learning tracks, exploring the interconnected issues shaping the future of aging and the opportunities they present for creating a longevity-ready society.
This year’s conference asks us to move beyond networking toward relationship building, beyond expertise toward shared learning, beyond representation toward shared leadership, and beyond serving communities toward building with communities.
Every keynote, workshop, summit, learning exchange, networking event, and hallway conversation is an opportunity to move these ideas beyond theory and into practice—to challenge assumptions, discover new perspectives, and build the partnerships our aging society increasingly requires.
This year’s conference asks us to move beyond networking toward relationship building, beyond expertise toward shared learning, beyond representation toward shared leadership, and beyond serving communities toward building with communities.
Because some of the most important breakthroughs in aging won’t emerge from a single keynote or breakout session.
They’ll emerge from conversations in hallways. Questions after presentations. Introductions over coffee. Ideas sparked between people who might never have met if not for this community.
We hope you’ll arrive in San Diego ready not only to learn, but also to contribute.
Come ready to question.
Come ready to listen.
Come ready to encounter new perspectives.
Come ready to build unlikely partnerships.
Come ready to discover that the most meaningful ideas often emerge between sessions—not just during them.
Come ready to help shape what comes next for the field of aging.
Because Creating Community doesn’t begin when the conference doors open.
It begins the moment we choose to learn from one another, build with one another, and imagine what’s possible together.
This is your invitation.
Join us in San Diego as we create community—and in doing so, create the future of aging.
Patrice L. Dickerson, PhD, is ASA’s Senior Equity Strategy Director, and co-leads the ASA RISE Fellowship program.
