After two decades of building her first career at the Hewlett Packard Company, Gina Cassinelli knew it was time to go.

“All of a sudden, you wake up and you say – I can’t believe I’ve been here 20 or 25 years,” she recalls. “I loved what I did, but I didn’t want to do it for 20 more.”

Cassinelli took early retirement, seeking a new, personally meaningful career. But she found few guides and little help. “You get to a point in your life where you have to feel like what you’re doing matters,” she says. “But how to do it? That’s hard.”

Encore Fellowships, a concept Fast Company magazine cited as one of 2009’s most promising, aims to make the transition easier.

The idea is simple: Take an accomplished professional looking to share valuable experience to benefit society, and place that person with a local nonprofit in need of top-level talent that will help the organization flourish.

The goals are simple, too:

• Provide a bridge to help people like Cassinelli get from the end of their midlife careers to encore careers that combine income, personal meaning and a chance to make a difference
• Give nonprofits a low-risk opportunity to take advantage of the talent and skill professionals like Cassinelli bring
• And introduce a new way for companies like HP to contribute its vast human capital to build the capacity of the local nonprofit community

A one-year pilot, bringing 10 Encore Fellows to nine nonprofits in California’s Silicon Valley, has shown that the idea has tremendous promise. It has received attention from several major news outlets, including The New York Times, National Public Radio and The Wall Street Journal. And Congress recognized the potential of Encore Fellowships in the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which President Obama signed in 2009, establishing 10 federal encore fellowships a year in each state.

The 2009 Silicon Valley pilot likely will serve as a template for the federal fellowships and as a model for other nonprofits, corporations and foundations that want to create or support Encore Fellowships at home.

That’s because the design works.

Independent research and evaluation firm LFA Group examined the first year of the pilot, concluding that it was highly successful. In a 2010 report, the evaluators wrote that the pilot provided early proof that such a program “can potentially make important impacts on nonprofit capacity, deepen the talent pool available to nonprofits and provide a new career path to encore careers.”

Of the first 10 Silicon Valley Encore Fellows, two served as interim executive directors during their fellowships, while one landed a permanent job with his host nonprofit within three months of starting his fellowship. In all, nine of the fellows received job offers. Seven are now in encore careers at area nonprofits, including Cassinelli.

THE PLAYERS

Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based think tank on boomers, work and social purpose, developed the pilot – with support from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and HP – to help more boomers move into encore careers.

“Encore Fellowships are great for individuals, to be sure, but the stakes for society are even greater,” says Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures. “If we can find a way to help even a small fraction of the millions of boomers who want to pursue encore careers, the result could be a tidal wave of talent capable of transforming our schools, our health, even the health of our planet.”
Research commissioned by Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation estimates that between 5.3 million and 8.4 million Americans have already launched encore careers. Of those workers aged 44 to 70 not already in encore careers, half are interested in them.
Meanwhile, The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit consulting firm, predicts that nonprofit organizations will need 640,000 senior managers by 2016, with so many leaders poised to retire.
Derek Mitchell, whose nonprofit Partners in School Innovation hosted two Encore Fellows in 2009, says such assets can help revolutionize the nonprofit sector: “Imagine what would happen if nonprofits start actually attaining those aspirational goals, in such things as no low-performing schools in California, because they now have some of the rigorous and proven strategies in industry to help them be more effective.”
For the pilot, HP – with a rich tradition of encouraging social innovation – saw the benefits of backing the program.

“A little bit of money here and a little bit of money there might address a current need, but it’s not driving sustainable change,” says Gabi Zedlmayer, vice president of HP’s Office of Global Social Innovation. “And so for us to bring knowledge, to transfer knowledge, I think is one of the best things that we can bring to any [nongovernmental organization] or to any social need out there.”

Plus, Zedlmayer says, backing such a program shows HP’s commitment to its employees and raises its profile as a “good global citizen.”

HOW IT WORKS

Getting the pilot started took close working relationships among Civic Ventures, HP and the host nonprofits. HP searched its senior staff for boomer-age former employees – retired, or soon to be – who had expressed interest in social causes. In addition to recommending employees, HP paid half of the $25,000 stipend each fellow received for the part-time work. (The Packard Foundation paid the other half, though participating nonprofits are now responsible for that sum.)
HP presented six candidates, while the remaining four came from other channels. Civic Ventures and the nonprofits matched the fellows to the most appropriate organizations, drawing from resumes, applications and in-person interviews.
During their assignments, which lasted six months to a year, the fellows attended monthly meetings arranged by Civic Ventures to share stories, advise each other and learn from outside experts on the nonprofit world. Meanwhile, Civic Ventures checked in regularly with the hosts and fellows to check progress and offer support.

TRIPLE WIN

Throughout the year, the Encore Fellows helped the nonprofits strategize – creating and executing business, marketing and staffing plans as well as sparking community partnerships. The nonprofits reaped expertise they couldn’t have afforded otherwise. The Packard Foundation showed support for a cause in line with its values. And HP showed its dedication to the personal and professional development of its alumni while helping the nonprofits achieve their goals.

The fellows, nonprofits and sponsors all gained something: a triple win.

Fellow John Armstrong says he’s grateful for what the experience brought him – a way to blend his passion with his skills.

Armstrong had come to the corporate world following years of public service in the U.S. Army. He landed a corporate job after earning an MBA and later took a two-year break to serve in the Peace Corps. He rounded out his corporate career at HP, where he spent nearly two decades building considerable skills in financial analysis and marketing.

“My motivation was money,” Armstrong says. “Every two weeks I was happy, because I got a paycheck. And that wasn’t the right motivation for me anymore.”

Armstrong left HP in 2006. A longtime volunteer, he began to give more hours to nonprofits centered around education, the environment and low-income housing. Volunteering fed his need to contribute, but it didn’t satisfy his desire to keep working. He wanted an encore career.

He became an Encore Fellow at Environmental Volunteers, an organization that recruits volunteers to teach children about the environment through hands-on lessons. He soon found that his fellowship would also be hands on. Though he was developing a strategy to publicize a school outreach program – a high-level job – he was also the one who had to carry out the plan.

“I had to go and hang banners on fences,” he recalls. “I went to a classroom and actually taught kids, because one of our volunteers couldn’t make it.” But those everyday tasks meant the most: “It was a great feeling. I could go home at the end of the day feeling I made something happen that day. I made an impact.”

And Armstrong got nonprofit work experience he could parlay into an encore career. He and the other fellows not only learned about the nonprofit world – its culture, its quirks, its needs and its pressures – they became part of it. Now, Armstrong is Environmental Volunteers’ collaborations project manager, heading up the Science by Nature website, which helps teachers find engaging natural science programs for their students.

THE RESULTS

The program’s impact is undeniable. Nonprofit hosts report clearer plans for the future as a result of their fellows’ insight and willingness to do whatever was needed – from the mundane to the exceptional.

LFA Group’s retroactive evaluation of the 2009 pilot documented that commitment and success. Through interviews and surveys of the key players, the firm identified several elements that made the program so fruitful:

• Picking highly experienced fellows who were humble, open to learning and eager to showcase their strengths
• Selecting flexible, innovative nonprofit hosts small enough for fellows to have easy access to leadership staff but large enough for each fellow to become part of a team
• Matching fellows and nonprofits thoughtfully and deliberately
• Offering a stipend large enough for the fellows to feel that the nonprofits highly valued their work
• Integrating the fellows into the staffs of the nonprofits and giving them the freedom and resources to create and manage meaningful, high-impact projects
• Holding monthly fellows’ meetings allowing fellows to share experiences and learn from guest speakers about the nonprofit sector

The evaluators observed that the yearlong fellowships worked best, because they allowed enough time for the fellows to make a palpable difference. LFA Group also indicated that Civic Ventures’ role as intermediary was crucial in orchestrating the program; bringing funders, fellows and nonprofits together; and staying involved throughout the year.

The program experience received praise from the fellows and nonprofit executives alike, with all 18 who responded to a survey reporting they were satisfied or very satisfied, with almost 90 percent very satisfied. Most of the nonprofit executives said the value of their Encore Fellows was worth $100,000 or more, and all of the fellows said they were likely to pursue encore careers in the nonprofit sector – and all have.

“As Encore Fellowships become more common and as nonprofits change their hiring practices, those from the private sector interested in an encore career in the social sector will have a new option for making a successful transition,” LFA Group reported.

KEEPING AN OPEN MIND

For Encore Fellowships to grow, nonprofit directors must be open to them.

Mary Simon, executive director at Resource Area For Teaching, or RAFT, admits she was nervous about accepting an Encore Fellow: “We didn’t need someone who sat in their office and thought about more things for us to do. We just needed another pair of hands, someone who would roll up their sleeves, be willing to work up a sweat and do it along with us.”

Back when Simon started RAFT in 1994, she knew she had a great idea: Show teachers how to use ordinary items, such as paper towel rolls and latex gloves, to teach kids about science and math in fun, hands-on ways.

She created RAFT to distribute learning materials in her California community. Over the years, the nonprofit expanded to four locations in California and Colorado. But Simon sensed there was potential for more. Though she felt hesitant about opening her nonprofit to a corporate outsider, she signed up for an Encore Fellow.

After working with the fellow, a former HP executive with vast marketing experience, Simon realized her fears were ungrounded.

“He just instantly convinced us that he would be a great fit. I’ve always wanted to run RAFT like a well-run business, but I have no training – I’m a teacher,” Simon explained, adding that the fellow was an outgoing, knowledgeable and compassionate mentor who helped streamline the organization and boost membership.

In Simon’s view: “As more and more Encore Fellows come into the nonprofit sector bringing skills from the other world, then I think that the perception of what nonprofit organizations do and how well they’re run can really change.”

That kind of innovation attracts funders. Recognizing the opportunity to reinvigorate the nonprofit sector with a new brand of leadership, the Packard Foundation signed on to support the Encore Fellows pilot.

“We’re funding the Encore Fellows because it’s opening up a whole new set of leaders to contribute to nonprofit organizations and thereby contribute to conservation, the environment and children,” says Carol Larson, foundation president.

Larson says she encourages family, community and corporate foundations to sponsor Encore Fellowships and help establish a movement that “brings new impact to the nonprofit sector.”

THE FUTURE

Civic Ventures is now working to build on the success of the pilot, which has grown into an established program at the organization. Next up: Creating the Encore Fellowships Network, a national alliance of effective, independent Encore Fellows programs.

Network members will have access to high-quality resources from Civic Ventures; share with each other what works and what doesn’t; and serve as ambassadors of the Encore Fellowships idea, that highly experienced individuals transitioning from the for-profit sector can help nonprofits address society’s greatest problems.

The program’s documented achievements, combined with serious interest from Fortune 500 companies and an increasing number of people inquiring about becoming fellows, indicates that Encore Fellowships have the potential to reach far beyond Silicon Valley.

“We’re excited about the potential that Encore Fellowships have to open doors nationally for boomers ready to contribute,” says Leslye Louie, a 2009 Encore Fellow who is now national director of the Encore Fellowships Network for Civic Ventures.

“Encore Fellowships work. On a large scale, they can bring a massive amount of new talent to nonprofits and new ideas to help address problems in education, the environment, health care and other pressing areas of need.”