“If we, people lucky enough to be aging as well as serving aging humans, see and celebrate the strengths and contributions of older people, rather than fall prey to the fantasy of never dying, not aging,” she said, “we can tackle these daunting challenges that our nation is facing.”

Actor and director Jesse Eisenberg, who made a non-directed kidney donation to an anonymous matching patient next on the transplant list last year, closed out dinner with a final toast advocating for spreading the word on altruistic organ donations that could help the more than 90,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant. “I want to acknowledge that I am probably the dumbest person here and the least qualified to be talking right now,” he said, but he focused on what he did have experience in, which was the “risk-free” process behind his organ donation, which he knew he had to do after hearing about the concept of this type of donation on a podcast.