President Obama met with social innovators at the White House on June 30, including a half-dozen winners of The Purpose Prize, and lauded them for “succeeding where others have failed; getting real, measurable results; changing the way we think about some of our toughest problems.”

The president specifically called out “young-at-heart people like Robert Chambers, who finish out careers in business or health care or education, and instead of transitioning into retirement, they’re just too busy, they’re too restless, so they come back for an encore, plowing a lifetime of experience into helping people in need.”

>>C-Span video of the White House event.
>>White House press release.
>>Transcript of the president’s remarks.

The six Purpose Prize winners who attended the social innovation event at the White House with President Obama on June 30 were:

Robert Chambers, Etna, N.H. A former car salesman, he became frustrated with car dealerships taking advantage of the poor. He described Bonnie CLAC (Car Loans and Counseling), which he created in 2001 to provide car loans at low-interest rates to individuals who would otherwise have no change of getting a good car at a decent rate.

His nonprofit takes care of the dealership haggling that can saddle them with inadequate cars at inflated prices and teaches them basic financial management skills. “Most of the time people don’t realize they can own a new car,” Chambers says. “It changes their lives and their self-image.”

Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation have awarded $25,000 grants to community colleges in eight states that are creating programs to retrain experienced adults as solar panel installers, bilingual community health workers, math and science teachers and other positions identified as local workforce needs..

The Community College Encore Career Initiative supports community colleges that are helping individuals over age 50 prepare for encore careers that combine continued income with personal meaning and social impact. The 2008 Encore Career Survey by Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation found that half of those surveyed between the ages of 44 and 70 were interested in pursuing an encore career.

YouthBuild USA, which aims to break the cycle of poverty by channeling the positive energy and intelligence of low-income youths, has openings in Boston, Southern California and around the country for dozens of experienced adults excited about the opportunity to expand its award-winning social innovations.

The one-year positions, as green project leaders, resource developers, mentoring coordinators and special project coordinators can serve as transitional opportunities for those interested in longer-term encore careers in youth development, green building, anti-poverty efforts and nonprofit management. YouthBuild is working with the Encore Careers campaign and Civic Ventures to make the program an intergenerational win-win.

Immediate openings! Apply by JULY 6.

There are plenty of chances to learn more about encore careers in coming weeks, whether it's listening to a speaker or diving into the nitty-gritty of what's involved in finding your own purpose-driven job.

Here are some upcoming events that offer an opportunity to learn more. You can also visit Encore.org's Events Calendar.

Houston, Texas

Monday, July 6, 6-8:30 p.m. Etui, 3433 W. Alabama, Houston. Dinner meeting of The Transition Network. Discussion topic: "What Is the Next Best Thing - and Are We Ready for It?" What do we need to learn to avoid irrelevance - and how can we learn from it? Cost of $10 is payable at the door. RSVP to Susan Lieberman by June 30 at susan.lieberman@gmail.com. For more information, visit The Transition Network Web site.

Job opportunities in the nonprofit sector and tips on landing a nonprofit job were the focus of a Webinar on Thursday, June 25.

See the PowerPoint summarizing this Webinar, which includes lots of helpful links for job seekers.

Presented by Terry Nagel, managing editor of Encore.org, and Erin O’Connor Jones, director of candidate services at the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, the one-hour session was designed for individuals seeking a career transition, considering a new position or seeking professional growth. Nagel and Jones presented an overview of growth trends in the nonprofit sector and answered questions about job search strategy.

Tony Geraci, 52, “is one of several go-ahead national leaders whose names always come up at conferences on childhood obesity and school nutrition when charismatic dreamers have been dismissed and everyone is in despair over how to get children, especially poor children, to eat better food,” the Atlantic magazine reports in “Fixing Lunch.”

An ability to find your way through the health care maze could lead you to an encore career helping others as a paid “health navigator.”

The promise of cost savings is fueling the growth of a new category of jobs at hospitals and community health organizations helping patients understand medical advice, stick to their treatment plans and stay out of the hospital. The combination of healthier communities and lower costs creates a powerful encore career opportunity.

When Henriette Arzewski first met her diabetic client, he was a virtual prisoner in his third-floor walk-up apartment. Recently discharged from the hospital, he suffered circulatory problems and had vision problems. With help from Arzewski and others, he got the eye surgery he needed, obtained coverage for his diabetic medications, was transported to medical appointments, received home-delivered meals and got transferred to senior housing, where he has become part of a supportive community.

Arzewski, a retired social worker, is a health navigator at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, where she’s participating in a pilot project aimed at helping older adults from being readmitted to the hospital. It’s showing promising results.