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The Purpose Prize

Meet 10 Social Innovators in Their Encore Careers

Nominate for the 2010 Prize

Know someone tapping their experience to improve the lives of others? Nominate yourself or someone you know for the 2010 Purpose Prize. Nominations are open until March 5, 2010.

Read about The Prize Winners

Ten social innovators in their encore careers have been awarded the 2009 The Purpose Prize. They will receive between $50,000 and $100,000 for creating new approaches to solving tough problems – from education and job training to global warming and hunger.
>>Read their stories

Spread the Word

Inspired? Motivated? Tweet on Twitter (use hashtag #encorecareers) or click on the links above. Share videos and photos, post winners’ stories on other sites and blogs, and email friends and colleagues.

More About The Purpose Prize

Have You Seen the Purpose Prize Videos?

Search Purpose Prize Winners and Fellows by Issue and Geography

Posted 10/30/2009 - 4:42pm

Here are some new tools to help you learn more about the nearly 250 social innovators who have been honored as Purpose Prize winners and fellows since 2006. Now you can search by name, by issue area and by location, and find short videos about their innovative and inspiring work.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Purpose Prize Winners Make Headlines

Posted 10/26/2009 - 5:29pm

Here are some of the highlights of the media coverage of this year’s Purpose Prize winners:

NPR’s Health Blog features Tim Will, who brought broadband to Appalachia and connected rural farmers with restaurants eager for fresh local foods. Other winners mentioned are Don Coyhis of Colorado Springs, Colo., who created a substance abuse program for Native American that incorporates their values, and Connie Siskowski of Boca Raton, Fla., who formed a nonprofit that support children who become caregivers for ailing family members.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

And the Winners Are...

Posted 10/25/2009 - 7:39pm

A former telecommunications systems analyst brings broadband to Appalachia and lures laid-off factory workers back to farming. A retired engineering professor transforms toxic fly ash from coal-fired plants into safe, green bricks. A psychiatrist links soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan – and their families – with unlimited free, confidential therapy.

The 10 recipients of the 2009 Purpose Prize – five $100,000 winners and five $50,000 winners – are using a new stage of life after age 60 to do extraordinary things to improve life for millions of people worldwide. They are tackling some of society’s biggest challenges, from alcoholism to housing discrimination, homelessness to violence in war-torn countries.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Purpose Prize Fellows Put Their Experience to Work

Posted 10/25/2009 - 7:38pm

The 2009 Purpose Prize fellows are leaders in the Encore Careers movement to invent new ways to solve society’s toughest challenges.

Among this year’s 49 Purpose Prize fellows are a 92-year-old former professor in Connecticut who started a “Gray Is Green” environmental movement in retirement communities, a nurse in Alabama who helps the underserved and uninsured access health services and a former restaurant owner who is inspiring residents of the Pacific Northwest to participate in watershed restoration.

by: Terry Nagel | Read more >>

Purpose Prize Innovation Network

Join in the discussions with all Purpose Prize Winners and Fellows and other social innovators. This is a special group for use by social innovators, and Purpose Prize winners or fellows since 2006.

You can post questions or ideas for feedback from a dynamic set of winners and fellows who understand what it takes to be a social innovator working to make the world a better place.

501 members | Join Group | Discussion