Gina Casinelli

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Gina Casinelli and John Armstrong are both using the marketing experience they gained at computer giant Hewlett-Packard to help Silicon Valley education and environmental organizations hone their messages.

Casinelli is working with Citizen Schools raise awareness about ways to enhance the academic achievement of low-income middle-school students. Armstrong is “rolling up his sleeves,” helping Environmental Volunteers with both big-picture strategy and new communications tools.

They are examples of how Encore Fellowships connect the supply of boomer talent with the demand for human capital in the nonprofit and public sector.

As a new social institution, Encore Fellowships represent an alluring triple win: opening doors for boomers ready to contribute, bringing new talent to strapped nonprofits and the public sector, and an infusion of new ideas and talent tackling health care, education, environment and other pressing community needs.

Civic Ventures is partnering with Hewlett-Packard Company and nine innovative nonprofits for a demonstration of the Encore Fellows model in California's Silicon Valley. The program creates a new pathway for corporate retirees -- armed with marketing, financial planning, human resources, planning and management skills -- into local education and environmental nonprofits. Initial funding has generously been provided by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Gina Cassinelli
Marketing Skills for Citizen Schools

After more than 20 years at Hewlett-Packard in various senior-level marketing positions, Gina Cassinelli retired at age 50 and then took a year off to travel. After this breather from her first career in the corporate sector, she was eager to launch a new stage of her life. Wanting to find a way to use her skills and experience to contribute to her community, Cassinelli was unsure where to start. When a former colleague told her about a pilot program that helped transition experienced adults into high-impact work at local nonprofits, she immediately applied.

The Silicon Valley Encore Initiative selected Cassinelli as an Encore Fellow and matched her with Citizen Schools on a part-time basis for 12 months. Only a few months into the fellowship, she is immersed in drafting a comprehensive marketing plan to raise awareness about the entrepreneurial work of Citizen Schools to enhance the academic achievement of low-income middle-school students.

John Armstrong
Communications Support for Environmental Volunteers

Serving his country always defined John Armstrong’s work. After graduating from the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., Armstrong spent six years in the U.S. Army patrolling the east-west German border and later managing financial operations for the military in Colorado. He went on to earn his M.B.A. and worked for a decade as a financial analyst in the corporate sector, and then took a two-year break from Hewlett-Packard to serve as a Peace Corps marketing adviser in Slovakia. When he returned to the U.S., he put his marketing skills to work at Hewlett-Packard and continued his community involvement as a tutor and mentor at a local high school.

In his early 50s, Armstrong left the corporate sector and deepened his engagement at several nonprofit organizations, including the Alliance for Climate Protection. In search of a focus for his encore career, Armstrong found his niche as a year-long Encore Fellow at Environmental Volunteers, where he says he’s “rolling up his sleeves,” helping with big picture strategy and communications tools to support the organization’s mission.