---

Civic Ventures announced Launch Pad today, an online contest to find five people with great ideas for transforming their community.

Check it out.

The rules are simple: Anyone 45 and over can enter. All people have to do is submit their idea online for improving their community by December 20. Civic Ventures will narrow down the list of submissions to 25 semifinalists, then the public will be able to vote for five winners starting in January.

The top five entries will win $5,000, an invitation to the 2011 Encore Summit and peer networking opportunities. Nominees will receive a copy of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life, by Civic Ventures CEO and founder Marc Freedman.

Submit your idea

Launch Pad comes on the heels of the 2010 Purpose Prize Summit, which honored 10 social innovators over the age of 60 with awards of up to $100,000 for making extraordinary contributions in their encore careers. Get inspiration from past and present Prize winners and discover how they started with just an idea.

Launch Pad contestants can submit ideas online in the following categories:

• Education: Ideas that create educational opportunities for people of any age
• Social Services: Ideas that improve services — and access to services — for those in need
• Environment: Ideas that improve the environment in your community
• Health Care: Ideas that increase awareness of health issues and/or access to health care services
• Encore Careers: Ideas for engaging more people in encore careers combining purpose, passion and paycheck
• Other: Ideas that do not apply to any of the listed categories

Find resources on the Launch Pad site to help you with your idea.