We all recognize that infrastructure like highways, water systems, and electricity are essential for leading healthy and productive lives. But what about our systems of care? Ai-jen Poo–Director of Caring Across Generations and President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance–argues that care work is critical to making the world work. Caregiving, says Ai-jen Poo, from child-rearing to elder care, allows all of us to thrive–as individuals, as families, and as a society.

A next generation labor leader and rising voice in the women’s movement, Ai-jen Poo is a MacArthur “genius” fellow, one of Fortune’s 50 World’s Greatest Leaders, and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. Her work has been featured in Marie Claire, New York Times, Washington Post, and Jezebel. She is author of The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America. In 2017, Ai-jen served as the Dan and Maggie Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals at UH Mānoa.

Robert Perkinson (moderator) is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and director of the Better Tomorrow Speaker Series.

Sound editing and graphic by Hannah Sambrano. 

The Better Tomorrow Speaker Series features incisive conversations on the most pressing issues of our time. The project is a joint venture of the University of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Community Foundation, and Kamehameha Schools.

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