More on Entrepreneurs With a Social Mission

11/04/2011 - 07:37:03am

My colleagues and I have been working for the past 10 months with the research firm Penn Schoen Berland to investigate the potential for social entrepreneurship in boomers.

Research by the Kauffman Foundation has already shown that for 11 of the 15 years between 1996 and 2010, Americans between 55 and 64 had the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity of any age group.

Encore Entrepreneurs: Creating Jobs, Meeting Needs

11/04/2011 - 07:30:46am

Mix a slow economy and a shortage of jobs with a large number of aging boomers looking for meaning and purpose in their work. The result is a growing number of “encore entrepreneurs” seeking to launch income-generating ventures that make a positive difference in their communities.

New research released by Civic Ventures and funded by MetLife Foundation shows:

Graduate school research shows positive outcomes for older social work students

09/30/2011 - 04:40:45pm

People over 40 are finding that their efforts to earn a Master of Social Work (MSW) are paying off, at least at one school.

The Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis conducted a survey of MSW students over 40 from the past 10 years to determine if they got what they came for – mainly, a supportive environment and a career in social work.

Encore!Hartford receives national award

09/30/2011 - 01:13:16pm

Encore!Hartford, a program that trains “seasoned” corporate professionals for encore careers in nonprofit leadership, is the recipient of the national Outstanding Program Award in 2011 from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association.

Community Colleges: A Great Option for Boomers Seeking Encores

05/31/2011 - 12:40:44pm

Community colleges have been receiving a lot of attention lately – from the White House Summit on Community Colleges to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Completion by Design to the Lumina Foundation’s Adult Degree Completion Commitment – and are seen as major partn

Colleges Look to Boomer Population for Students

05/25/2011 - 11:50:19am

To advance President Obama’s goal for the United States to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, colleges are increasingly seeing boomers as a growing source of students.

Attracting Encore Students: Tips From Encore Colleges

04/22/2011 - 10:38:43am

College administrators who want to attract boomers interested in encore careers now have a new collection of resources, created from the lessons of the Civic Ventures Encore College Initiative.

Sustaining and Expanding Your Encore Program

04/19/2011 - 08:57:28am

Civic Ventures Encore College Initiative grantees are developing programs that create educational pathways to encore careers for people 50 and older. Effective planning has been essential to efforts to sustain and, in some cases, expand these programs. Below are seven tips for community college administrators.

1. Start with the end in mind.

Tips for Program Planners: Marketing Encore Programs

03/03/2011 - 01:14:37pm

Effective, targeted marketing has been essential to successful recruitment and enrollment into encore programs for students over 50. Below are six tips for community college administrators on how to use marketing to attract encore students.

Tips for Program Planners: Program Adaptations for Plus-50 Encore Learners

03/03/2011 - 12:15:19pm

Workers 50 and older interested in encore careers that combine personal meaning, social impact and continued income are increasingly looking to community colleges to develop new skills or build on existing ones. Many aim to transition to such fields as education, health care, social services or the green economy.

Past recipients of Encore College Initiative grants have created many educational pathways to encore careers with the understanding that boomers typically learn differently from younger students and have unique needs.