Purpose Prize Innovation Network

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid

David Leopard — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:00:06 -0600

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.

Encore Careers Summit

grants/ web sites

David Leopard — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:32:33 -0600

I would like to know of some good inexpensive web sites i can start up in order to do a better job of communicating to the people of Texas regarding legislation I am interesting in getting passed.

Also, where can I get grant money to use for this purpose as well. I need to do some intra state travel in order to work with advocacy groups and legisative assitants to pursue this goal

Purpose Prize Innovation Network

The Stimulus Package and Encore

David Cohen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:25:39 -0600

The economic crisis will lead in all probability to two economic stimulus packages. Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff to President-Elect Obama, spoke to an operational hope when he said crises can be turned into opportunities. My hope asks, how can the stimulus packages advance the Encore idea and program?

I want to begin a discussion on www.encore.org based on people’s experiences and ideas. In turn these can be incorporated into the stimulus legislation and its implementation. Here are a few thoughts to get us started.

Purpose Prize Innovation Network

ARMY OF CHILDREN ACROSS AMERICA WAITING US

Jan Paschal — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:40:58 -0600

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.

Encore Careers Summit

GROWING POWER: Recognition of Older Innovators

David Cohen — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:29:28 -0500

Encore.org member David Cohen, a senior fellow at Experience Corps, contributed this comment:

Choosing Will Allen, the Milwaukee urban farmer, for a MacArthur genius award gave me great pleasure.

I was part of a team at the Advocacy Institute--with key colleagues Sharvell Becton, Laura Chambers, Keiko Koizumi and Kathleen Sheekey-- that worked on the Leadership for a Changing World Program (LCW) in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wagner School of Public Service at New York University (NYU).

Our purpose was to award through varieties of recognition, including money, social change leadership that tackled intractable social problems systemically and systematically. Our focus was to find those leaders whose leadership made a difference in people's lives but who were largely unrecognized.

Purpose Prize Innovation Network

PURPOSE PRIZE INNOVATION NETWORK: Milestones Project honored by NEA

David Bank — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:04:15 -0500

Nearly 10 years ago, Richard and Michele Steckel decided they couldn't sit by and just watch as people all over the world experienced the mayhem of ethnic cleansing, race riots and hatred.

To bridge divides, they sought to chronicle in photographs the humanity shared by all people - a project that led to a traveling exhibit they named "The Milestones Project."

The Steckels, 2007 Purpose Prize fellows, have now been honored by the National Education Association with its "Author-Illustrator Human and Civil Rights Award."

Purpose Prize Innovation Network

ENCORE NATION: "All life is an experiment"

Bill Siemering — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:20:23 -0500

From Encore Nation member Bill Siemering… Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make , the better” To me, that means we’re trying new things and learning all through our lives. How wonderful and exciting to live life like this, curious, not knowing how the experiment will work out.

When someone asked Thomas Edison about his years of failure before he was recognized as a distinguished inventor, he replied, “I never had any failures. I learned what didn’t work.”Of course we learn without experiments too. I feel I’m learning all the time, picking up bits of information in the market, having a conversation that twists my mind like a kaleidoscope, so I see new forms from an old image.

One of the joys of traveling to developing countries is to see the world freshly from another perspective.People with very limited material wealth are rich in generosity of spirit, dedication to excellence in their work and in building vibrant communities.

Encore Nation

THE BIG QUESTIONS: A tribute to Sir John Templeton

Alexandra Kent — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:06:38 -0500

The passing of Sir John Templeton provides an opportunity to reflect on “The Big Questions” that were the focus of his philanthropic work.

Templeton, one of the world’s leading investors and philanthropists, died today in Nassau, Bahamas. He was 95. A native of Tennessee, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1987 for the philanthropic work he pursued in his encore career.

In 2006, the John Templeton Foundation helped establish The Purpose Prize to recognize social innovators over 60 with awards of up to $100,000, and remains a major funder. (The Purpose Prize is a project of Civic Ventures, publisher of Encore.org.)

Purpose Prize Innovation Network

Huffington Post Blog on Encore Careers Needs Your Commentary

Alexandra Kent — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:19:03 -0500

Civic Ventures released a new survey today estimating that between 5.3 and 8.4 million Americans have launched “encore careers,” positions that combine income and personal meaning with social impact and nearly half of those surveyed are interested in finding their encore career.

Read Civic Ventures CEO Marc Freedman’s blog about the report in today’s Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-freedman/bill-gates-deserves-an-en_b_....

We’d appreciate it if you could read the post and comment on Marc’s piece directly on the Huffington Post site.

Purpose Prize Innovation Network

Join the Global Kindness Revolution, the antidote to hatred and violence

Judith Trustone — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:32:47 -0500

With prisoners concerned with violence on both sides of the walls, Sagewriters has partnered with the Public Safety Initiative at Graterford (PA) Prison to create the Global Kindness Revolution and to distribute Kindness Cards in prisons and in the “free world.” So far, we have the Cards in three prisons, 23 Philadelphia Schools, and many neighborhood groups. You can order some at www.Sagewriters.org along with the best books about American justice. Won’t you join us?

Encore Nation