MISSION
« Generation Alpha » is defined as children born between 2010 and 2024.
Non-profit organization dedicated to :
- Developing and scientifically validating programs to promote children’s resilience and mental health in vulnerable communities.
- Raising awareness about adverse childhood experiences and their health and intergenerational risks.
The mental health and well-being of the alpha generation will have a crucial impact on society and the future of life on our planet.
WHY GENERATION ALPHA MINDS?
Because we recognize the importance of mental health and wellbeing in the generation alpha kids.
- Generation alpha kids are true digital beings in an increasingly stressful world, which is a risk factor for their emotional and social development.
- Uncertainty, stress, anxiety and depression are now on an unprecedented scale in children and adolescents, with alarming trends in mental health. Generation alpha kids are unprecedently exposed to increased screen time, social networks and eco-anxiety. In addition, they are impacted by their families’ and educators’ stress, caused by socioeconomic and environmental challenges such as social inequalities, systemic racism, war, gun violence, discrimination, or a global pandemic.
- Currently, around one in four adolescents meet the criteria for having a serious mental illness. Data shows that adolescents meeting this criteria increased by more than 20 % in the last five years.
- A large number of generation alpha children are also exposed to negative childhood experiences, such as maltreatment, abuse and neglect, which are widespread throughout the world. Statistics reveal that one in seven children is subjected to more than four adverse childhood experiences, which are associated with significant long-term physical, mental and behavioral risks.
WHY NOW?
Currently, around one in four adolescents meet the criteria for having a serious mental illness. Data shows that adolescents meeting this criteria increased by more than 20 % in the last five years. When they will all be born, there will be almost 2 billion of them, the largest generation in the history of the world.
The mental health and well-being of the generation alpha will have a crucial impact on society and the future of life on our planet.
WHAT ARE ACEs?
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are the biggest unaddressed public health threat today.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur during childhood or adolescence. ACEs include experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect, witnessing violence in the home or community, growing up in a household with substance use problems, mental health problems or instability due to parental separation or incarceration. Other adversities are sufering bullying, cyberviolence, natural disasters, all forms of violence and discrimination. Research reveals that one out of seven people report having suffered 4 or more ACEs. Researchers identified a link between ACE exposure and a higher likelihood of negative health and behavioral outcomes later in life, such as suicide, depression, drug abuse, heart disease, diabetes and premature death. Some of the strongest associated effects of multiple ACEs (e.g. violent behavior and addiction) increase the risk of ACEs across generations through intergenerational transmission of maltreatment and neglect.
Let’s help Generation Alpha to be part of the movement towards a healthier, happier, wiser, sustainable and environmentally conscious future.
PEOPLE
Board Members
Perla Kaliman
PhD in Biochemistry associate professor at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC, Spain), Honorary Research Fellow at the Center for Healthy Minds (University of Madison Wisconsin. Her research includes the impact of meditation practices on cell ageing, inflammation, and epigenetics and the development of multimodal programs for health promotion in children and adolescents exposed to adverse childhood experiences.
Anne-France Arnoux Saugnac
International business lawyer, expert in governance, ethics, risk management, social and environmental responsibility. Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness based compassion living (MBCL) Instructor. She trained in mindfulness at the Center for Mindfulness, a medical center of the University of Massachusetts, USA. Graduated from DU Médecine Méditation et Neurosciences. She is the author of “Coaching organisations with Mindfulness & Coaching and meditation”.
Pilar Ruiz-Lozano
PhD in Biology, Project Strategy Advisor.
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University (USA) until 2015. Currently Chief Scientific Officer at REGENCOR, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in cardiovascular regenerative medicine, created in collaboration with Stanford University.
Administration Board Members
Jean-Luc Coll
Ph.D. degree in Genetics, Immunology and Differentiation. Director of Research INSERM-UGA U1209, CNRS UMR5309, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Grenoble, France. Membre du Conseil scientifique de la Fondation ARC pour la recherche sur le cancer. Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Marion Ben
Psychologist, trained in psychotrauma, Master’s degree in psycho-oncology, VIAS coordinator (Intimate, Affective and Sexual Life), trained in prevention of violence against women, including vulnerable women with disabilities, Master’s degree in Hypnotherapy (University of Burgundy) and in Mindfulness, Medicine, and Neuroscience (University of Strasbourg). GAM instructor.
Anne Gaucher Denoual
MD, Master’s degree in Nutrition, in Pediatrics, and in Medicine, Meditation and Neuroscience (University of Strasbourg). Trained in patient therapeutic education by the French Association for the Development of Therapeutic Education. GAM instructor.
Barbara Philip
Psychologist, psychotherapist, sexologist, EMDR therapist. Provides consultations at Hôpital Privé Océane, Morbihan, France. Teaching staff, DIU in Sexology, University of Nantes. MBCT instructor, Qualiopi certified. Coordinator, AMSAR working group “Bienveillance – how to overcome violence”, focused on prevention, training, and care for violence, especially sexual violence. GAM instructor.
Virginia Alfonso Calace
Argentine-Italian visual artist based in France. She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the National University of La Plata, where she later earned a Doctorate in Fine Arts. Founder of the Atelier-Galerie du Losange, she develops her artistic work there and shares her knowledge with children and adults, both beginners and advanced students.
International Members
Marina Lisenberg
Psychologist and certified coach and family therapist. Certified at the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts, USA. She is the academic director of the Diploma in Mindfulness at the University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the author of “El secreto de Emilia. Mindfulness para niños y niñas” (Sudamericana, 2017) and “Atención plena para niños y adolescentes” (Grijalbo, 2021).
Elkin Llanez-Anaya
M.D. Psychiatrist, EMDR therapist. Certified mindfulness instructor by Oxford Mindfulness Centre. Certified mindfulness children and adolescent trainer. Director of the Mindfulness Foundation, Colombia. Professor at the University of Santander, Colombia.
Honorary Members
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he founded its world-renown Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Clinic in 1979, and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (CFM), in 1995. Both the MBSR Clinic and the CFM are now part of UMassMemorial Health. Jon did his doctoral work in molecular biology at MIT, in the laboratory Salvador Luria. He is the author of 15 books, currently in print in over 45 languages.
Richard Davidson
William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he has been a faculty member since 1984. He is the founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc., an external, affiliated nonprofit dedicated to supporting the mission of the Center for Healthy Minds.
Amy Cohen Varela
Chairperson of the Mind & Life Europe Board and involved with Mind and Life since its inception. She is also a clinical psychologist specialised in psychodynamic therapy and philosophy. Amy studied comparative literature at Brown and Columbia Universities before moving to Paris in the early ’80s, where she received her degree in clinical psychology at the University of Paris 7, with a specialty in psychodynamic theory and practice, and in parallel, completed psychoanalytic training.
Mind and Life Europe
Association connecting researchers and practitioners in neuroscience, philosophy, education, ecology, contemplative practices, and the arts, fostering communities and dialogue. Mind & Life Europe was established in 2008. It is based in Switzerland and develop activities all over Europe. MLE strive to bridge and integrate contemplative wisdom and practices with modern research capabilities and bring a new wave of initiatives into the European science community.