John Keyon is a Change Agent.

On September 27 he will be helping to interview volunteers, videotaping their responses and posting podcasts on Volunteer San Diego’s Web site to demonstrate the power of volunteers. He learned how to mobilize communities to press for a vast expansion of national service opportunities at a training for ServiceNation organizers in Atlanta this summer.

The effort is aimed at the National Day of Service on September 27, when organizations around the country will stage events to demonstrate the potential of national service.

The same training also helped Keyon mobilize for his own encore career. After a long career as an environmental planner, a career-training administrator and an entrepreneur, he is now using his gerontology degree to advocate for rights and opportunities for older workers.

Spurred by a feeling the country is going in “an awfully wrong direction,” he jumped at the opportunity (which he spotted on Encore.org) to train with ServiceNation as a grassroots organizer. At 66, Keyon was the oldest of the Change Agents. He’s excited at the opportunity to pass legislation, tentatively titled the ServiceNation Act, but knows the effort must go further.

“This seemed like a way to help move (the country) in a different direction,” he says. “It’s a step toward a more democratic society, by encouraging a culture of interaction and of doing common things together. Experiencing democracy is a rare event in today’s society.”

He enjoyed the generational mix at the training academy and encouraged the mostly 20-something Change Agents to think more critically about issues and about their assumptions. “Open dialogues are critical. There are a lot of problems in this country, and a lot of different approaches in the way to think about those problems,” he said.

Keyon believes there’s already a huge opportunity for older Americans, particularly boomers, in national and community service, through programs such as Peace Corps, Vista and Experience Corps.

He’s less sanguine about the prospects for older adults in more traditional jobs, based on his own experience. There are plenty of jobs well suited to older workers, even those with limitations, he says, but barriers to hiring can be severe. Keyon says he has experienced ageism in his own job search, for example, in seeking to convince potential employers than his breadth of experience is an asset rather than an indication that his salary requirements are too high.

But Keyon is a veteran at navigating career obstacles. He started as a land use planner for an environmental improvement agency. After funding was cut, he entered a new career in employment and training programs funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. That led to a position as employment and training director for the City of Redondo Beach, Calif. After the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco, he secured grant money to study sudden and severe economic dislocation. Later, he set out on his own and founded two private companies in the job-training field, gaining expertise in information technology and e-government. Most recently, he served as the information systems director with the San Diego Workforce Partnership.

At age 59, he left his position as to explore what to do with the rest of his life. He remodeled his house and entered a masters degree program in gerontology. Then came a new set of obstacles: during his first semester, his wife was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, and he became caregiver for both his wife and their 7-year-old son. His wife has recovered, Keyon earned his degree and he is eager to get back to work, in part to cover outstanding medical bills.

Keyon’s master’s thesis explores older workers and occupational suitability and he is seeking grants for further research on the challenges facing older workers. He is a frequent media commentator on the issues.

“Discrimination based on age is both policy driven and impacted by personal bias,” he says. “And because age discrimination in employment is illegal in the U.S., it is more difficult to identify.”