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."

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.

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.)