Do you know someone who is changing the world in the second half of life?

Are you using your encore career to pioneer a new approach to a social challenge?

Nominations are now open for The Purpose Prize — five $100,000 and five $50,000 awards for social innovators over 60. (Winners of the 2008 Purpose Prizes will be announced December 3.)

If you’re ready for an encore career, but still afraid of careening out of control, check out two-time career shifter Samuel Greengard’s new book, AARP Crash Course in Finding the Work You Love.

Boomers aren’t likely to get a federal bailout, but they can bail out their own sinking finances with another few years of work, Time magazine reports.

Encore.org member David Leopard writes:

When are we going to start talking about doing something to ensure these programs continue to exist for our children and grandchildren. Congress refuses to discuss it but  we all know this is going to be a much bigger crisis than we have now unless we as a nation start addressing it.

The Wall Street Journal recommended Encore.org in the Personal Finance section of its annual “Best in…” listings.

“Last November in these pages, we profiled Marc Freedman, author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life.,” the Journal writes. “In the time since, Mr. Freedman and Civic Ventures, the San Francisco-based nonprofit where he serves as chief executive, have developed a Web site to help people discover new opportunities in retirement.

“In particular, check out the profiles of people who have embraced encore careers (if you’re looking for ideas about what’s possible), as well as the site’s “Career Finder,” which can direct you to jobs in your area.

“All in all, a terrific resource.”

The hundreds of people who entered our first story contest offered testimony about a growing trend: Individuals applying their life experiences and personal passions to new careers that benefit the greater good.

That trend, however, is merely the sum of our uniquely personal stories. The 17 winners of the “My Encore Moment” story contest told theirs with energy and impact, and we are looking forward to meeting them in person at next month’s first-ever Encore Careers Summit.

Wilford Welch, a former diplomat, professor, businessman and publisher, has launched yet another encore career as a chronicler of social entrepreneurship. His book, "Tactics of Hope," includes more than two dozen stories of entrepreneurs tackling challenges in the Amazon Rainforest, the Himalayas, New Orleans, sub-Saharan Africa and even Silicon Valley.

Welch's new website has a cool tool, My Circle, designed for individuals to determine what social or environmental causes they are passionate about, where in the world they want to make a difference.

Teaching appears to be the encore career of choice, judging from the boom in articles and studies about people taking up the challenge of public school classrooms.

“Clearly it’s not for the money,” writes Meg McConahey in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “For many, it is a calling that went unheeded early in life in favor of a more lucrative career. For others, it is a chance to reconnect with a subject they once fell in love with, whether it be art, literature or history.”

President-elect Barack Obama has asked Americans to join in the work of remaking the nation “block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.”

And he appears to be ready to match that rhetoric with concrete steps to expand national service and social entrepreneurship opportunities for people of all ages.

Encore.org member Jan Paschal writes:

I believe that young people and children are waiting for service projects, enabling them to help all of us. When visiting schools, I find always that children want to help each other, the elderly, and the overall population. If our communities need help with foodbanks, tutoring, clothing, or other civic needs, our children just need our leadership to make it happen.