SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – June 3, 2010 –Eleven former managers and vice presidents from the corporate sector are starting year-long Encore Fellowships at Bay Area nonprofits this month.

Designed as paid, temporary, high-level assignments, Encore Fellowships provide immediate communications, research, business development, program development, and human resources support to nonprofits, while providing the fellows themselves with a bridge to a new stage of midlife work known as the encore career.

“Encore Fellowships break down barriers and create new opportunities – for nonprofits striving to achieve their missions and sector-switchers eager to make an impact, but not sure where to start,” says Leslye Louie, a 2009 Encore Fellow, now national director of the Encore Fellowships Network.

The Silicon Valley Encore Fellows program is now in its second year. The program is run by Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based think tank on work, boomers and social purpose. Program costs, including each fellow’s $25,000 stipend, are covered by a combination of funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, corporate sponsors Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies and Legacy Venture, and participating nonprofits.

A recent independent evaluation of the first year of the Silicon Valley Encore Fellows program found that a majority of the nonprofit executives estimated the value of their Encore Fellows to be worth a full-time annual salary of $100,000 or more.

The LFA Group, authors of the evaluation, also found that the pilot “proved remarkably successful” at achieving its goal of creating a marketplace for highly-skilled, executive-level employees to bring their expertise to support nonprofits while creating pathways across sectors into encore careers.

The Silicon Valley Encore Fellows program provided the inspiration for a provision in the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, passed last year, which calls for 10 new encore fellows in each state.

The interest generated by the 2009 pilot has also spurred the development of a number of new Encore Fellows programs nationally and the creation of the Encore Fellowships Network, an alliance of quality Encore Fellows programs.

“We are making the model a reality for more individuals and nonprofits by helping communities in five states design and operate their own Encore Fellows programs,” says Louie. “If more communities adopt this model, the potential for social change is tremendous.”

The 2010 Encore Fellows class includes:

Betsy Balassone
Balassone is leveraging her business development skills gained at IBM, Wachovia National Bank, and Hoffmann-La Roche to help Civic Ventures partner with organizations to develop new programs as part of the national expansion of the Encore Fellowships Network.

Bill Blodgett and Mee Leng Wang
Blodgett and Wang have a combined 54 years of experience in various marketing and customer support roles at HP and are “job-sharing” their fellowship. They are partnering to bring business development and change management expertise to Experience Corps Bay Area, a program of the state-wide nonprofit, Aspiranet. Experience Corps engages older adults as tutors for children in urban public schools.

Marc Burton
Burton enjoyed a 31-year career in banking and financial services, including roles as a Vice President at San Francisco Federal and Wells Fargo. Marc brings his skills in finance and marketing to Environmental Volunteers (EV) to assist with strategic planning and marketing geared towards organizational growth. Environmental Volunteers provides natural science and environmental education programs to local schools, helping fill a critical gap in science education.

Mark Cator
Cator is bringing more than 25 years of sales experience, including serving as the leader of Apple’s Western Region Education Industry sales team, to Legacy Works. He will develop and implement programs and services focused on engaging and increasing the philanthropic impact of Legacy Works members.

Janice Edwards
A TV producer and host who has worked at local NBC and CBS stations, Edwards is developing and implementing a strategic communications initiative in her encore fellowship for Partners in School Innovation, a nonprofit that supports public school reform in low-income Bay Area communities.

Liane Freeman
Liane Freeman has led the development of innovative customer relationship practices at Intuit and EPRI. In her Encore Fellowship, Freeman is serving as the director of strategic planning at the Krause Center for Innovation, a nonprofit providing professional development for K-12 teachers and integrating innovative technologies into the curriculum.

Mike Gallagher
Mike Gallagher spent his entire career at Hewlett Packard/Agilent Technologies as a manager of marketing and communications and has volunteered with local government and nonprofits. In his Encore Fellowship with Civic Ventures, Gallager is exploring the market potential, feasibility and fit for an Encore Fellows model in rural county governments and school districts.

Mark Judge
After beginning his professional life at Hope Services, Mark Judge left the nonprofit sector for a career in children’s publishing. In his 22 years at Klutz, he served as vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. He’s now utilizing his market research skills in his Encore Fellowship at Youth Science Institute (YSI) of Santa Clara Valley, which delivers science education programs to children.

Janet Pretti
Pretti spent 20 years at Hewlett Packard in a range of sales, marketing, and international assignments, serving most recently as vice president of worldwide channel marketing. In her fellowship, Pretti is now driving marketing and development of ALearn’s zoomz.net, a social network that allows high school and college students to discuss educational goals.

Kim Wisckol
As a former Vice President with more than 25 years of experience in human resources at Hewlett Packard, Wisckol is now helping Partners in School Innovation design and implement robust human resources processes and management training programs to support their mission and scaling plan.

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About Civic Ventures (www.encore.org)
Civic Ventures is a national think tank on boomers, work and social purpose.