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Connie Siskowski
Nurse ; Youth Advocate

Winner, $50,000 Purpose Prize

As a child, Connie Siskowski helped her grandfather walk, dress and bathe. She founded Caregiving Youth Project to provide classes, support and resources to youths who are caring for aging relatives.

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Arlene Carter
Human Resources Director ; Nonprofit Fundraiser

There's more to do.
Encore careers combine social purpose, personal meaning and continued income. Put your experience to work for the greater good.

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Diana Meinhold
Executive ; Caregiver

There's more to do.
Encore careers combine social purpose, personal meaning and continued income. Put your experience to work for the greater good.

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Don Coyhis
NASA Manager ; Recovery Innovator

Winner, $100,000 Purpose Prize

A Mohican, Don Coyhis turned to his roots to bring recovery services to Native American communities, treating alcoholism by reviving customs and traditions.

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Mark McVay
Transportation Specialist ; Teacher

There's more to do.
Encore careers combine social purpose, personal meaning and continued income. Put your experience to work for the greater good.

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Nominations Now Open!

Nominate someone - or yourself - for the $100,000 Purpose Prize. Ten social innovators in their encore careers will win awards for their big ideas.

Click here to see who took home the 2009 Purpose Prize. Are you next? Nominate today for 2010.

New! Get Started Guide





Check out our new Get Started Guide, which offers expert advice, helpful books and Web sites, tips and success stories.

What's New

See the full Blog & News

Encore Italy: Terzavitosi!

Posted 12/23/2009 - 2:02pm

When I was on vacation last summer in Italy, my country of origin, I was surprised to find two of my best friends telling me what I myself had been thinking about – and what Civic Ventures and Marc Freedman have been talking about.

I call it the third life. As I start the second half of my 50s, I suddenly realized that I was starting to take the years ahead of me as “dealing with the tail of my life,” as if I did not have much time to change things.

by: Ottavia | Read more >>

Wall Street Journal Calls Get Started Guide ‘Essential Reading’

Posted 12/21/2009 - 1:28pm

The Wall Street Journal calls our new Get Started Guide “essential reading” in its year-end “Best in 2009” Retirement Planning recommendations.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Gift Ideas for People Seeking Encore Careers

Posted 12/16/2009 - 2:37pm

Chances are the people over 50 on your gift-giving list don’t need another mug, candle or coffee grinder. Why not give them something that will help them discover their encore career?

Here are some gift ideas for friends and family members on your list who are looking for a meaningful vocation in midlife:

Books. Among the excellent books on the market that help people find their encore careers are:

Support Lacking for Midlife Career Switchers

Posted 12/16/2009 - 3:36pm

After practicing law for many years, Dan Ladd, 59, of Lincoln, Massachusetts, craved a career that offered “a little more sense of adventure,” but his journey to his current job as a veterinary technician was bumpier than he’d bargained for.

CommonWealth, a journal published by the nonprofit think tank, MassInc, tells his story in the Fall 2009 issue to illustrate the unexpected pitfalls – and needed support systems – for people making significant career changes in later life. It’s a wake-up call that highlights the flaws in financial aid and workforce development programs that are designed to serve younger workers and penalize older ones.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Engineer Helps Farmers Grow Their Way Out of Poverty

Posted 12/15/2009 - 6:19pm

When Paul Osterlund retired from Intel Corp. after 23 years as a designer and engineer, he figured he’d find a way to educate people about technology. His favorite experiences at Intel involved centers that let the public experience technology powered by Intel’s microprocessors.

“I hadn’t even considered a social venture as a follow-up to my engineering career,” Osterlund says.

Two years later, Osterlund’s Abundance Farming Project is helping subsistence farmers in Africa, India, China and South America improve their yields and increase their incomes with a soil additive that helps dirt hold moisture longer.

by: Daniel Werner | Read more >>

Study Shatters Myths About Older Employees

Posted 12/15/2009 - 6:15pm

The Ninth Annual Year in Ideas roundup published December 13 in The New York Times Magazine debunks stereotypes about older workers being risk averse, noncompetitive and uncooperative.

It cites a 2008 “Cooperation and Competition in Intergenerational Experiments” study by Gary Charness, an economics professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Marie Claire Villeval of the University of Lyon that compared how “seniors” over age 50 and “juniors” under 30 behaved during experimental games and tasks.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Toy Store Owner Transforms Foster Care in Massachusetts

Posted 12/14/2009 - 11:06am

Ten years ago, when Judy Cockerton, then 48, read a news item about a child who had been kidnapped from his crib in a foster home, she gathered her family and said, “What can we do to help foster children?” It was the turning point for Cockerton, who decided at that moment to take on the challenge of helping foster children. Until that time, she had been focused on running her two award-winning toy stores in the Boston area.

Now Cockerton is the founder and director of a nonprofit dedicated to improving conditions for children in the foster care system. Along the way, she spearheaded construction of an intergenerational community to create a supportive environment for foster children in Massachusetts.

by: jerrywaxler | Read more >>

Congress May Expand Troops to Teachers

Posted 12/13/2009 - 10:40pm

A federal program that has helped about 12,000 former service members transition into encore careers as teachers may expand dramatically if Congress gets its way. The New York Times reports that a bipartisan group in Congress wants to allow more veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to be eligible for the Troops to Teachers program and increase the number of districts in which they can teach.

Their military background serves them well in their new jobs. Tammie Langley, who taught prospective pilots and navigators aeronautics before she began teaching sixth graders in North Carolina told The Times, “Either way, you still have to kind of wipe their noses a bit and kick them in the behind every now and then.”

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Encore China: Crisis or Opportunity?

Posted 12/09/2009 - 2:45pm

With more than 100 million citizens over the age of 65, China is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world. The demographic shift, an unanticipated (if entirely predictable) result of the country’s one-child policy, is typically considered a liability – a brake on the country’s economic growth.

But the country’s older adults represent a pool of human capital that can be tapped for important and meaningful roles, according to participants at a recent conference in Shandong, China’s first national conversation about productive aging.

by: Cal Halvorsen | Read more >>

In Memoriam: Henry Liu, 2009 Purpose Prize Winner

Posted 12/03/2009 - 8:04am

On behalf of Civic Ventures’ staff and board, I want to express deep sadness over the death of 2009 Purpose Prize winner Henry Liu, who was killed in a car accident on Tuesday. Our condolences go out to Professor Liu’s family and to his colleagues.

It is especially sad to lose an extraordinary person, at the peak of his creative powers, in the midst of making some of his greatest contributions to humanity. As his son Jerry commented recently, his father was working harder today that at any point in his life: “He’s always wanted to change the world. Success to my dad isn’t about making money. It’s about leaving the world a better place.” Teacher, mentor, inventor and social entrepreneur Henry Liu has left the world a better place at many levels and in so many ways.

Marc Freedman, Founder/CEO, Civic Ventures

by: Marc Freedman | Read more >>

ABC News: Boomers Refuse to Give Up on Encore Careers

Posted 12/01/2009 - 1:06pm

Laid-off boomers won’t take no for an answer and are using creative strategies to land encore careers, says ABC News in a report that appeared on Good Morning America today. Three women profiled found their encore careers by being humble, entrepreneurial and open to new ways of networking.

Tory Johnson, author of Fired to Hired, tells Diane Sawyer that Caterina Ramsey, 54, of Belton, Texas, lost her husband to cancer and sought a job in the front office of her daughters’ school for nine months before she accepted the only position offered as a part-time cafeteria monitor. She checked her pride and did that job so well that she was hired for the administrative job she wanted.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Test Drive Our New Get Started Guide

Posted 12/01/2009 - 8:58am

It’s clear that lots of people have warmed to the idea of encore careers and have an interest in getting started. But as Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman always says, finding work that provides both money and meaning is still a do-it-yourself project without many established pathways. That’s why I recently joined Civic Ventures — to help figure out new ways to help people as they move into encore careers.

As I settled into my new position here, I was thrilled to get my hands on the new Get Started Guide, which is loaded with useful information and resources for anyone eager to create an encore career. The Guide begins with some basics on how to think about mid-career transitions as well as specifically transitioning to the nonprofit sector. It continues with solid job-hunting tips and targeted advice for those over 50.

by: Marci Alboher | Read more >>

Portland Paves the Way for Encore Careers

Posted 11/25/2009 - 12:01am

Last week I participated in a “Work + Service Forum” in Portland, Oregon, that clearly demonstrated that this city is a leader in advancing encore careers. The progress is clear and the collaboration is real. People work closely together, respect one another, are very thoughtful about what they do and integrate their work in many innovative ways.

About 100 people attended this day-long conference, whose purpose was to “advance the agenda of the work-service continuum for 50+.” It was cosponsored by Metropolitan Family Services, Life by Design NW, Hands On Greater Portland, AARP and Oregon Volunteers.

by: Nancy Peterson | Read more >>