SAN FRANCISCO – The public has selected five winners for the first-ever Launch Pad contest (http://launchpad.encore.org), which aims to help people over age 45 turn creative ideas for solving problems in their communities into working solutions. The winners, who beat out 20 other finalists from more than 1,000 submissions nationwide, will each receive $5,000, plus resources and support from the larger Encore.org community.

Launch Pad is a project of Civic Ventures, a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose, and sponsor of The Purpose Prize, which invests in five social innovators over 60 each year who are making extraordinary contributions to the greater good. Civic Ventures promotes encore careers – which combine purpose, passion and a paycheck – in many other ways, including advice and resources on Encore.org.

“The winners – and the tens of thousands of votes they collectively received – show that growing numbers of Americans in the second half of life are eager to put their ideas and experience to work for the public good,” says Alexandra Céspedes Kent, director of The Purpose Prize. “We are excited to see how the winners use the Launch Pad award to turn these creative ideas into reality.”

The winners were selected by the public during a month-long online voting period. Twenty-four of the eligible finalists were chosen by a Civic Ventures selection committee, headed by Kent, and a 25th finalist, James Robinson, was selected by the public through online voting January 17-24, 2011.

The winners and their ideas include:

Anne Cheung, 59, South Amboy, N.J.
Chinese-American cancer patients with limited English proficiency suffer uncertainty and emotional stress because of a lack of information and support in their native language. Cheung will work to develop a cancer support group that will provide information and support – in Chinese – to these patients in New York City.

Anthony Genia, 68, Lauderdale, Minn.
Native American reservations and urban Indian enclaves are among the most impoverished places in the nation. In this environment, many Native American youths grow up at an economic disadvantage, isolated from opportunities. Genia’s Native American Youth Economic Warrior Project will create a culturally-responsive entrepreneurship curriculum to orient preteen Native Americans to the U.S. economic system and business world.

Linda Grotberg, 66, Wimbledon, N.D.
Whenever there is a fuel crisis in the U.S., farmers become interested in homegrown fuels, such as sunflower oil, that could run tractors, heat homes and generate electricity. But without research and development, widespread use of homegrown fuel will never happen. Grotberg wants to promote and expand a model she has used the past two years, which proves that small-scale, on-farm, renewable biofuel production can increase and maintain small farms and rural communities.

James Robinson, 47, Huntsville, Ala.
A parent’s legal responsibility in Alabama ends when a child turns 18, even though a person is not considered a contractual adult in the state until age 19. This means lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth can be forced out of their homes at age 18 but are unable to sign a lease until they are 19. Robinson is working to prevent homelessness and provide independent living services to LGBT youth.

Janine Vanderburg, 57, Denver, Colo.
Nonprofits nationwide face a shortage of experienced fundraisers – positions critical to their mission-related work. Simultaneously, there are large numbers of boomers exiting corporate America who have backgrounds in sales but lack the understanding of nonprofit culture. Vanderburg will bridge that gap by customizing and replicating an intensive fundraising program to help boomers with sales backgrounds transition to nonprofit fundraising.

About Civic Ventures (www.encore.org)
Civic Ventures is a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose. Civic Ventures also sponsors The Purpose Prize for social innovators over 60 who are making extraordinary contributions in their encore careers. Nominations for the 2011 Purpose Prize close on March 31.