Encore Fellowships
Think of them as bridges to a new stage of work. Encore Fellowships are an innovative new way for experienced, highly skilled employees to transition from midlife careers to encore careers that combine personal meaning, continued income and social impact.
- Each fellow is matched with a social-purpose organization where he or she works for six to 12 months on a high-impact assignment.
- The fellows receive orientation to the social-purpose sector, a monthly stipend and opportunities to develop career options.
- Encore Fellowships are funded by corporate and foundation sponsors and by the work hosts themselves.
Contact us for more information.
The 2009 Silicon Valley Encore Fellows Program
In 2009, 10 former corporate employees were awarded fellowships to work in nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. These Encore Fellowships were made possible with seed funding from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and from the Hewlett Packard Company and were run by Civic Ventures. The fellows delivered significant impact to their host agencies and are now successfully transitioning to work with social purpose.
Meet the fellows, watch their videos and hear from sponsors and nonprofit directors about the value of Encore Fellowships.
Fellowships: The Next Stage
Based on the success of the 2009 pilot, Civic Ventures is continuing the Silicon Valley Encore Fellows program in 2010. In addition, we are launching the Encore Fellowships Network to work with corporations, organizations and individuals who are interested in creating Encore Fellowships in many more communities across the U.S. We invite you to join us in this effort, whether you are interested in becoming an Encore Fellow, hosting an Encore Fellow in your organization or sponsoring or operating an Encore Fellowships program.
Resource List
The following documents contain information about Encore Fellowships in a format that can be easily downloaded and printed.
- Encore Fellowships FAQs
- Fact sheet for Encore Fellows Silicon Valley program
- Silicon Valley Encore Fellows profiles
- Encore Fellowships media coverage
- Fact sheet for work hosts
- Fact sheet for corporate sponsors
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Encore Fellowships in the News
BusinessWeek
"From Then to Now: How to Move Beyond the Do-It-Yourself Transition," commentary by Marc Freedman, founder and CEO, Civic Ventures
Los Angeles Times
"Second Careers That Give Back"
National Public Radio's Morning Edition
"Program Taps Retired Execs to Help Nonprofits"
U.S. News & World Report
"Boomers Redefine Retirement With 'Encore' Careers"
Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal
"For Encore Fellows, Work Is Even Better Second Time Around"
San Francisco Chronicle
"A New Wave of Service," op-ed by Marc Freedman
The Wall Street Journal
"Law Opens Up 'Encore' Careers"
The New York Times
"Testing the Waters With Internships"




