Last Chance to Enter Your Good Idea for a $5,000 Prize

09/18/2012 - 05:03:16pm

John Fugazzie won $5,000 to help people find work through support groups. Charlene Turner Johnson won $5,000 to start turning abandoned houses into homes for homeless veterans and families. Deborah Greymoon won $5,000 to save women's lives through safer childbirth in the developing world.

Can We Solve the Jobs Crisis? Check Out This Discussion

08/28/2012 - 06:48:52am

Whatever your political leanings, you’re probably concerned about jobs this election season.

Tune in online Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. Eastern, to HuffPost Live, as Encore.org founder and CEO Marc Freedman joins some big names in Tampa., Fla., during the Republican National Convention to talk about solving the unemployment crisis.

Freedman’s fellow panelists are:

Using a Childhood Passion to Help Children at Risk

08/21/2012 - 06:22:22am

By Philip Lilienthal

A native New Yorker, I got my first major dose of education as a camper at my father’s summer camp in Maine, and my second as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. Both experiences have played a part in my encore career, using the intervention of camp to help African children understand the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

The Write Encore – How We Tweaked Our Skills for a Second Act

08/21/2012 - 03:46:10am

By Chris and Nancy Jennison

We’ve always loved writing. And when we left our full-time jobs, we knew we could use our experience as writers to help teach kids. But we needed just a little retooling to shift our focus.

We had changed our lives dramatically in the late 2000s. Nancy retired from her position as literacy staff developer for a northern New Jersey school district. We returned to the Boston area, and Chris cut back his hours as an education book publisher, retiring in 2010. Though we considered ourselves retired, we were really searching for our encores.

Marigold Contest Winners Are Changing Lives – And So Can You

08/16/2012 - 12:29:02pm

In 2000, a young man was shot and killed outside Karen Blessen’s home in Dallas. This senseless murder motivated Blessen, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic designer, to found 29 Pieces, a nonprofit that uses art to spur social change through its program MasterPEACE: Young Artists Making a Kinder World.

Community College Program Focuses on Helping Students Over 50 Find Jobs and Thrive

08/15/2012 - 10:57:27am

By Lisa Holton

Career consultants often urge 50-somethings to head back to college so they can learn skills that will make them stronger job candidates, especially in the current economy, with the unemployment rate for Americans 55-and-up a steep 6.2 percent.

Aspiranet Encore Fellowships Program Accepting Applications

08/15/2012 - 05:43:39am

Are you interested in taking on a role that serves the greater good, but don’t know where to begin? If you're in California, consider applying to the Aspiranet Encore Fellowships Program. The program provides an on-ramp for seasoned professionals who want to contribute to the nonprofit sector.

Over 50 and Looking for a Job to Serve the Greater Good? You’re Not Alone

08/14/2012 - 12:33:13pm

Editor's note: This piece originally appeared on Idealist.org.

By Marci Alboher

Reviving the Life Choices We Left Behind

08/01/2012 - 12:14:12pm

"Having it all" is probably the most misunderstood phrase since, as the late great Erma Bombeck once said about the Equal Rights Amendment, "one size fits all." It has come up whenever there is a backlash – and there have been many – against the increasing empowerment of women. The implication that the women's movement promised or even endorsed that greedy notion is still with us.