Wilma Melville, a retired P.E. teacher who trains dogs to find disaster victims, and H. Gene Jones, a former corporate turnaround executive who creates arts programs for elementary school students, are among five social innovators over 60 who have been named $100,000 winners of the 2007 Purpose Prizes.
The original baby boomer, Bill Clinton, is issuing a ringing call to action in his new book, Giving.
The book, subtitled How Each of Us Can Change The World and set to be released on Monday, appears to be less a manifesto than an exercise in pattern recognition. That is, he describes a "global flood tide" of individual and organizational activity that is solving problems and saving lives, "down the street and around the world."
Money magazine features Marc Freedman's conception of the encore career as "The Big Idea" in their September issue, in an article headlined, "Retire Later, Retire Happier."
"Freedman suggests that if older Americans could just find more meaningful jobs, they'd happily work longer, save more and tax the system less," Donna Rosato writes. "So what's stopping them?"
The Washington Post highlighted Troops to Teachers in a Sunday story about the winners of the BreakThrough Awards, a Civic Ventures/MetLife Foundation program highlighting organizations that have found innovative ways to seize the encore opportunity.
The Mind Trust, a newly-formed nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis, is launching a new fellowship program that seems to speak straight to the talent and passion of the new breed of encore entrepreneurs, such as the winners of The Purpose Prize.
The Mind Trust's mission is to attract, support, and empower the nation’s most effective and promising education entrepreneurs to transform public education outcomes for children in Indianapolis and beyond.
It's never too early to be preparing for the kind of encore that delivers a triple win for individuals, or communities and society as a whole.
At least that's the assessment of The Economist. In their August 9th issue, they note that, "Now the younger baby-boomers' children are moving into adulthood. This group, labelled Generation Y,... may look like distant prospects, but much of the financial sector's future success will ride on how soon (and how profitably) it grabs them when they reach their 20s."
Allen Sells, 61, headed a a financial services company. Now he oversees youth programs for The Children's Trust.
Patricia Kodish, 51, had a career as math and science teacher before going back to school in public health; she is hoping to work in China or Indonesia.
Linda Bach, 59, another former teacher, graduated from medical school at 50 and now has her own practice.
This review by Mary Grace Flaherty appeared in Library Journal Reviews, August 15, 2007
Freedman (founding CEO, Civic Ventures: Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America) has written a wonderful summary and guide for boomers entering their next phase of life. In his words, "We need to be liberated from artificial notions such as 'retirement age' and the oxymoronic concept 'working in retirement.' "
Supt. David L. Brewer of the Los Angeles Unified School District: "I am an encore."
Writers, policymakers and organizations are still struggling with what to call people in their fifties and sixties, even as tens of millions of baby boomers enter this new stage of life.
It was a short speech, delivered at 2:00 a.m., by someone who hadn't yet been elected president. But what followed from John F. Kennedy's 1960 challenge helped define a generation.
And still does. The Peace Corps is on a push to double the participation of volunteers over 50, from less than 5 percent today.
Robert Samuelson of Newsweek has thrown down the gauntlet for the 2008 presidential contenders: What would they do about the huge budget costs of aging baby boomers?
David Brooks of The New York Times delivered another perceptive column on the intersection of social conventions and individual experiences, describing how he stumbled upon a long forgotten book, Autobiography of an Elderly Woman.
Peggy Hakanson at her graduation from UC Berkeley. Used with permission.
The publication of Encore is spurring people around the country to share their own encore stories. Here is a sampling of the stories that have been coming in to Encore.org.
Please share your own story -- if we feature it on Encore.org, we’ll send you an autographed copy of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life, by Marc Freedman.
IBM chief executive Sam Palmisano announcing IBM's "Global Citizen's Portfolio"
IBM is creating a form of encore career savings accounts to help its employees pay for the education and training they need for the next stage of their working lives, either with the company or not.
Denver is becoming known as a mecca for aging baby boomers and the Denver Post is taking the lead in suggesting they can make the next stage of their life a time to do something big.
"With people living longer, more productive lives, it may be time to scrap the idea of our "golden years" beginning at 65," the paper's editorial board declared on Sunday. "The sons and daughters of America's "Greatest Generation" who set out to change the world just may end up changing the way we spend the last quarter to one-third of our lives."
Baby boomers nearing traditional retirement age are looking for exciting opportunities to give back to their communities by making use of their work and life skills, according to a new survey released by VolunteerMatch, an online service that helps people find such opportunities.
The survey focused on volunteering, but the findings apply equally to the kind of paid work boomers are starting to seek for their encore careers.
Rep. John Sarbanes, D-MD, joins Marc Freedman and David Cohen at the national meeting of Experience Corps in Washington, DC, on July 12. Photo by Eric Boven. Copyright Civic Ventures/Eric Boven.
Rep. John Sarbanes praised Experience Corps for its innovative and effective program that connects baby boomers and older adults with critical community needs, and called on local, state and national policymakers to do more to prepare for the coming wave of boomer retirements.
