The Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence is a $100,000 cash award given annually by The Eisner Foundation. The Eisner Prize is designed to recognize excellence by an individual or a non-profit organization in uniting multiple generations, especially seniors and youth, to bring about positive and lasting changes in their community.
At The Eisner Foundation, we believe that society's most daunting challenges require complex solutions involving the participation of all of our society's citizens, and not just singular groups working singularly. We need to begin to unite, not divide, our communities and see vulnerable populations as pathways to success, not impediments. The Eisner Prize is our attempt to identify and reward those individuals and organizations in this nation that have utilized children and seniors as assets, side-by-side, in an effort to generate positive results in the communities in which they reside.
While The Eisner Foundation is located in Los Angeles, The Eisner Prize is a national award, open to anyone or any group working in the United States. We are, however, generally a regional funder in our grant-making endeavors, focused on Los Angeles County, so it is our hope that the winner of The Eisner Prize each year will represent a program or idea that we can replicate in Los Angeles for the benefit of the children and seniors that live in our city. If the winner were to reside in Los Angeles, we would consider the possibility of helping to fund an expansion of the currently-existing program or idea.
But the cash award of $100,000 comes with no strings attached. It is our attempt to spur innovation in this field and to reward those who have committed already to excellence in uniting multiple generations for the betterment of our country. We believe there is a ton of good work being done out there in this country in uniting multiple generations for the betterment of our communities. Most of this work is being done under the radar of our national media and outside the scope of most philanthropic institutions. The Eisner Prize is an attempt to identify that work, to reward it, and to see long-term if we can replicate it.
"As a society, we tend to believe that each generation is an insular one, and that the interests of each are unique and separate from those of others. But now more than ever, people young and old must join forces to address problems that affect both of their communities – and it is that spirit of intergenerational cooperation that we hope to foster with The Eisner Prize," says Michael Eisner, founder of The Eisner Foundation. "We applaud everyone in this intergenerational field for their dedication and commitment in uniting generations for the betterment of our country, and we hope that the work they do inspires others to take up similar causes."
Michael Eisner talks about intergenerational programming and why we created The Eisner Prize.
The Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence is a $100,000 cash award given annually by The Eisner Foundation. The Eisner Prize is designed to recognize excellence by an individual or a non-profit organization in uniting multiple generations, especially seniors and youth, to bring about positive and lasting changes in their community. 
At The Eisner Foundation, we believe that society's most daunting challenges require complex solutions involving the participation of all of our society's citizens, and not just singular groups working singularly. We need to begin to unite, not divide, our communities and see vulnerable populations as pathways to success, not impediments. The Eisner Prize is our attempt to identify and reward those individuals and organizations in this nation that have utilized children and seniors as assets, side-by-side, in an effort to generate positive results in the communities in which they reside. 
