Ruth Wooden

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Editor's note: We often get asked to define the encore movement. At its core, the movement aims to engage millions of people in encore careers – work that combines social impact, personal meaning and continued income. We call it “purpose, passion and a paycheck.”

But as Ruth Wooden, board chair of Encore.org publisher Civic Ventures, points out in her eloquent essay below, the movement means much more.

The encore movement is way more than an encore career. It’s a state of mind that says, “I am not finished yet. I’ll live every last minute with joy, hope and a deep spiritual connection to the world.”

The encore movement is people who believe passionately that we can do way better by our country, our communities, our neighbors.

The encore movement is a time in our lives when we can live with less fear of failure and more freedom to serve – with no expectation of any return of any kind.

The encore movement is designed to overcome common enemies – age discrimination, inertia, perpetual leisure and outdated notions of what we can and cannot do.

The encore movement is about new role models, and we each get to be one of the first. I’ve heard the saying, “If you are not a beautiful example, then you are likely to be an ugly warning.” (That won’t be us.)

The encore movement is giving me social permission to live older better, and I’ll be giving social permission to others to do the same.

The encore movement is about fixing things in our society that are broken. That makes us just a little bit crazy enough to try something new and different – something small at first, but everlasting.

The encore movement is not about what I should do, but what I feel called to do.

And last but not least...

The encore movement is the club I want to belong to with all of you for the rest of my life – so that we can (she says modestly) truly change the world.

Ruth Wooden is board chair of Civic Ventures and former president of Public Agenda, where she is now a senior adviser.