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The Purpose Prize is a brilliant awards program, unique in so many ways.

Sherry Lansing

CEO, The Sherry Lansing Foundation

Chair, Purpose Prize Panel of Judges

Prize

With decades of energy and passion ahead of them, five people will win the 2012 Purpose Prize® – and $100,000 each – for improving their communities and the world.

See what’s possible in the second half of life by learning more about how previous Purpose Prize winners, all in their encore careers, solve critical problems in education, health care, the environment and more >

Meet the 2011 winners.
Meet the 2011 fellows.
Watch the 2011 winner videos. (Click here for all winner videos.)

2011 WINNERS

Jenny Bowen

Jenny Bowen

Winner of the Purpose Prize for Intergenerational Innovation, sponsored by AARP – Bowen is uplifting the lives of thousands of Chinese orphans.

Randal Charlton

Randal Charlton

Charlton promotes entrepreneurship in Detroit as a means to create jobs and revitalize the struggling city.

Nancy Hughes

Nancy Sanford Hughes

Hughes helps save people in the developing world from catastrophic injury, even death, by replacing the traditional open cooking fire with an efficient stove.

Wanjiru Kamau

Wanjiru Kamau

Kamau helps African immigrants – especially teenagers – adjust to a vastly different life in the United States.

Ed Mazria

Edward Mazria

Mazria is driving the building sector toward dramatically reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

2011 FEATURED FELLOWS

Alice Graham

Alice Marie Graham

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Graham develops collaborations between spiritual and secular organizations to prepare for future disasters.

Eva Leivas-Andino

Leivas-Andino reaches out to Spanish-speaking families about the need to protect youths from harassment and violence.

Henry Reese

Henry Reese

Reese provides a sanctuary to writers exiled under threat of persecution or death in their home countries.

ABOUT THE PRIZE

WHAT'S THE PURPOSE VIDEO

PURPOSE PRIZE BLOGS

AARP's Jane Pauley on Encore Careers and the Myth of Reinvention

Purpose Prize Winners Recognized by Major Media

And the 2011 Purpose Prize Winners Are…

Obama Awards Purpose Prize Winners at the White House

Oprah Winfrey Hails Purpose Prize Winners

See all blog posts related to The Purpose Prize® here.

MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE PURPOSE PRIZE

CNN
Finding a Second Career Beyond Midlife (featuring winner Adele Douglass)

SecondAct
Best Second Act Making a Difference: Judith Broder

The Huffington Post
Purpose Prize Honors 5 People Over 60 Making A Difference In Their Communities

Forbes.com
Can Voluntary Sustainability Change the World?

AARP.org
Purpose Prize: Honoring People Who Serve Others With Passion

What’s an encore career?

VISIT LEARN

To join the encore community

VISIT CONNECT

HEADLINES

AARP's Jane Pauley on Encore Careers and the Myth of Reinvention

Purpose Prize Winners Recognized by Major Media

And the 2011 Purpose Prize Winners Are…

2011 Prize Winners

$100,000

Berkeley, Calif.

Randal Charlton

Detroit

Nancy Sanford Hughes

Eugene, Ore.

Edward Mazria

Santa Fe, N.M.

Wanjiru Kamau

Washington, D.C.

2010 Prize Winners

$100,000

Rockford, Ill.

Barry Childs

Marylhurst, Ore.

Margaret Gordon

Oakland, Calif.

Inez Killingsworth

Cleveland, Ohio

Judith Van Ginkel

Cincinnati, Ohio

$50,000

Lafayette Hill, Pa.

Dana Freyer

New York, NY

Hubert Jones

Boston, Ma.

Donald Stedman

Raleigh, N.C.

Bo Webb

Whitesville, W.Va.

2009 Prize Winners

$100,000

Elizabeth Alderman
and Stephen Alderman

Bedford NY

Judith Broder

Studio City CA

Don Coyhis

Colorado Springs CO

Henry Liu

Columbia MO

Timothy Will

Rutherfordton NC

$50,000

Marcy Adelman

San Francisco CA

Duncan Campbell

Portland OR

Ann Higdon

Dayton OH

Connie Siskowski

Boca Raton FL

James Smallwood

Camden NJ

2008 Prize Winners

$100,000

Berkeley CA

Wilmington NC

New York NY

Columbia us-SC

Fargo ND

Redwood City CA

$10,000

Barbara Cervone

Providence RI

Louisville KY

Margaret Fleming

Oak Park IL

Falls Church VA

San Francisco CA

Rev. Nelson Johnson
and Joyce Johnson

Greensboro NC

Seattle WA

Cheshire us-CT

Tucson AZ

2007 Prize Winners

$100,000

Cambridge MA

Daytona Beach FL

H. Eugene Jones

Tucson AZ

Santa Paula CA

Sharon Rohrbach

St. Louis

$10,000

Atlanta GA

Gloria Jackson Bacon

New Orleans LA

San Francisco CA

Seattle WA

New York NY

Herndon

Jose-Pablo Fernandez

Houston TX

Atlanta GA

Detroit MI

San Francisco

2006 Prize Winners

$100,000

Miami Beach FL

Lyme CT

Marilyn Gaston
and Gayle Porter

Potomac MD

W. Wilson Goode, Sr.

Philadelphia PA

Dr. Akbar Ahmed
and Judea Pearl

Bethesda MD

$10,000

Patterson NJ

Robert Chambers

Etna NH

Sacramento CA

Washington, DC

Durham NC

Houston

Kensington MD

Richmond VA

San Fernando CA

New York NY

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Interested in having a Purpose Prize winner or fellow speak at your event? Click here

SEARCH PRIZE NETWORK

View Purpose Prize winners and fellows by year, issue or location.

View winners and fellows View videos

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Connect

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MOST VIEWED

Nominations Now Closed

by Sarah Maple

And the 2010 Purpose Prize Winners Are…

by Jennifer Coate

PURPOSE PRIZE® PANEL OF JUDGES

by crudisill

Obama Meets Purpose Prize Winners at the White House

by Terry Nagel