• "Top 10 work-life revelations of 2008 "
  San Francisco Examiner
  By Judy Martin
  December 27, 2008
  Full article
  Columnist Judy Martin offers her Top Ten Work Life Revelations of 2008. Among them #3: Boomers reinventing themselves in encore careers. Right livelihood is more about passion and purpose than it is making cash. But in our current economic slump if you have to work- you may as well do what you love. Check out Civic Ventures, Encore Career Movement and its Purpose Prize winners for 2008.
• "Tiburon man hailed for AIDS work in Africa"
  Marin Independent Journal
  By Richard Halstead
  December 27, 2008
  Full article
  Bill Rankin, a retired Episcopal priest from Tiburon, CA, has been named a Purpose Prize Fellow by Civic Ventures for his work battling AIDS in central Africa. Rankin co-founded the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance in 2000 together with former Tiburon resident Dr. Charles Wilson. The alliance delivers human immunodeficiency virus prevention and care to people in impoverished rural areas of Africa, principally in the central African nation of Malawi.
• "50 Ways to Improve Your Life: Start Your Own Nonprofit"
  US World News and Report
  By Kimberly Palmer
  December 18, 2008
  Full article
  The number of nonprofits has grown 30 percent over the past decade, a trend driven in part by increasing awareness of global poverty and the Internet's ability to connect people to one another. Creating a new organization enables people to address problems or challenges without being hindered by the rules and culture of existing groups. Encore.org member Marilyn Price,68, created the nonprofit Trips for Kids, which has organized bike trips for more than 45,000 disadvantaged kids. Purpose Prize winner Adele Douglass, 62, started Humane Farm Animal Care in Herndon, Va., after deciding that none of the existing animal rights organizations were able to create standards for the treatment of farm animals intended for consumption.
• "HSU students work for full bellies"
  The Humboldt Herald (blog)
  December 15, 2008
  Full article
  Teams of engineering students at Humboldt State University worked with the Full Belly Project to adapt the Universal Nut Sheller as part of an international service learning partnership. The students' task was to expand the usefulness and accessibility of the simple tool to a broader range of people. The simple device was developed to substantially improve the incomes of subsistence farmers in developing countries. Jock Brandis, the creator of the Universal Nut Sheller and the founder of the Full Belly Project was named a 2008 $100,000 Purpose Prize winner.
• Business People
  Concord Monitor
  December 14, 2008
  Full article
  Dana Dakin of Wilmot, NH was honored as a 2008 Purpose Prize Fellow by Civic Ventures. Dakin was named a fellow for her work in creating WomensTrust, an international organization that gives women and girls in the developing world the resources to become self-sufficient and support their families.
• "Entrepreneurship Not Just For Young Bucks"
  Echoing Green (blog)
  By Bill Drayton
  December 11, 2008
  Full article
  Is sixty-one the new thirty? So it would seem for the fifteen winners of the 2008 Purpose Prize, which is awarded annually by Civic Ventures to encourage and empower people to start Encore Careers using the skills earned over a lifetime to create innovative social change. Winner Joe James, 61, a former government employee, started the Corporation for Economic Opportunity to empower black farmers in the South to participate in the burgeoning green economy.
• "Laid off at 50: What next?"
  CNN Money
  By Paul Keegan
  December 11, 2008
  Full article
  If you've been averting your eyes from the depressing headlines about the economy, it's time to face the music: You could be next. With your 401(k) decimated, you're probably resigned to working longer than planned. But don't kid yourself. As companies continue slashing payrolls, you can't depend on holding on to your job to a ripe retirement age. But there's a silver lining. Many people look back on being laid off as the best thing that ever happened to them, forcing them to rethink goals and priorities. After a period of soul searching, unemployed fifty-somethings often find new work that is more fulfilling, lucrative or both. Want to try something new? Jim Emerman, vice president of Civic Ventures, says go with it. "People in their fifties still have substantial working life ahead of them - maybe another 10, 15 or 20 years - so it's an opportunity to really focus on what your passion is."
• "Her prize-winning retirement career is helping immigrants"
  Casa Grande Valley Newspapers
  By Mark Miller
  December 10, 2008
  Full article
  Fargo, ND, despite its reputation, isn't a stranger to diversity. The town has seen an influx of about 3,700 refugees over the past 10 years from more than 40 war-torn countries as part of a federal resettlement program that helps immigrants start new lives in the US. Retired professor Michelle McRae created the nonprofit Giving + Learning to ease their transition. The group started by doing English language tutoring, but has expanded to help refugees get their GEDs, pass driver's license exams and find employment. McRae was named a 2008 $100,000 Purpose Prize winner.
• "REWIRED CAREERS- Meet The Purpose Prize Winners"
  Don't Retire, Rewire! (blog)
  By Jeri Sedlar
  December 10, 2008
  Full article
  "I'm always looking for stories and ideas to share with you about people who have rewired or are in the process of rewiring and I have to say that the 6 new Purpose Prize winners blew me away! Their stories, their achievements, their honesty about their trials and tribulations were inspirational. The easiest way to read these fascinating stories, and maybe get some rewiring ideas of your own, is athttp://www.purposeprize.org/index.cfm."
• "Theiss honored as Purpose Prize Fellow"
  The Island Reporter (FL)
  December 10, 2008
  Full article
  Civic Ventures has named Sanibel's Nola Theiss as one of its 2008 Purpose Prize Fellows. Theiss was named a fellow for her work in combating human trafficking through public outreach, training and community organizing. Theiss has been a leader of the Lee County Human Trafficking Task Force since its inception in 2005.
• "Boomers and Encore Careers: Moving from Success to Significance"
  Boomer Women Marketing (blog)
  By Mary Brown
  December 10, 2008
  Full article
  The myth of an endless vacation, or winding down and stepping aside in retirement, is giving way to a new practical idealism: real jobs tackling real problems and making real impact. Even in the face of a challenging economy and shriveled nest eggs, the concept of social entrepreneurialism has been taking hold as Boomers inch past 50. To recognize and support this movement of Boomer social innovators, Civic Ventures launched the Encore Careers campaign, which included the awarding of the 2008 Purpose Prizes. The 2008 recipients include a retired language professor who organizes volunteers to help thousands of war refugees start a new life - in Fargo, North Dakota; an immigrant who now helps send Latino students to college - with money raised from his fellow gardeners in California; and a retired marketing executive who an organization to help reduce recidivism rates for young men once they leave prison through coaching, education and job training.
• "Micro-lending grows into big service prize"
  Concord Monitor(NH)
  By Chelsea Conaboy
  December 9, 2008
  Full article
  Dana Dakin, 65, of Wilmot, NH was named a 2008 Purpose Prize fellow for her creation of WomensTrust, an organization started in Pokuase, Ghana, and focused on giving women and girls in developing countries the resources to become self-sufficient and support their families. Dakin started the organization when she turned 60 after a successful career in investment marketing. She started a micro-lending program in Pokuase, granting small loans to female entrepreneurs. She has expanded the program to include health care services for women and scholarships for girls.
• "Pregnancy: A Time for Questions"
  Republican American
  By Carrie MacMillan
  December 9, 2008
  Full article
  Pregnant women ask the same questions. Nurses, midwives and doctors answer them over and over again. Sharon Schindler Rising, a longtime nurse midwife simplifies the process with group prenatal care at her Connecticut-based nonprofit, the Centering Healthcare Institute. A group of women, all with similar due dates, meet for 10 two-hour sessions during the second half of their pregnancies. Each gets a private exam with a midwife, physician or nurse practitioner and then records their own weight and blood pressure. As a group, they meet with a medical professional and an assistant to get answers to essential and shared questions Rising's innovation recently earned her a Purpose Prize from Civic Ventures.
• "Local Researcher Honored for Life of Activism"
  The Daily Californian
  By Katie Meyer
  December 8, 2008
  Full article
  Prominent UC Berkeley alumna Arlene Blum was awarded a Civic Ventures $100,000 Purpose Prize Friday for her lifelong efforts to ban toxins used in household products. Blum's Green Science Policy Institute, a nonprofit she founded two years ago, provides research data to policy-makers to create environmentally sound policies on toxins. "I'm hoping to get scientists and engineers to think more about how their research (on toxins) can help solve problems relating to human health and the environment," she said. Jim Emerman, director of the Purpose Prize Initiative, said Blum's chemistry work and illustrious mountaineering career are inspirational examples for other baby boomers. "At the stage of life where she could have retired and taken it easy, she looked for the next most important thing to do," he said.
• "Maintain your purpose after retirement"
  Press & Sun-Bulletin - Binghamton,NY
  December 8, 2008
  Full article
  As baby boomers approach retirement, many ask themselves what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Many will look at retirement from their current job as an opportunity for an encore career -- for paid or unpaid work that they find fulfilling. Since 2006, innovative contributions to the greater social good made by individuals age 60 and over have been honored with the Civic Ventures Purpose Prize. Past winners have included those who have used skills developed over their lifetimes to feed the hungry, to help infants in families without health insurance thrive, or to increase energy conservation. The starting point for these successful encore careers is finding something that needs to be done --something that resonates with your own life purpose. Encore.org includes the Encore Career Finder to help job seekers find work in nonprofit, environmental, health, education, social service, and governmental organizations.
• "Retirees, here's your new purpose in life"
  WalletPop (blog)
  By Vanessa Richardson
  December 8, 2008
  Full article
  If you're over age 60 and you have a great idea for giving back to the world or just your neighborhood, here's some inspiration -- the $100,000 Purpose Prize. The 2008 winners were just announced, and what a batch. The six $100,000 winners did amazing stuff, from inventing a $28 peanut-shelling machine that helps African farmers be more efficient with their cash crop to teaching life and career skills to prisoners at New York's Rikers Island. (There were also nine $10,000 prize winners who do equally admirable work for their communities.) The Purpose Prize is especially valuable these days because many foundations, which give prizes like these as grants, are being hit hard by the economy and not as able to give out free money.
• "Growling and Kicking for Social Change"
  Huffington Post
  By Gara LaMarche
  December 8, 2008
  Full article
  Gara LaMarche delivered a call to action at The Encore Careers Summit held at Stanford University on Sunday, Dec. 7, calling on Americans of all ages and across all economic, racial, and ethnic lines to serve the country and to "growl and kick when necessary." The 2008 winners of the Purpose Prize were among those gathered. LaMarche's full remarks are included.
• "Encore Careers will help you take your next step"
  Ode Magazine(CA)
  By Caroline Zilk
  December 8, 2008
  Full article
  Encore Careers was created for people who want personal fulfillment combined with social impact combined with continued impact. It was created for passionate people who are looking to make a career switch or come out of retirement and do something really meaningful with the rest of their lives. Other initiatives that are part of the Encore Careers campaign include The Purpose Prize, which invests in social innovators over 60; a community college initiative to develop pathways to encore careers; an awards program for employers of people in encore careers; and a pilot fellowship program for boomers in the Silicon Valley.
• "Rhode Islander awarded Purpose Prize"
  The Providence Journal
  By Andy Smith
  December 7, 2008
  Full article
  A longtime advocate for education reform, Barbara Cervone was awarded a $10,000 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize for her work leading the nonprofit What Kids Can Do, which celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of students.Cervone founded WKCD in 2001 after becoming disillusioned with an educational climate increasingly focused on test score. What Kids Can Do focuses on student accomplishments through its Web site (whatkidscando.org) and as a nonprofit book publisher. The Web site includes projects such as Inside Out: How A School Turns Itself Around, a report by students at Central High School in Providence about efforts to make their school better. Among the other titles from What Kids Can Do are Forty-Cent Tip, stories of immigrant workers in New York City, and First in the Family, advice about college from first-generation students.
• "Our Opinion: Snuffing out India sex trade"
  Tuscon Citizen
  December 7, 2008
  Full article
  Congratulations to Ray Amashankar, an assistant dean at the University of Arizona College of Engineering. From his computer in Tucson, he's raising funds from business leaders of Indian descent to help rescue girls from the sex trade there as well as the children of sex workers. Amashankar, 66, also helped his daughter, Nita, launch a nonprofit organization to help impoverished children in his homeland learn information technology skills. Wednesday, he was awarded $10,000 as one of 15 winners of the third annual Civic Ventures Purpose Prize, recognizing innovators over age 60 who find creative solutions to pressing problems.
• "Immigrant Wins Award For Scholarship Work"
  NPR - All Things Considered
  By Nancy Mullane
  December 6, 2008
  Audio / Transcript
  A Mexican immigrant gardener in the Bay Area has just been awarded a $100,000 National Purpose Prize for his work raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to send Hispanic kids to college. Catalino Tapia saved all his money to send his son to college. When his son graduated, his son encouraged him to create Bay Area Gardeners Foundation to help other Hispanic youth get a college education. With seed money from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and donations from his clients, the Bay Area Gardeners Foundation began giving scholarships in 2006, starting with five students. The scholarships themselves are like seed money, $1,500 each. "But for these kind of kids," Tapia says, "it means the whole world, because it pays for the books, transportation - and they don't have to worry about that extra work that they have to do for those things..."
• "Editorial: Little invention, big impact"
  Star News Online (North Carolina)
  December 5, 2008
  Full article
  Think one person can't change the world? You're wrong. Wilmington resident Jock Brandis took a simple peanut sheller design, adapted it for cheap, long-term use and delivered it to a friend working in a poor community in Mali. The resulting hand-cranked contraption, according to just about everyone who's seen it, can feed a village. To many residents of Third World countries, this simple tool may mean the difference between life and death. For his efforts, Brandis has won a $100,000 2008 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize. So far, plans for the peanut sheller have been sent to 17 countries. As a result of his work on the sheller, he and some friends established the Full Belly Project to continue helping Third World communities help themselves.
• "The Purpose Driven Second Life"
  BeliefNet
  By Steven Waldman
  December 5, 2008
  Full article
  At Rikers Island, a massive prison in New York City, 66 percent of released prisoners end up coming back after committing a new crime. Jack Goldsmith, a former cosmetic industry executive, heard about this when he was volunteering there. At age 65, he decided to try to fix this. He created "Getting Out and Staying Out," a program in which participants sign contracts agreeing to coaching and school upon their release. When they get out they get a coach, clothing, metro cards, an electric alarm clock, an ID card and a brand new resume. The recidivism rate for those in the program is 10 percent. Goldsmith just won a Civic Ventures $100,000 Purpose Prize for his work.
• "National think tank honors Healing Place president"
  Courier Journal (KY)
  December 5, 2008
  Full article
  Civic Ventures has honored Jay P. Davidson, president of The Healing Place, an addiction-recovery program based in Louisville, Kentucky with a 2008 $10,000 Purpose Prize. The Healing Place serves alcoholics and drug addicts, combining long-term residency and help from peer mentors with the twelve-step model of Alcoholics Anonymous.
• "Couple receives national award for truth panel work"
  Greensboro News Record
  By Sonja Elmquist
  December 4, 2008
  Full article
  The Rev. Nelson Johnson, 65, and his wife Joyce, 62, have been awarded a Civic Ventures 2008 $10,000 Purpose Prize for their work on Greensboro's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They launched the two-year project to research the 1979 Klan-Nazi shootings and the events surrounding it in Greensboro. The shootings occurred Nov. 3, 1979, as an anti-Klan march that Johnson organized was forming in the Morningside Homes public housing community. A caravan of Klansmen and Nazis drove into the area and confronted the marchers. In the ensuing gunfire, five anti-Klan marchers were killed and 10 others wounded. Two long criminal trials brought no convictions for Nazis and Klansmen, who claimed self-defense.
• "Boomers making a difference "
  The Ledger (Florida)
  By Kendra Johnson
  December 4, 2008
  Full article
  Encore.org helps people find work that matters in the second part of life. The site is pretty cool and includes stories about midlife career-changers, such as a 54-year-old chef turned youth mentor, an engineer who was 54 when he decided to start teaching high school math, and an autoworker who was 40 when he went to college for the first time to become a nurse. There are also articles about making the switch to a nonprofit organization and how to finance your career transition. The site promotes the Purpose Prize, honoring "uncommon vision, determination and entrepreneurialism in addressing community, national and international problems."
• "Nonprofit head recognized as innovator"
  Business Digest- Providence Journal
  December 4, 2008
  Full article
  Barbara Cervone, who runs a nonprofit organization called What Kids Can Do, is one of 15 national winners of The Purpose Prize, an award designed to recognize social innovators over age 60. What Kids Can Do recognizes the accomplishments of young people through its Web site and as a nonprofit book publisher. Six prizewinners received $100,000 and the others, including Cervone, received $10,000. Cervone, 61, worked with the Rhode Island Foundation and then was chosen to coordinate a $500-million grant from the Walter H. Annenberg Foundation to improve America's schools. She left that post to start What Kids Can Do in 2001.
• "Second careers, with purpose"
  Market Watch
  By Andrea Coombs
  December 4, 2008
  Consider Mark Goldsmith. The 72-year-old former cosmetics-industry executive retired from his high-powered career to start a nonprofit that teaches life skills and workplace savvy to young men in New York's Rikers Island jail. Goldsmith tapped into his savings to get his organization, Getting Out and Staying Out, off the ground. His salary is "not even close" to what he made as a corporate executive, but that's not a problem, he says. Goldsmith is one of six people over age 60 to win a $100,000 Purpose Prize awarded by Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based think tank that seeks to support and encourage older people who start a second career that benefits society.
• "Arlene Blum Awarded 2008 Purpose Prize"
  The Berkeley Daily Planet
  December 4, 2008
  Full article
  Berkeley resident Arlene Blum, founder of the Green Science Policy Institute will receive $100,000 for her work mobilizing scientists, government, industry and consumers to protect health by reducing toxins in our homes and the environment, as one of the 15 winners of the 2008 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize. Over the past two years, Blum has led a science-based campaign that defeated five international standards that could have resulted in the unnecessary use of over a billion pounds of potentially toxic fire retardant chemicals in electronics each year, and contributed to a proposed federal furniture standard that addresses fire safety without the use of toxic chemicals in foam. In addition, she is working on an international level to develop cooperative toxic chemical reform strategies.
• "Columbia initiative wins $100,000 prize"
  The State (SC)
  By Joey Holleman
  December 4, 2008
  Full article
  Joseph James, of Columbia, SC, has won a $100,000 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize for an effort dubbed the Greening of Black America. Through his Corporation for Economic Opportunity, James, who retired from the state Commerce Department, aims to help African-American farmers overcome racial and economic barriers. The Corporation for Economic Opportunity is working with Brookland Baptist Church to set up a farmers' market at the West Columbia church and with Clemson to conduct biodiesel information sessions with rural farmers.
• "UA prof wins $10K prize for positive world impact"
  Arizona Daily Star
  By Stephanie Innes
  December 3, 2008
  Full article
  An assistant dean in the University of Arizona's College of Engineering has won a prestigious Purpose Prize, awarded to Americans over 60 who have made a positive impact on their communities and the world. Umashankar, 66, is executive director of the ASSET India Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps the children of sex workers with computer skills and jobs. ASSET stands for Achieving Sustainable Social Equality through Technology. The two-year-old foundation was inspired by Umashankar's daughter, Nita, who witnessed firsthand the deplorable lives and bleak futures of sex workers and their children during a year-long stay in India.
• "Seniors with 'Purpose' win prizes"
  USA Today
  By Janet Kornblum
  December 3, 2008
  Full article
  The winners of this year's Purpose Prize are a diverse lot: a former movie industry worker who used his skills to invent an inexpensive peanut sheller to help the poor in the developing world; a retired professor who's organized volunteers to help teach English to refugees; and a former New York executive who is helping give life skills and job guidance to ex-prisoners. Among the winners: Joost "Jock" Brandis, who while tagging along on a Peace Corps trip to Mali, was inspired to create a simple mechanical peanut sheller now used by villagers in developing nations to make a living from abundant peanuts; Arlene Blum, 63, who, as the executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, is working to limit toxic chemicals in furniture and other consumer products; and Joe James, 61, who created the Corporation for Economic Opportunity in Columbia, a non-profit corporation that helps disadvantaged communities. Included in that is his Greening of Black America initiative that helps black farmers increase their earnings and reduce "food-miles" by selling produce directly to consumers at nearby farmers markets.
• "UA dean helps kids break away from India's sex trade"
  Tuscon Citizen
  By Renee Schafer Horton
  December 3, 2008
  Full article
  Ray Umashankar scours The Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine not for business news but for Indian surnames among the lists of company CEOs. Those names in hand, Umashankar creates a list of possible e-mail handles for each CEO and sends messages into the Internet ether until he gets what he's after: funding to break the cycle of poverty and desperation of the children of India's sex workers. So far his efforts have netted more than $300,000 in donations and $25,000 in computers for the nonprofit ASSET India Foundation, founded two years ago by his daughter, Nita. Umashankar, 66, and an assistant dean at the University of Arizona, helped Nita launch ASSET - Achieving Sustainable Social Equality through Technology to help impoverished children in his native India learn information technology skills necessary to work at one of the country's IT firms. He has been named a 2008 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize winner for his work.
• "Fargo woman receives national award for work"
  The Forum News
  By Patrick Springer
  December 3, 2008
  Full article
  Michele McRae of Fargo, North Dakota has been named a $100,000 Civic Ventures 2008 Purpose Prize winner. McRae directs Giving+Learning, a program that matches volunteer mentors with new Americans in the Fargo area who need help learning English. She's found the work rewarding, helping more than 600 refugees and other immigrants develop English skills that have allowed them to find work, gain citizenship or learn how to drive. The volunteer program links to a wide array of service providers, including police officers, social service workers and educators. Giving+Learning has expanded into Minnesota.
• "Older Nonprofit Workers Get $100,000 Awards for Their Work"
  Chronicle of Philanthropy
  By Heather Joslyn
  December 3, 2008
  Full article
  Six nonprofit workers in their 60s and 70s today have been announced as the winners of the third annual Civic Ventures Purpose Prizes. This year's winners were selected from more than 1,000 nominations; for the first time, the prizes recognized Americans whose work primarily benefited people in other countries, according to Jim Emerman, the Purpose Prize director; one $100,000 winner was added to the traditional set of five to accommodate the change. This year's $100,000 winners work on a variety of projects, including efforts to rid consumer products of toxic chemicals, create simple farm machinery for developing countries, prepare incarcerated youths for life after their release, include rural black Americans in the "green" economy, recruit mentors for resettled refugees, and raise scholarship money for Latino college students.
• "Purpose Prize for 3 working to change society"
  San Francisco Chronicle
  By Meredith May
  December 3, 2008
  Full article
  Three Bay Area boomers who are changing the world in "encore careers" have been selected for the national Purpose Prize, given to social entrepreneurs over 60. Catalino Tapia, 64, who immigrated from Mexico in 1964 and saved every penny from gardening jobs to send his son to college, started a college fund for Latino youth. Arlene Blum, 63, whose biochemical research in the 1970s at UC Berkeley led to a ban on carcinogenic fire retardants in children's pajamas, was awarded the prize for returning to toxics research after decades as a Himalayan mountain guide. Both Blum and Tapia won $100,000 prizes. Psychologist Toni Heineman, 61, a clinical professor in the pediatrics and psychiatry department at UC San Francisco, was honored with a $10,000 Purpose Prize for creating A Home Within - a nonprofit that matches volunteer therapists with foster youth.
• "Wilmington's Full Belly founder awarded $100,000 prize"
  Wilmington Star News
  By Ben Steelman
  December 3, 2008
  Full article
  A Wilmington inventor who came up with "the Holy Grail of sustainable agriculture" has received a $100,000 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize. Jock Brandis, 63, is a former lighting director from the film industry. He was honored for developing a low-cost, low-tech, easy-to-assemble peanut sheller for use in Third World communities, as a result of a request from a friend in the Peace Corps in Mali. With help from the Coastal Carolina Returned Peace Corps Veterans organization in Wilmington, Brandis and friends organized the Full Belly Project, a Wilmington-based nonprofit to distribute the Universal Nut Sheller technology at no cost in countries that need it. So far, the sheller has been introduced in 17 countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
• "Professor's work erases technological barriers"
  Seattle Post Intelligencer
  By Tom Paulson
  December 3, 2008
  Full article
  For University of Washington professor Richard Ladner, it isn't so much about helping people who are blind or deaf get better use of technology as it is about working with people who have disabilities to help us all get better use out of technology. Ladner has been using his talents as a top theoretical computer scientist to help launch myriad projects aimed at using computers, Web-based applications, cell phones and other mainstream information technologies to make life easier for those without hearing or sight. Among his projects is MobileASL (American Sign Language) which uses new video-compression techniques that allow deaf cell phone users to simultaneously see each other over the phone and chat by signing. Ladner was honored with a $10,000 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize.
• "Yes, you can make a difference"
  The Christian Science Monitor
  By Kathleen Connell
  November 24, 2008
  Full article
  The depreciating portfolios, falling house prices, and job losses of the past year have dampened the spirits of many. But rather than focusing on negatives, Americans should consider ways to tap their passions, interests, and talents to help others. The opportunities are widespread, concentrated in education, healthcare, senior citizen support, and community services. With the excitement of an Obama administration fueled by the cry, "Yes we can," a new volunteerism movement may sweep this country. Boomers, with their skills and experience, are potentially powerful volunteers. "Volunteering as an endpoint is no longer financially viable for many boomers given their economic pressures," says Stefanie Weiss, VP of Communications at Civic Ventures "However, volunteering can be a terrific assistance to identifying an encore career that combines personal meaning, social impact, and income."
• "Obama's Call to Public Service and the Boomer Generation"
  The Huffington Post
  By Mark Miller
  November 24, 2008
  Full article
  Arianna Huffington and others have taken note of President-elect Obama's plans to call Americans to public service to address the country's urgent problems. Much of the conversation around national service so far has focused on young people. But civic engagement and community service are also hot topics among boomers. Tapping boomers for broader public service would have a huge impact, given their sheer numbers. A recent study by the Metlife Foundation and Civic Ventures found that a surprisingly large number of boomers already have moved from primary careers into encore careers that combine income with personal meaning and social impact. Marc Freedman, the CEO of Civic Ventures, has advocated a new social compact between government and boomers. Fiscal and financial assistance would come in return for longer working lives in areas of high social need. In early December Civic Ventures will convene the Encore Careers Summit at Stanford and will announce the winners of the 2008 Purpose Prize.
• "Helping Retirees Find Meaningful Second Careers"
  CQ researcher - Volume 18, No. 41, p. 972
  November 21, 2008
  Full article
  Anna Nolan was in her mid-50s when her company was sold and she found herself jobless. She responded by seeking work she could feel passionate about, and rebounded finding a job at Rhode Island's largest provider of social services to the homeless. Seven years later, she heads the organization. Many experts say that if more boomers were to follow Nolan's lead, the nation could avoid the financial challenges anticipated as the boomers qualify for Social Security benefits. Civic Ventures President Marc Freedman says the idea for encore careers germinated from the organization's experience running Experience Corps, which places over-55s in inner city schools as teachers and mentors. Though the program was designed to be a short-term stint, Experience Corps volunteers were consistently reluctant to leave, and frequently embarked on new teaching careers after their two-year period of service.
• "Moore finds her encore moment"
  Chattanooga Times Free Press
  By Clint Cooper
  November 20, 2008
  Full article
  Sheila Moore of Ooltewah, TN, had her feet in the for-profit world but found herself increasingly eager to enter the nonprofit universe. Today, as interim director of the United Way of Greater Chattanooga's Center for Nonprofits, she has found her niche. Ms. Moore's saga is so inspiring she was recently selected as one of 17 winners in a "My Encore Moment" national story contest sponsored by Encore.org, an initiative of San Francisco-based Civic Ventures. The former business consultant said, "The skills and experiences I had spent years gaining for the for-profit world could be applied and appreciated in the nonprofit world. And I realized I cared about those organizations and the people who also cared so deeply."
• "Financial Woes Force Boomers to Work Longer. That's Good"
  Time Magazine
  By Kristina Dell
  November 18, 2008
  Full article
  The latest victim of the financial crisis: baby boomers' retirement. With plunging stock values and tanking home prices, an increasing number of boomers approaching retirement age are postponing travel plans and staying on the job longer. But delayed retirement is seen as a good thing by many policy analysts. "If people continue to work between two and four years longer, they will be better off financially and as a country we will be better of fiscally," says Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures. A November study from the McKinsey Global Institute finds that having a workforce that continues a few years beyond the traditional retirement age is the only way for boomers to prevent a decline in their standard of living and not drag down U.S. economic growth.
• "Need a Job? Try a nonprofit"
  The Columbus Dispatch
  By Mark Miller
  November 18, 2008
  Full article
  The business world is crumbling all around us, but nonprofits have been growing faster than either the business or the government sector -- and they're facing a shortage of talent. The sector is waking up to the potential of encore careerists, and will need to hire 640,000 new senior managers by 2016, according to the Bridgespan Group, a strategic consulting firm. A recent MetLife and Civic Ventures report finds that nonprofits are worried about finding top talent as they grow, and 42 percent see recruiting and hiring talent as a top concern. Nonprofits that have hired late-career or retired workers are more likely than other employers to see them as appealing candidates, and they seem to like candidates who have switched to nonprofits from the business world.
• "Whatcom Community College launches new program for baby boomers in next phase of life"
  The Bellingham Herald
  By Kie Relyea
  November 16, 2008
  Full article
  Whatcom Community College is among a small but growing number of community colleges creating classes that serve the needs of boomers - the 78 million people born between 1946 and 1964 who are redefining retirement. Launched this fall, the Encore program focuses on the next steps boomers will take as they leave the workforce for the next phase of life. Civic Ventures recently issued a study of how 10 community colleges across the country are preparing boomers for new careers in education, health care and social services. Civic Ventures had given the 10 seed money to launch their boomer programs.
• "The Best in....."
  Wall Street Journal
  November 14, 2008
  Full article
  Marc Freedman, author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life, and Civic Ventures have developed a Web site to help people discover new opportunities in retirement. In particular, check out the profiles of people who have embraced encore careers (if you're looking for ideas about what's possible), as well as the site's "Career Finder," which can direct you to jobs in your area. All in all, a terrific resource. To learn more, visit encore.org.
• "Classroom calling"
  Santa Rosa Press Democrat
  By Meg McConahay
  November 10, 2008
  Full article
  Leroy Lounibus, a 68-year-old trial attorney, applies a law school-like Socratic method of constant query to his teaching. He also brings 42 years of practice in courtroom persuasion. Lounibos has joined a corps of professionals and businesspeople who are moving out of high-paying, high-prestige jobs into "second-act careers" in public school teaching. Professional educators hope the trend grows, and statistics are encouraging. A survey released this year by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures found that half of Americans aged 44 to 70 who aren't already in "encore careers" are interested in a second act with a social purpose, and Education tops the list.
• "Boomers try to combine work, community service"
  Orange County Register
  By Jane Glenn Haas
  November 10, 2008
  Full article
  Watching the stock market skid and the unemployment rate climb, Jane Glenn Haas asked her readers, "What's ahead for baby boomers planning to retire soon?" Some fear losing their jobs. But nearly all agree with Marc Freedman of Civic Ventures, who says boomers are eager to give back to the community. Haas' readers say they need to be paid for their efforts as well. Hass argues the challenge is for nonprofits and other charitable organizations to find ways to employ older boomers and use their talents to benefit others. And how will the nonprofits pay for these employees? One solution is to engage local businesses and individuals to make small donations. Many small contributions can add up to a big one. Another idea? --to re-invent our definitions of career, business, community service, social outreach.
• "Find the Work You Love"
  AARP Magazine
  By Samuel Greengard
  November 2008
  Full article
  Switching careers midlife can be scary, especially in tough economic times, but armed with a well-conceived plan of action, you can end up with the job of your dreams. Despite an economy in recession, the opportunities for a midlife career change have never been better. A variety of factors—changing attitudes toward older workers, rising demand for workplace experience, and more powerful job-search resources (notably online)—are helping ease the way. Furthering your education can be a good place to start. In 2007 Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation teamed up to provide funds to ten community colleges - "Encore Colleges" - across the country to develop programs to help older workers gain the skills needed for careers in education, health care, and social services.
• "Retiring? What's Next?"
  Consumer Reports Money Advisor
  November 2008
  Full article
  Recent retirees and people wrapping up careers often ask themselves, "What's next?" There are plenty of options, among them: continuing work with increased flexibility, school, a new career, volunteering. But how to proceed? "If you want to start a new career, or you don't need to work but want to go back to school or volunteer, it's not as easy as it should be," says Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures. But here's a start. If you want to keep working or leap into something new, consider these tips: keep working; talk to your boss about your intentions; take stock of your skills; determine if you need further education to secure new work and look for schools seeking out older students, or offering financial aid; examine the needs of organizations you belong to or close by; or be an innovative volunteer.
• "Age shall not wither them"
  The Economist
  October 31, 2008
  Full article
  Older Americans are the country's most reliable voters and both Obama and McCain are them this campaign season. In the future they may grovel before them. The first of 78 million boomers are now in their 60s. By 2040 about one in five Americans will be aged 65 or older. Financial security is a consistent concern for the aging population. The Social Security Act of 1935, the rise of corporate pensions and the creation of Medicare in 1965 together formed a grand new social contract, as Marc Freedman describes in his book "Encore." Today, that vision of retirement is undergoing a radical shift.
• "Job boards abound for retirees, 50-and-overs"
  Business Week
  By Dave Carpenter
  October 29, 2008
  Full article
  While looking for work in an economic downturn can be challenging, it's easier today than it used to be -- and that may hold truest of all for the retirement set. Those who are in or near retirement and looking for work can find abundant online resources. Among an array of options is -- Encore.org, which provides news, resources and connections for individuals and organizations establishing "encore careers" designed to combine social contribution, personal meaning and financial security. Many of the jobs posted are in education, health care and human services.
• "Hunt for retirement jobs stepped up in bad economy"
  Forbes.com
  By Dave Carpenter
  October 29, 2008
  Full article
  The concept of working in retirement is fast becoming the norm for many older Americans - forced by dwindling financial resources and a recessionary economy to stay in or return to the job market. Career sites and organizations for seniors and older workers are reporting a surge in job-hunting efforts. "For decades we've been making it easier for people to get out of the labor market," said Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures. "Now there's a growing need in the opposite direction." Certain sectors look particularly strong, including healthcare and home healthcare.
• "Finding Good Work After You Retire"
  Newsweek
  By Caitlin McDevitt
  October 27, 2008
  Full article
  As retirement portfolios shrink, it's inevitable that some older Americans will consider going back to work. That's a good thing, says Marc Freedman, author of "Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life." In this Q and A, Freedman discusses hot sectors for those reentering the workforce, the impact the economy is having on both job seekers and those doing the hiring, and offers suggestions for the interview process.
• "More Second Acts in American Lives"
  New York Times
  By Elizabeth Olson
  October 22, 2008
  Full article
  With more than a quarter of the American work force age 50 and over, according to federal labor statistics, more people are deciding to continue working past traditional retirement age. Community groups, private companies and community-college-based programs across the nation are increasingly offering programs for those who want to start second or later-in-life careers. Community colleges are a front line in "helping baby boomers prepare for meaningful work in the second part of their lives," says Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures. Last year Civic Ventures gave grants to 10 community colleges to support programs to help older workers retool their skills for community service careers.
• "Baby Boomers Pursue Encore Careers"
  MarketWatch
  October 1, 2008
  Full article
  With the economy in flux and 401-K plans losing value every day, more and more baby boomers realize that they will need to continue working much longer than they ever expected, and they're rethinking how they want to spend those years. At least 5.3 million people ages 44 to 70 have encore careers according to the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey. The Encore Career Finder at www.encore.org lists thousands of openings at nonprofit, environmental, health care, education, social service and governmental organizations.
• "Boomers ready to shift into 'Service Nation' encore careers"
  Casa Grande Valley Newspapers (AZ)
  By Mark Miller
  October 1, 2008
  Full article
  Barack Obama and John McCain participated in a recent presidential forum on national service, part of a Service Nation summit that convened in New York City to commemorate 9/11. The forum focused on ways that Americans can serve their communities and their country at a time of critical need, and the candidates had a chance to air their ideas on promoting civic engagement. Mobilizing even a portion of the boomer generation could yield enormous results, simply because the group is so large. A study released earlier this year by the Metlife Foundation and Civic Ventures found that a surprisingly large number of boomers already have moved from primary careers into "encore careers" - work that combines income with personal meaning and social impact.
• "Midlifers live their dreams by changing careers"
  USA Today
  By Nanci Hellmich
  September 25, 2008
  Full article
  With the economy on the skids and retirement benefits being cut, many people realize they will need to continue working much longer than they ever expected, and they're rethinking how they want to spend those years. Is there still time to switch, take a risk and pursue an old dream, a secret passion, something meaningful? At least 5.3 million people ages 44 to 70 in the USA have encore careers, ones that combine income, personal meaning and social impact, and many more would like to pursue such jobs, according to the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures. USA profiles several boomers who have switched course and found meaningful encore careers.
• "Giving back"
  Worcester Telegram & Gazette
  By Elaine Thompson
  September 24, 2008
  Full article
  After 20 years with Worcester(MA) Area Cooperating Libraries, Gladys E. Wood retired at age 70 to care for three elderly relatives. When the last one died two years ago, Ms. Wood went to Worcester State College to earn a certificate in gerontology. Now she helps seniors at St. Paul’s Cathedral Elder Outreach, the Worcester Senior Support Team and food stamp outreach through St. Paul’s. Wood is one of the millions of people in this country who have launched encore careers in midlife or later that combine income, personal satisfaction and social purpose. As many as 8.4 million Americans from age 44 to 70 are using their skills and experience in new careers that have purpose, according to the 2008 MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey.
• "Kelley: A Bush-Clinton combo could do lots of good"
  Ventura County Star
  By Beverly Kelly
  September 17, 2008
  Full article
  Could anyone come up with a more "politics-makes-for-strange-bedfellows" alliance than that of former presidents George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton? Yet, by teaming up, Bush and Clinton were able to lead the American response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and raise $120 million for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bush and Clinton, along with a tsunami wave of boomers could well turn their attention to the swelling needs of nonprofits, which have mushroomed in size, needs, budget -- and are in the midst of a significant leadership void. Strong evidence that boomers are interested in work with a social mission comes from the MetLife Foundation-Civic Ventures New Face of Work Survey. More than half of the thousand respondents (aged 50-70) reported an interest in seeking employment, now and in retirement, that improves the quality of life in their communities.
• "Retirement: Time for a new career?"
  APP.com
  By Andrea Kay
  August 13, 2008
  Full article
  Approaching retirement age and looking for meaningful work? Where to start? Look at what matters to you most. Don't limit ideas to nonprofit organizations. You can do meaningful work with a company that manufacturers or delivers a product or service you believe in. Look at what's missing and needed. Retired physical education teacher Wilma Melville created the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation when she and her Labrador, Murphy, helped after the Oklahoma City bombing. For her work, she was named a 2007 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize winner. Surveys show that half of baby boomers want to start a new career with social impact. If you're one of them, you didn't need anyone to tell you that. That gnawing inside you to do more or to give back is enough to launch your next career.
• "Fresh start: 'Encore jobs' mix making a living, making a difference"
  Richmond Times-Dispatch
  By Carol Hazard
  August 4, 2008
  Full article
  "Unexpectedly large numbers of boomers are looking for purpose-driven jobs that provide them with both means and meaning," says Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures. The numbers back him up. A MetLife Foundation survey estimated that 5.3 million to 8.4 million Americans have launched encore careers, or second careers that combine income with personal meaning and social impact. When Wayne Castleberry was downsized mid-career at Philip Morris, he took a hard look at his life. He rebounded into a successful horticulture career.
• "Do-good boomers out to rework retirement"
  Philidelphia Inquirer
  By Chris Satullo
  August 3, 2008
  Full article
  Many boomers are going to want and need to keep working past "retirement age." Make way for the encore career. Civic Ventures Marc Freedman, the man who coined the term, calls the encore career a radically optimistic notion. "You won't make more money or become more famous," he says, "but you might be doing the most essential work of your life, with heart and soul." Some of the starkest shortages are projected in the helping professions - teaching, nursing, counseling. But as Civic Ventures' John Gomperts notes, "the bridge from midlife careers to encore careers remains almost invisible to many." The bridge is built out of training and chances to sample new types of work. How to find those at age 55? Ideas bubbling in Congress - such as "lifetime learning" accounts, enabling people to save for encore-career retraining the way they do for their kids' college - could help.
• "Retire to Your Dream Job"
  Kiplinger's Personal Finance
  By Mary Beth Franklin and Bob Frick
  July 30, 2008
  Full article
  The old-fashioned definition of retirement as 25 years of leisure is built on two misconceptions, among them the expectation that the working population will be able to subsidize 78 million baby-boomers, the first wave of whom turn 62 this year. The truth is, both paid and volunteer work will be available to enterprising baby-boomers. And work not only helps pay the bills, it also feeds the soul. In fact, 75% of boomers say they want to keep working and more than half want to start a new career. Says Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures, "People often think it's impossible to save for a retirement that could last 30 years beyond their last paycheck. But it's liberating if you're not saving for the freedom from work. Instead, you're saving for the freedom to work at something close to your heart."
• "The encore, and for some an aria"
  Globe and Mail (Canada)
  By David Hutton
  July 30, 2008
  Full article
  A growing number of people are forgoing retirement for less lucrative but more satisfying work later in life. The term was coined by social entrepreneur and author Marc Freedman, who defines it as a late-in-life career that combines personal meaning and social impact in areas such as the non-profit sector, health care, and education. "People are finding themselves working far longer than previous generations," Mr. Freedman says. "And so they are asking questions about what kind of work they're going to do. Is it going to be another 10 years at the grindstone or is it going to be work they're proud of?" The Civic Ventures/ MetLife Foundation Encore Career Survey found that nearly 10 per cent of the 3,500 people aged 44 to 70 surveyed have already launched encore careers. And more than half of the rest want to do so.
• "Age of 'Rewirement'"
  Baltimore Sun
  By Tanika White
  July 28, 2008
  Full article
  Volunteers at Experience Corps are finding the appeal of continuing to do work that interests them - work that may be different than what they have done most of their careers - with some income during their retirement years. "As we all live longer, people find that living on a retirement income, on pensions and social security just doesn't support everything that they hoped their lifestyle to be," says John Gomperts, president of Civic Ventures and CEO of Experience Corps. "And secondly, and probably more profoundly, there is a need as we grow older to do that which has meaning, those things that have purpose, that leave a legacy, something larger than yourself."
• "Boomers Find Way To Make Social Impact, Money"
  NPR - All Things Considered
  By Judy Martin
  July 25, 2008
  Audio / Transcript
  Grappling with a shaky economy, baby boomers are looking for new ways to make money. The new Civic Ventures/MetLife foundation Encore Career Survey estimates that a chunk of these Americans are launching "encore careers" — positions that combine income and personal meaning with social impact.
• "Retired baby boomers can help with public service"
  Newsday
  By Paul Arfin
  July 21, 2008
  Full article
  In this editorial, Arfin points out that many experts warn that a massive exodus of boomers from the workforce could lead to dire economic and social consequences. But what if boomers extended their work lives to enter public service during the traditional retirement years? What might be the impact on education? On health care? On the environment? On poverty? On elder care and child care? It could be substantial. A national survey conducted by Peter D. Hart Associates and Civic Ventures this year indicates that 50 percent of those between ages 44 and 70 are interested in moving into jobs in such fields as education, health care, government and the nonprofit sector.
• "The good life"
  World Magazine
  By Susan Olasky
  July 21, 2008
  Full article
  Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures, calls the trend away from leisure-based retirement "encore careers"; civicventures.com and encorecareers.org are both websites that provide resources for those beginning to think about alternatives to retirement. Christians can also get ideas from christianvolunteering.org, a website that operates like the job website monster.com. Several Christian ministries specifically target retirees with RVs. Sowerministry.org, Mobile Missionary Assistance Program (mmap.org), and Roving Volunteers in Christ's Service (rvics.com) recruit Christian retirees with RVs to work on short-term projects across the country.
• "Geezers Doing Good"
  New York Times
  By Nicholas D. Kristof
  July 20, 2008
  Full article
  Some 78 million American baby boomers are now beginning to retire, and this year's MetLife/Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey found that half of boomers are interested in starting such new careers with a positive social impact. If we boomers decide to use our retirement to change the world, rather than our golf game, our dodderdom will have consequences for society every bit as profound as our youth did. Marc Freedman, author of Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life, says a new life stage is emerging — the period of 10, 20 or even 30 years after one’s main career is completed but before infirmity sets in. ***this article also ran in the International Herald Tribune
• Spotlight - Civic Ventures
  Philanthropy News Digest
  July 18, 2008
  Full article
  An NPT spotlight of Civic Ventures.
• "Nurses for Newborns Foundation Recognized by Federal Government for Improving the Health of Special Needs Babies"
  Wall Street Journal
  July 16, 2008
  Full article
  The St. Louis-based Nurses for Newborns Foundation Bridge to the Future program was recognized by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for its work to improve the health of special needs babies. Bridge to the Future provides nurse home visits to low-income families with medically fragile infants who have been discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit, ensuring a smooth transition to long-term care in the home. Specially trained nurses can identify potential problems in the home and provide intensive training and support to parents of very low birth weight or special needs infants. Sharon Rohrbach founded the program in 1992. In 2007, she was named a Civic Ventures Purpose Prize winner for her work.
• "Refuting Perceptions of Older Workers"
  Human Resource Executive Online
  By Andrew R. McIlvaine
  July 16, 2008
  Full article
  A series of newly issued reports based on recent surveys challenges the conventional wisdom many HR and hiring managers still have about older workers. The reports find that these workers tend to have a more positive attitude about the workplace than younger generations (including boomers), are eager to enroll in training courses and expand their knowledge and, in many cases, are more than willing to devote their later years to full-time jobs in fields that matter to them. Employers in the social-service, health care, and education fields may be especially well-positioned to lure those older workers, according to the 2008 MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey.
• "The Experience Dividend"
  The Motley Fool
  By Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
  July 15, 2008
  Full article
  Who said work is a four-letter word? With millions of Baby Boomers poised to leave the workforce within the next decade, many of us want to find ways to contribute from years of experience and knowledge. The sheer numbers of 60-somethings are having an effect on how people actually live during retirement. Many are embarking on a new stage of life by choosing an encore career. For those looking for options, Civic Ventures' Experience Corps work to solve serious social problems here in the U.S. while the Peace Corps offers an opportunity to address challenges abroad.
• "In Act 2 of Life, Doing Work That Matters"
  New York Times
  By Jane Brody
  July 8, 2008
  Full article
  At 68, Dr. Peter I. Pressman decided to retire after 40 years as a New York breast cancer surgeon. But he missed the structure and productivity of work, and when Weill Cornell Medical Center asked him to develop and direct a genetic risk assessment program to help women affected by genes that raise their risk of breast and ovarian cancer, Dr. Pressman accepted gladly. He's a prime example of a retiree who re-invented himself, one who plunged into a satisfying encore career, a path encouraged by Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures and author of Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life.
• "Want a New Career? Take an Encore"
  The Street.com
  By Lauren Tara LaCapra
  July 2, 2008
  Full article
  A recent study by MetLife and Civic Ventures found that at least 5.3 million Americans have already launched encore careers combining income and self-fulfillment. Most encore jobs fall into the education, health care, or nonprofit sectors. But changing one's mindset from corporate profits to altruism is not without its kinks. Learning new technologies and skills or returning to school for certification and encore career can present a challenge, and some struggle with the loss of seniority or status. John Gomperts, president of Civic Ventures, suggests looking at the new technologies and skills as an opportunity rather than a negative barrier. Taking a hiatus between the hustle of the corporate world and the new challenges of the encore career can also be helpful.
• "Baby boomers must work longer"
  Global Pensions
  By Giovanni Legorano
  June 30, 2008
  Full article
  Human factors rather than policy are driving US workers to retire later, experts argued during debate organized by the Urban Institute in Washington DC. John Gomperts, president of Civic Ventures and CEO of Experience Corps. “We do not need draconian changes, we need to listen to the people and reflect that into our policies,” Gomperts said. Gomperts says modest steps could be taken to support the choice of individuals to work longer, such as facilitating career changes that could suit ageing people’s needs.
• "Work the controls to better finance future"
  Chicago Tribune
  By Janet Kidd Stewart
  June 29, 2008
  Full article
  Bearish financial markets, gloomy long-term projections for stocks, a sputtering economy, sky-high gas prices - it all makes for a dicey looking retirement. But making the most of what you can control about your retirement finances can make a dramatic impact - starting with working longer. If a 62-year-old waited three more years to retire, socking away 25 percent of salary in those years, she could boost retirement income by 28 percent. Even saving nothing in those last few years would boost annual retirement income by 12 percent, simply due to delaying withdrawals by working longer. A new survey from MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures indicates that between 5.3 million and 8.4 million Americans are already engaged in so-called "encore" careers, combining necessary income with social passions.
• "Boomers Taking on Second Careers "
  New York Times
  By Ana Patricia Ferrey, Inc.com
  June 19, 2008
  Full article
  A growing number of baby boomers are shunning retirement by pursuing late-life second careers that combine social goals and extra income. The Civic Venture Encore Career Survey found surveyed 3,500 Americans aged 44 - 70, and found that up to 8.4 million baby boomers are embarking on "encore" careers, with many turning to the nonprofit, education and health sectors. "Encore careers provide personal fulfillment, while also offering tremendous gains for society," said Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures. "Instead of encouraging people to leave the workforce, encore careers inspire people to stay longer to help their communities- and fill vital workforce shortages."
• "Baby boomers are seeking more meaningful careers"
  The Day (New London, CT)
  By Lee Howard
  June 19, 2008
  Full article
  The Civic Ventures Encore Career study finds that up to 8.4 million baby boomers are engaged in second careers that provide both personal meaning and social impact. And while most of those entering encore careers did so with some trepidation, the vast majority are happy with their change of pace. Motivations include a desire to stay active, productive, challenged and learning. The report found that women are more likely than men to launch encore careers. A third of those who have embarked on encore careers cite practical considerations as well, such as the need for continued income and health benefits, as well as the desire for flexible work schedules.
• "Survey shows boomers want to give back"
  UPI.com
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  Baby boomers are looking to give back to society in their later years. A telephone and Internet survey by Civic Ventures found that millions of people who came of age in the 1960s are either quitting their old jobs or coming out of retirement into new careers that aim to contribute to society. MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures collaborated on the study that indicated that 6 percent to 9.5 percent of adults age 44 to 70 asked said they are pursuing "encore careers" giving them both income and meaning.
• "Boomers' new jobs give back"
  USA Today
  By Janet Kornblum
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  Baby boomers who came of age in the era of John F. Kennedy's civic call to arms are now, in the second half of their lives, not just asking themselves what they can do for their country, but they're actually doing it. A new telephone and Internet survey from Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation indicates millions of boomers are either quitting their old jobs or coming out of retirement to pursue new careers that not only give them personal meaning but also contribute to society.
• "Older Workers Find 'Encore Careers' Helping Others"
  U.S. News and World Report
  By Emily Brandon
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  The most common jobs for people who work after age 65 are in the retail industry. But a survey from Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation finds that baby boomers are changing that stereotype by finding jobs that not only pay the bills but provide personal meaning and have a social impact. The survey found that found that almost 10 percent of those between the ages of 44 and 70 are already in "encore careers" — a figure that translates to between 5.3 million and 8.4 million older workers. Typical fields include education (30 percent), healthcare (23 percent), government (16 percent), nonprofit organizations (13 percent), and for-profit businesses that serve a public good (9 percent).
• "Insights on Reinventing Retirement"
  New York Times
  By Marci Alboher
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  A new survey conducted by Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation shows that the idea of reinventing retirement is not just something that people talk about, but is something they are already doing. The survey paints a picture of older workers who are seeking employment that offers not only income but also personal meaning and social impact. And, of course, they want to be able to do that work flexibly so that there’s plenty of time for family, travel and hobbies. Sounds a little like another demographic group we keep hearing about, Gen Y, no? Perhaps we’ll be seeing a lot of parents and their children teaming up to found socially responsible businesses.
• "Encore careers give 'retirees' another chance to do their dream jobs"
  L.A. Times
  By Maria L. La Ganga
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  A new national survey from Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation found that nearly 10% of baby boomers polled are currently pursuing work that matters in the second half of life, work that they want to do and that society needs doing. Half of those surveyed who do not have encore careers -- jobs in such fields as teaching, public service, healthcare and the nonprofit sector -- said they were interested in doing so. What's at work here "is the intersection of several powerful forces," said Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures. "There's the necessity of longer working lives to continue drawing an income and getting health benefits, and the search for meaning...Purpose is as important as income." * - this article also appeared in the Chicago Tribune and in Newsday
• "Baby Boomers Express Strong Interest in Charity-Related Second Careers"
  Chronicle of Philanthropy
  By Caroline Preston
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  At least 6 percent of Americans between the ages of 44 and 70, or 5.3 million people, are working in second careers with charities, governments, schools, or other institutions that benefit society, according to a new survey from Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation. And half of the people in that age group who aren’t already involved in encore careers say they would like to find such employment. Even so, the survey found that many older Americans wanted more flexibility in their jobs and schedules than they thought most nonprofit groups could offer.
• "Is there an 'encore' career in your future?"
  MarketWatch.com
  By Robert Powell
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  An estimated 6% to 9.5% of Americans ages 44 to 70, or as many as 5.3 million to 8.4 million people, are working in what are called encore careers -- careers that provide not just income but also purpose and meaning. The remaining 80 million Americans ages 44 to 70 are either slaving away in careers without purpose (half of them pine for an encore career), or taking it easy, living a more traditional retirement. A new study released by Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation sheds light on those currently in an encore career, those pining away to work in an encore career, and those who have no desire to work again.
• "Bill Gates Deserves an Encore"
  Huffington Post
  By Marc Freedman
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  At age 52, computer pioneer Bill Gates will leave his day job June 27 as head of Microsoft to work full-time on global health and education issues at his foundation. It won't be retirement, he's said, "It's a reordering of my priorities." Once again the world's richest man is on the cutting edge of a big change in American life. The vast majority of the nation's 78 million baby boomers plan to work beyond traditional retirement age, and a new survey from Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation finds that half of all Americans 44 to 70 want to reorder their priorities as Gates has: they are looking for work that combines income with personal meaning and social impact. * This article also appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times
• "Second Careers: Millions of Older Workers Are Choosing to Do Well by Doing Good"
  AARP Bulletin Today - AARP.org
  By Cathie Gandel
  June 18, 2008
  Full article
  A new study from Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation finds that a majority of boomers want to use their skills and experience to help others. In fact, the report estimates that between 5 and 8 million Americans are already involved in what Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures, calls an encore career — meaningful work that combines earning an income with making a contribution to society. "I think of it as practical idealism," he says. The results of the study may be early evidence of a trend. "For us, the major finding was the numbers," says Freedman. "This is not just an abstract ideal. Millions of people are already acting on this impulse."
• Blog Coverage - Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey
  
  June 18, 2008
  The Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey was covered in a variety of blogs:
  Gather.com - http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977376726&nav=MyGather
  50+Digital - http://www.50plusdigital.com/
  GenMin Connection - http://genmin.blogspot.com/2008/06/encore-careers.html
  Retirement Revised - http://retirementrevised.com/career/encore-careers-could-take-off-rapidly-survey-shows
  Becoming Success in Business and Life - http://aronparker.blogspot.com/2008/06/why-you-should-start-your-own-business.html
  Your OnRamp - http://youronramp.com/news/2008/06/18/encore-career-emerging-major-social-trend
• Broadcast coverage - Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey
  
  June 18, 2008
  Broadcast coverage for the Civic Ventures Encore Career Survey:
  WBZ-AM(CBS) Boston, WMAQ-TV(NBC) Chicago, KYW-AM(CBS) Philadelphia
  Fox Business Network, KDKA-AM(NBC) Pittsburgh, WBBM-AM(CBS) Chicago
  >i>KYW-AM(CBS) Philadelphia, KDKA-AM(NBC) Pittsburgh, KYW-AM (CBS) Philadelphia
  KRLD-AM(CBS) Dallas/Fort Worth, WCCO-AM(CBS) Minneapolis/St. Paul
  KNX-AM(CBS) Los Angeles, KCBS-AM (CBS) San Francisco
• "Greedy geezers? Try wellspring of talent"
  Times Union (Albany, NY)
  By Marc Parry
  June 5, 2008
  Full article
  Academia has often ignored education for older adults even as most boomers say they plan to delay retirement by staying in current jobs or retraining for new ones. Few of the country's nearly 1,200 community colleges formally promote older adult-focused programs, according to a 2007 AARP study. But that's changing. The American Association of Community Colleges, backed by a $3.2 million grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies, is working on a national program to retrain adults over 50. Civic Ventures has awarded grants to 10 community colleges that are coming up with ways to help boomers find new work in education, health care and social services. "We're at the doorstep of the creation of a new life stage that has no name," said Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures.
• "More than licking envelopes"
  Washington Times
  By Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek
  June 4, 2008
  Full article
  A third of volunteers don't return to volunteering because they don't feel they are having any real impact. And many of those who do stick it out get stuck with menial tasks that fail to harness their professional talents. All of this, at a time when the nonprofit sector is stretched far too thin. Why so many volunteers and so many unmet needs? Civic Ventures CEO Marc Freedman believes retirees traditionally haven't formed clear visions of how to get involved productively in their communities. To help prepare people and organizations for these opportunities, Civic Ventures created the Next Chapter, which helps people in the second half of life set a course, connect with peers and find pathways to significant service. Civic Ventures also sponsors the Purpose Prize to invest $100,000 each in people over the age of 60 who are taking on some of society's biggest challenges. And Civic Ventures Experience Corps places volunteers over age 55 in fulfilling service opportunities in public schools nationwide.
• "Speaker's passion: 'religious response to global warming'"
  Salisbury Post (NC)
  By Kathy Chaffin
  June 2, 2008
  Full article
  A passion to save the planet is what led Sally Bingham — a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of California and environmental minister at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco —to start Interfaith Power & Light, which she describes as a religious response to global warming. In her 10 years of working on climate change issues, Bingham says she has seen people of all faiths come together to look at ways of reversing the global warming trends. Bringing people of faith together was not the goal of the Interfaith Power & Light campaign, she said, but it has been "a glorious outcome and something to celebrate." Bingham was a 2007 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize winner.
• "Make way for boomers who want to work in retirement"
  Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle
  By Ann Marie Cook and Pat Campbell
  May 28, 2008
  Full article
  An Op-Ed piece: Though sometimes referred to as the "me" generation, research is exposing boomers as "we" activists with a humanitarian focus. "Instead of the freedom from work, they are searching for the freedom to work, in new ways, on new terms, to new and more meaningful ends," says Civic Ventures CEO and founder Marc Freedman. But we're not prepared. Neither our public policy nor our business/non-profit environment is changing fast enough to keep pace with this shift in retirement thinking. Structure change requires public policy updates such as the Incentives for Older Workers Act introduced in the U.S. Senate in April. Other incentives for continued work involve tax credits and retraining opportunities, especially within community colleges.
• "Just one word for older job-seekers: retail"
  LA Times
  By Maria L. La Ganga
  May 23, 2008
  Full article
  If you are 65 years old or more and you're still working in America today, what are you most likely to be doing? In a word - retail. Nearly 350,000 men and women 65 or older earn paychecks in the nation's stores. And signifigant numbers do farming or janitorial work as well. Most older workers would love to have more options, but many employers are still reluctant to hire them. Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures believes far more options need to be created, calling the current situation "an object lesson in the dangers of what could happen if we don't develop a compelling human resource strategy for an aging society."
• "Pair Break Barriers for Charter Schools"
  Washington Post
  By Jay Matthews
  May 12, 2008
  Full article
  Dennis and Eileen Bakke are quietly but forcefully making an impact in public education. Their Imagine Schools organization is the largest charter school network in the country, and oversees 51 schools with 25,000 students nationally. Nationally, 51 percent of the Imagine Schools' students come from low-income families. Dennis Bakke was co-founder and longtime chief executive of the energy company, AES, prior to retiring in 2002 and becoming an education entrepreneur. Bakke was named a 2007 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize fellow for his groundbreaking efforts to offer greater educational choices to a broad swath of students and families.
• "Retiring boomers seek new meaning"
  Florida Times-Union
  By Deirdre Conner
  May 12, 2008
  Full article
  Boomers on the cusp of retirement are rediscovering themselves and their talents after a first career, something experts are calling the baby boom's "encore performance." A United Way task force is searching for ways to use the boomer talent pool to avoid a shortage of workers and to channel boomers into volunteer or paid public service roles. But Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures and the author of Encore: Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life says there are enormous incentives not to work, among them a cap on Social Security benefits and a lack of jobs with flexible hours. Civic Ventures Vice President Judy Goggin says nonprofits aren't ready. While many boomers are eager to volunteer, their experiences are often unsatisfactory because their skill sets are often not used properly.
• 'Why You Should Start Your Own Business Today'
  Success Magazine
  By Erin Casey and John David Mann
  May 6, 2008
  Full article
  Across the country, legions of people are abandoning their dependence on big business and seeking independence through their own enterprises. Every month, about 1 million Americans go through some type of job change or loss, and increasingly they are deciding to start their own businesses. Working for a traditional corporation has become a risky option. Working for yourself has become the new job security. And freedom is a big perk: you get to choose when you work, how you work and with whom you work. Increasingly boomers want work that makes a greater impact in the world. A landmark study by MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures found that 50 percent of Americans in their 50s and 60s want to do work "that matters."
• "Baby Boomer Statistics and Leading-Edge Research Reveal What Drives Boomer Mindset at 2008 LiveWire: The Summit"
  Business Wire
  May 6, 2008
  Full article
  In one of the most significant social trends of the new century, Boomers are inventing a new phase of work called "encore careers." Glenn Ruffenach, editor of The Wall Street Journal’s Encore report, the paper’s guide to retirement planning and living, will interview Jim Emerman of Civic Ventures at this year’s LiveWire Summit about this new segment of paid work that allows boomers to use their talent and experience to give back to their communities. "Millions of boomers are headed not for an endless vacation but for a new stage of work, driven both by the desire to remain productive and the need to make ends meet over longer life spans," says Emerman. "Boomers can capitalize on longer working lives to go beyond their own narrow needs, get down to some of their most significant work and leave the world a better place than they found it."
• "The Pitfalls of Working Past Retirement Age"
  Wall Street Journal
  By Toddi Gutner
  May 1, 2008
  Full article
  It is no secret that more Americans are working past retirement age. And as economic pressures mount, the decision to remain in the work force -- or return after retiring -- might be less about choice and more about necessity. But what workers with defined-benefit pensions and those who already have tapped Social Security benefits might not realize is that there are significant financial disincentives that make working into retirement age a tricky proposition. To help make re-entering the work force easier for older workers, a slate of legislation aims to alleviate the disincentives. Another idea, suggests Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman, is to allow workers over 65 to opt out of the Social Security payroll tax and allow people between 55 and 65 to buy into Medicare in order to smooth the way for a move to another job.
• "A Longer Goodbye"
  New York Times
  By Claudia Deutsch
  April 21, 2008
  Full article
  Some companies are now offering shorter hours, flexible locations and lighter duties, hoping to keep older workers on board longer. Older employees are getting the chance to wind down gradually, with enough time to pass on their knowledge before they depart for good. But those companies may be in the minority. "Most employers are not even making it easier for people who want to stay, let alone giving them incentives to stay," said Marc Freedman, author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life. Still, some programs for retaining older workers are slowly emerging including those at Dow Chemical, IBM, PG&E, and Pitney Bowes.
• "Testing the Waters with Internships"
  New York Times
  By Elizabeth Pope
  April 21, 2008
  Full article
  Internships, a rite of passage for job-hunting students, are attracting the attention of older adults who are eager to dip into new ventures, paid or not, before taking a full plunge. Businesses recognize that older interns can bring the experience and sophistication that younger people often lack, but the concept is still unusual enough that older adults might need to sell themselves. Many nonprofit groups and small businesses are not structured to accommodate an experienced adult, said Marc Freedman, chief executive of Civic Ventures. So this fall, Civic Ventures plans to start a paid-internship program to place certain retired Silicon Valley executives with nonprofit groups in the area.
• "Second Acts: Career Paths for Worn-out Executives"
  Wall Street Journal
  By Dana Mattioli
  April 13, 2008
  Full article
  Golfing and gardening aren't as enticing as they once were. While boomers are increasingly becoming eligible for Social Security benefits, so far it seems that few are actually putting their working lives to bed. But not all of them want to stay in the jobs, or industries, they spent most of their careers. One of the top destinations for people seeking a second act according to a myriad of surveys: Nonprofits. A survey by Civic Ventures, found that 58% of boomers want a second-career that aids their community. But it's not just altruism at play. Having seasoned employees with business savvy come onboard is an asset for nonprofits, too, since they generally work with limited resources and rely heavily on volunteer work.
• "Turning silver into gold"
  The Oregonian
  April 7, 2008
  Full article
  The massive aging workforce means the US will soon face a critical worker shortage. But a ground-breaking report, from the Multnomah County Task Force on Vital Aging, recently urged businesses, governments, and nonprofits to take this looming liability and convert it into a tremendous asset for Oregon. Instead of bemoaning the shortage, employers should start making smart changes now to attract the huge talent pool that will still be available - older and retired workers. Enticing back those older workers will require a deft rethinking of workplace norms, mind-sets, and schedules.
• "Retirement Could Be Long Gone"
  The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida)
  April 5, 2008
  Full article
  There's not much we can do about aging; we're all doing it. But retirement? That's an idea that could be headed for the dustbin -- if Marc Freedman has anything to say about it. "For the last half century, we've had a cultural vision of success in later life that focused on liberation from work," says Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures. That vision may have outlived its time and Freedman thinks what's coming next will be longer working lives. The question is, working at what? In Freedman's view the key will be to create opportunities for older adults to start new careers that allow them to make a positive social contribution later in life.
• "For baby boomers, 'retirement' may just mean a new job"
  Sacramento Bee
  By M.S. Enkoji
  April 4, 2008
  Full article
  For many boomers middle age won't mean a gold watch and a porch swing. Either by choice or necessity, many boomers intend to work beyond traditional retirement, employment services say. Proposed federal laws that could shore up health coverage and a U.S. Senate hearing later this month will focus new attention on older workers. Employee incentives such as flexible schedules, and a lot of buzz, are creating an inviting atmosphere for longer work lives. The timing could be fortuitous for longer work lives: boomers are healthier and better educated and are among the first to forge identities largely from their work. That means workers in this generation treasure the trappings of work, such as social networks, and are reluctant to let go, said David Bank, a vice president of Civic Ventures.
• "Looking for work"
  San Bernadino Sun
  By Robert Rogers
  April 4, 2008
  Full article
  Increasing numbers of senior citizens and retirees relying on insufficient fixed incomes are finding themselves confronted by a tight labor market. With the economy in decline, the trend of leaner, more cost-conscious employers may be hitting senior members of the work force particularly hard. Advocates and experts say subsidized employment, job training, job placement, and other community-based programs are key to easing tens of millions of aging boomers into golden years employment. Civic Ventures' Experience Corps has more than 2,000 people over 55 in 19 U.S. cities working as tutors and mentors for younger students.
• "Lulled Into Numbness"
  Washington Post
  By Douglas LaBier
  April 1, 2008
  Full article
  How do you grapple with the mid-life challenge of who am I and what am I doing? Studies offer conflicting conclusions on the prevalence of mid-life despair, but here's some advice on how to turn things around. To start, deal with your problems today and rethink your relationships. Even better, design your own evolution. A large-scale study of boomers by MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures in 2005 found that more than half now want their work to contribute to the common good. Does that resonate with you? With your partner, assess how your career (its rewards and trade-offs) relates to the rest of your life and your longer-term goals. What changes would create better alignment?
• "Retirement Revolution"
  PBS
  March 31, 2008
  Audio / Transcript
  Retirement in America is undergoing a revolutionary transformation. This two-part documentary hosted by Paula Zahn explores the many challenges and opportunities faced by the 78 million Baby Boomers who are now heading into retirement. Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman is interviewed.
• "Grant helps boomers become activists"
  Kennebuc Journal
  By Mechele Cooper
  March 28, 2008
  Full article
  Boomers who want to make a difference in their communities can now get the training they need to participate in local and state government and nonprofit organizations. Atlantic Philanthropies awarded a $95,000 grant to the Maine Community Foundation to develop leadership training programs for Mainers 60 and older, one of ten similar grants awarded to foundations around the country. Research from Civic Ventures indicates that nearly 45 million boomers want to be involved in work, paid or volunteer, that helps others.
• "Boomers, don't all retire at once!"
  The Arizona Republic
  By Connie Midey
  March 26, 2008
  Full article
  This year, the oldest boomers turn 62 and become eligible for early Social Security benefits. The thought of millions of boomers taking their early-retirement benefits is causing concern about the stability of Social Security and Medicare. Some states are doing something to avert a potential crisis. Civic Ventures cites Arizona, California, Maryland, New York and Massachusetts as recognizing older workers as "an experience dividend," rather than a drain on resources. Arizona launched its Mature Workforce Initiative in 2005 to engage people 50 and older in meaningful jobs and community service.
• "Early retirement selfish, unpatriotic"
  Baltimore Sun
  By Andrew Yarrow
  March 26, 2008
  Full article
  Writer Andrew Yarrow argues that if Americans retired later, either staying in their current jobs or taking up "encore careers" - what Marc Freedman of Civic Ventures calls do-good, later-life jobs - we could significantly slow the growth of our multitrillion-dollar national debt, which is largely driven by rising Medicare and Social Security costs. We also could keep more people in a labor force that would no longer be growing appreciably if not for immigrants.
• "Mentor tells how to help prisoners' children"
  Richmond Times Dispatch
  By Wesley Hester
  March 17, 2008
  Full article
  The key to keeping kids from following their parents into prison is to get to them first, former Philadelphia Mayor and Purpose Prize winner W. Wilson Goode Sr. told aspiring religious leaders in Richmond. When he was 14, Goode saw his father sent to jail for assaulting his mother. It sparked the fire that led him to help start Amachi, a nonprofit, faith-based program that mentors children whose parents are imprisoned. Goode stresses that early-childhood learning is an effective way to combat soaring prison populations in America and a way to break a repeated cycle of incarceration among generations of families. Today Amachi operates mentoring programs in 48 states and has helped more than 100,000 children.
• "Retire to your dream job"
  Kiplinger's Personal Finance
  By Mary Beth Franklin and Bob Frick
  March 14, 2008
  Full article
  When the flood of baby boomers begin to retire, many will choose to keep working - because someone's got to foot the bill for their "retirement" and because many of them want to stay engaged and keep on working. Seventy five percent of boomers say they want to keep working (but not full-time), and more than half want to start a new career. The good news is that both paid and volunteer work will be available to enterprising boomers. Longevity should be viewed as a gift, says Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures. The U.S. will need experienced older workers as it grapples with social needs and faces labor shortages in such critical areas as education and health care. Freedman says boomers ought to rethink their saving for retirement. "It's liberating if you're not saving for the freedom from work. Instead, you're saving for the freedom to work at something close to your heart." * This story also ran on WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina.
• "Challenge the Boomers to Make a Difference"
  Chronicle of Philanthropy
  By Marc Freedman
  March 6, 2008
  Full article
  A boomer backlash is building. But what to do about it? For better or worse, the boomers, born in 1946 through 1964, will be with us for decades to come. Now is the time to figure out how we can make their transition to a new stage of life more for the better, less for the worse. Rather than coddling and castigating this generation, we need to challenge the boomers — much as President John F. Kennedy did when the boomers were growing up — to answer a call to commitment and to service, to find meaning through something larger than themselves. The stakes couldn't be higher for nonprofit groups and others who care about marshaling talent to solve the great problems that confront us.
• "Get ahead... new opportunities await"
  Boomer!
  February 28, 2008
  Full article
  A new generation of students is descending on America’s colleges and universities. Increasing numbers of baby boomers are shunning traditional retirement and instead setting course for new careers and opportunities. Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman says attending a college or university at 50 or 60 could soon be the norm, with graduate schools designed specifically for accomplished professionals. The reasons for returning to school vary for these older students. Some have been downsized or have financial needs; others don't want to quit working, but want to try something different. Some want to give back in a way they might earlier have been unable to do.
• "Top 10 community leaders"
  San Mateo Daily Journal
  February 25, 2008
  Full article
  The Daily Journal describes ten community leaders, all of whom would be ideal nominees for Civic Ventures' 2008 Purpose Prize. Civic Ventures is redefining retirement as an opportunity to do work that is both fulfilling and gives back to the community in a significant way. The Purpose Prize will award five $100,000 prizes and ten $10,000 prizes to social entrepreneurs making a tremendous difference in their communities and/or the world at large. The deadline is March 1 for nominations.
• "No time to relax: States want new retirees' experience"
  USA Today
  By Haya El Nasser
  February 22, 2008
  Full article
  The wave of baby boomers hitting retirement age threatens to create such a void in the workforce that states are crafting policies and programs to keep older Americans working and volunteering. Five states have launched initiatives aimed at getting the most out of the experience and skills of older Americans and eight more are working with the National Governors Association to study ways to keep boomers in the labor market as volunteers or part-time workers. It's a major shift in public policy in a nation that has treated the aging of 79 million boomers as a likely drain on social and entitlement programs. "People are now saying that they want to and need to continue to work," says John Gomperts, president of Civic Ventures. "The aging of America might turn out to be something good for individuals and communities across the country."
• "Encore Careers Lead to Prize"
  Redwood Age.com
  By Cecily O'Connor
  February 22, 2008
  Full article
  About six years ago, Jose-Pablo Fernandez began an experiment aimed at teaching computer skills to Hispanic parents in Texas, hoping to equip them with marketable skills and strategies to encourage their children to stay in school. His program hit a nerve, and that interest has helped to expand it into more than 100 schools and community centers in Houston, San Antonio and Beaumont. It's now being expanded to Dallas, and replicated in community colleges. The program was one of last year's winners of Civic Ventures' Purpose Prize.
• "Honey, Get Out of the House: the Joys of Retirement"
  Wall Street Journal blog
  By Sara Schaefer Munoz
  February 22, 2008
  Full article
  Couples may need some adjustment to one facet of retirement -- spending more time than they're used to together. For some, it's too much. One solution is going back to work for an encore career. Marc Freedman, founder of Civic Ventures, talks about the option in his book Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life in which he found there are millions of people launching second careers in areas like education, health care, the nonprofit sector, and government.
• "They Say 60 is the New 40. I Say 60 is the New 60"
  The Huffington Post
  By Sherry Lansing
  February 21, 2008
  Full article
  As a guest blogger on Ariana Huffington's web publication, Sherry Lansing, chair of the judges' panel for Civic Ventures Purpose Prize, says if we're defined by our work, then work really needs to mean something. The second half of life, she says, is the time to plow experience, skills, time, and compassion into work that gives back - precisely the path taken by the social entrepreneurs competing for the Purpose Prize. The best way to really understand the Purpose Prize and the immense potential of the experience generation is to meet past winners: among them Sharon Rohrbach, a neonatal hospital nurse from St. Louis, Missouri, who launched Nurses for Newborns to bring RNs into the homes of at-risk families to care for babies and provide essential education and support to new parents; Gordon Johnson, who started Neighbor To Family, a private nonprofit agency that keeps siblings together in foster care; and Wilma Melville, who founded the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation which has produced 85 canine-firefighter search teams provided free to fire departments.
• "12 People Who Are Changing Your Retirement"
  Wall Street Journal
  By Kelly Greene
  February 16, 2008
  Full article
  Among 12 people changing your retirement is Charles Feeney, 76, the founding chairman of Atlantic Philanthropies, an international foundation that is committed to disbursing its entire $4 billion endowment by 2020. A large chunk will go to help older adults live healthier, independent lives with dignity, purpose, and meaning. The foundation has helped fund Civic Ventures' Purpose Prize, awards of $100,000 given each year to five "social entrepreneurs" age 60 or older who are tackling some of society's biggest challenges. Last year Civic Ventures received $10 million from Atlantic Philanthropies in part to stimulate development of encore careers for people 50 and older.
• "'Marketplace' Report: A New Version of Capitalism"
  NPR - Day to Day
  By Steve Tripoli
  February 15, 2008
  Audio / Transcript
  Steve Tripoli, a reporter for NPR's Marketplace says that capitalism is changing significantly and that three big thinkers are helping steer the direction of that change, among them Civic Ventures Marc Freedman. Tripoli says that next wave of businesses should be social businesses, ventures that give solving global problems equal weight with making profits. Civic Ventures is helping a wave of boomers embark on careers of social entrepreneurship. Tripoli also cites cites Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize-winner from Bangladesh who created micro credit to give very poor people tiny loans to smart small businesses. Rounding out the trio is University of Michigan corporate consultant C.K. Prahalad who argues that most of the business world is blowing a giant opportunity by not meeting the needs of the poorest four fifths of humanity.
• "Encore Careers"
  Business Week TV
  February 13, 2008
  Audio / Transcript
  Business Week TV interviews Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman about encore careers: what they are, the factors behind the growth of encore careers, top fields for finding new meaningful work, and suggestions on how to get started. Business Week TV also profiles Nat Fuchs about his encore career working in the Brooklyn District Attorney's Protection Bureau, helping seniors avoid identity theft and fraud. Fuchs worked for thirty years as a trial attorney for the SEC.
• "Discovering Second Acts in Sustained Working Lives"
  New York Times
  By Marci Alboher
  February 11, 2008
  Full article
  A conversation between reporter Marci Alboher and Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman about about the growing phenomenon of encore careers, the obstacles facing older workers, policy changes that could make a difference, and why it is so hard to come up with language to describe this new period of work and life. Alboher calls Freedman the "voice of aging baby boomers eschewing retirement for encore careers - long periods of meaningful and sustaining work later in life." Freedman discusses what he learned and came to believe in the writing of his book Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life.
• "Why Colleges Should Welcome the Return of the Boomers"
  The Chronicle of Higher Education
  By Harris Woford
  February 8, 2008
  Full article [SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED]
  Working during retirement, once considered a contradiction in terms, may become the new reality for most Americans -- one that will have significant repercussions for higher education. In this commentary, Woford predicts that most of the boomer generation, as they approach retirement, will want to do some productive and constructive work on flexible terms -- either paid or volunteer. Boomers need to see themselves as solutions and assets. With labor shortages in health care, engineering, education, and government, it is in our national interest to usher boomers into a more active period than was traditional retirement. In his new book, Encore; Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life, Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman makes the case that the training and education provided by community colleges will help meet the needs of our complex society in a variety of fields.
• "I'll Be Back"
  Inc. Magazine
  By Leigh Buchanan
  February 2008
  Full article
  Business owners may dream of kicking back after years of full-throttle company building, yet many return to the fray, suffering adrenaline withdrawal and lured by new opportunities. While planning for retirement, consider that it might be of limited duration. Here's some retirement advice for those between working gigs. Reorder your priorities; do some good. Marc Freedman, president of Civic Ventures suggests entrepreneurs life themselves out of their comfort zones to apply their business skills to world problems, to consider ventures that involve an element of social responsibility. Freedman offers the example of Gary Moxworthy, a 2007 Purpose Prize winner who retired from his large food brokerage and joined the antipoverty program VISTA. He then developed a system to distribute fresh produce and food tossed out by supermarkets to food banks.
• "Suzanne Mintz, Making Family Caregiving Easier"
  NPR - Fresh Air
  By Terry Gross
  January 30, 2008
  Full article
  Terry Gross interviews 2006 Purpose Prize $10,000 winner Suzanne Mintz, president and co-founder of the National Family Caregivers Association. Mintz' husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1974, and she has been caring for him since. She talks to Gross about how caregivers can secure support and become advocates for not only those they care for, but themselves as well. Mintz has updated her book, A Family Caregiver Speaks Up: "It Doesn't Have to Be This Hard!"
• "Web Sites Give Retirees Help Re-Entering Workplace"
  Dorothy Tucker
  By CBS2-TV Chicago
  January 30, 2008
  Full article
  More Americans are working longer by choice, even starting new careers in their 50s and 60s. A new generation of job websites have popped up to meet their needs. Sites like YourEncore.com and RetirementJobs.com connect older workers with companies offering all kinds of opportunities, from retail to health care and more. David Bank, vice president of Civic Ventures and editor of Encore.org says there is particular need for teachers, adjunct teachers, classroom aids and tutors. He also cites a demand for those with specific skills in science and engineering.
• "No Country for Old People"
  Washington Post - Op Ed
  By Marc Freedman
  January 27, 2008
  Full article
  Though Allstate Insurance ads would have you think otherwise, millions of boomers are headed not for endless vacation but for a new stage of work, driven both by the desire to remain productive and the need to make ends meet over longer life spans. It's a truth compounded by a souring economic climate as housing prices fall and a volatile stock market threatens dramatic declines in 401(k)s. All those boomers staying in the workplace could mean the biggest transformation of work and the workforce in the United States since women broke through to new roles decades ago. The question is what will they do? By establishing better routes to significant "encore careers," we can reinvest the baby boomers' huge pool of human capital in areas where it's most needed. The alternative? Frittering away an enormous "experience dividend."
• "Author redefines what will work for boomers"
  Orlando Sentinel
  By Jane Glenn Haas
  January 21, 2008
  Full article
  At 49, Marc Freedman ofCivic Ventures is a poster boy for the future of America, says Haas. He has no plans of checking out of the workforce by the time he can claim social security benefits. According to Freedman, "It's time to change the deal the nation has with older Americans...What's needed is a new compact that turns the necessity of work into a virtue...We need to have a conversation around constructing a new deal that says if you are willing to use your talent and energy and contribute, we'll make it worth your while. We need to get rid of barriers, create incentives, make work personally meaningful." ***this article first ran in the Orange County Register
• "Blue-Collar Boomers Take Work Ethic to College"
  Chronicle of Higher Education
  By Libby Sander
  January 18, 2008
  With the help of community colleges, some blue collar baby boomers are changing gears and retraining for new jobs that are less physically taxing. In doing so, these workers are among those who are redefining the traditional notion of retirement by working much later in life. And they are also leaving their mark on community colleges, many of which are fine-tuning their programs and making them more accessible to older adults. In a 2005 survey of adults between the ages of 50 and 59 by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures, 66 percent said they planned to keep working in some fashion during their retirement years. Of that 66 percent, 15 percent said they would never retire. *** this article link available to subscribers only
• "Partnership for Public Service and IBM Team to Steer Baby Boomers to Mission Critical Government Jobs"
  EARTHtimes.org (UK)
  January 17, 2008
  Full article
  The war for talent is hitting the federal government hard, as more than one-third of the full-time permanent federal workforce gets ready to retire or leave in the next five years. In response, the Partnership for Public Service has launched the FedExperience Transitions to Government -- an initiative to help match government's critical hiring needs with the talents of baby boomers looking for encore careers where they can find interesting and challenging work. IBM is collaborating with the Partnership and the U.S. Department of Treasury to identify, recruit, and hire interested IBM employees and retirees and match them to key federal government jobs. Nearly 14,000 mission-critical jobs need to be filled at the U.S. Department of Treasury in the next two years. Civic Ventures and AARP are working with the Partnership to expand the effort to other agencies and to the corporate sector.
• "Wanted: Volunteers - Nonprofits compete for older Americans by offering flexible schedules, pay"
  MarketWatch
  By Kristen Gerencher
  January 10, 2008
  Full article
  Older adults eager to volunteer have their pick of a growing number of innovative new options, with many nonprofits trying to meet volunteers halfway by giving them flexibility, new challenges and, in some cases, a nominal paycheck in exchange for their skilled work. Nonprofits are taking their cues from established groups like the Peace Corps, Experience Corps, and AmeriCorps in offering some pay. Civic Ventures co-founder and president Marc Freedman says, "Very few people are going to be able to volunteer for years on end without any compensation in the way that their parents' generation was able to....The nature of volunteering is going to change and become a little more instrumental. It's a great way station for people who think they might be interested in making a significant commitment to a new area but have been busy doing other things in midlife."
• "Wired to Work, 'Me Generation' Volunteers in Record Numbers"
  Richmond Times Dispatch
  By John Martin
  January 10, 2008
  Full article
  In this opinion piece, Martin says that the avalanche of news stories about the demographic demographic tsunami of retiring or soon-to-be retiring boomers "was enough to drive us crazy... because we know the idea of a permanent 'retirement' is insane to most boomers." Today boomers represent the biggest segment of volunteers and they are volunteering at a higher rate than the previous generation does now or in their earlier years. All of this is great news for organizations that rely on volunteers, but they need to think of those boomer volunteers as important assets, not just warm bodies. Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures says, "Boomers at this stage of life can respond to JFK's challenge -- to ask not what the country can do for me but what I can do for the country. We as a society need to call them up to a higher purpose. We need to create the on-ramps to work that matters and embrace the talent."
• "Prepare for a new brand of retirement"
  Seattle Times
  By Colleen Long
  January 7, 2008
  Full article
  Retirement ain't what it used to be. We're living longer and healthier lives, and the cost of living is increasing vastly. That means more time to spend money, less money to spend. Jobs used to be physically demanding, and the prospect of leisure at 65 seemed novel. Today, jobs are more sedentary, and people are increasingly admitting that a 24/7 vacation-style life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Society is slowly changing how it views retirees. Companies are increasingly hiring older workers, especially in fields where there is a skills shortage such as nursing and teaching. Websites like civicventures.org and encore.org can help direct boomers to jobs in these fields and nonprofits.
• "Baby boomers go back to college"
  Dallas Morning News
  By Bob Moos
  January 3, 2008
  Full article
  Four in five boomers intend to work past their traditional retirement age, and many want to find new jobs with a higher social purpose and more flexible hours. Labor analysts, meanwhile, predict the U.S. economy will face shortages of 6 million workers by 2012 and 35 million workers by 2030. The hardest-hit fields will be education, health care, and public service. "The two trends present a historic opportunity for community colleges," says Judy Goggin, a vice president for Civic Ventures. Richland Community College in Dallas is emerging as a national model for catering to boomer students. The school is launching its Boomer Reboot program this month with a range of evening classes that will teach boomers how to look for a job, plan for retirement, care for aging parents, and manage their own stress. The new classes are in addition to Richland's current health professions and teacher certification programs, which each year attract dozens of midlife students eager to switch careers. * This article also ran in the Virginian-Pilot and in the Times Argus in Montpellier, VT

More Civic Ventures in the News

• Civic Ventures in the News - 2010
• Civic Ventures in the News - 2009
• Civic Ventures in the News - 2007
• Civic Ventures in the News - 2006
• Civic Ventures in the News - 2005
• Civic Ventures in the News - 2004