SAN FRANCISCO, CA –Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation have awarded eight $25,000 grants to community colleges, supporting  programs aimed at retraining experienced adults for jobs as solar panel installers, bilingual community health workers, and math and science teachers, among others. Winners were chosen from more than 100 applicants for their innovative approaches to matching boomer talent with social purpose jobs that fill specific, local workforce needs—including green jobs.

Launched by Civic Ventures – a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose, and MetLife Foundation, the Community College Encore Career Initiative provides support to community colleges that are updating their own offerings to help people over 50 prepare for encore careers, which combine continued income with personal meaning and social impact. In 2008, the Encore Career Survey by MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures, found that half of those surveyed between the ages of 44 and 70 said they are interested in pursuing an encore career.

“Even in good economic times, it’s not easy to get from the end of a midlife career to the beginning of an encore career,” said Marc Freedman, CEO and founder of Civic Ventures and author of Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life. “In these tough times, community colleges are stepping up to provide a vital bridge to older job seekers who want work that means something to them — and matters to the world.”

The $25,000 Community College Encore Career Grants go to community colleges in eight states — Arizona, California, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington — that are piloting, marketing or expanding courses to retrain boomers for jobs in education, health care, social services and, new this year, green jobs.  Grantees include:

• Community College of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, PA) – CCAC will train dislocated professionals as certified Medical Office Managers, an occupation expected to grow nationally by 16 percent through 2016. Students will move into the growing regional health care field working in physicians’ offices, medical clinics, medical practices, and hospital health care facilities. 
• Community Colleges of Spokane (Spokane, WA) – This college will develop a program to help older adults make smooth transitions to green jobs, through a course that helps participants explore the nature of green jobs, learn how to become employed, or enroll in additional certification training.
• Grand Rapids Community College (Grand Rapids, MI) – This college will build on past success to expand local employer connections through a new employer training program, and will launch a course that increases the employability of students for encore careers in health care.
• LaGuardia Community College (New York, NY) – Older immigrants who have worked professionally in the social services and health care fields in their native countries will be recruited for training leading to employment as community health workers, providing people in underserved NYC communities with needed health information and services from experienced, bilingual workers. 
• Ohlone College (Newark, CA) – Seasoned electricians, general contractors, and tradespeople receive training as mentors and team leaders for economically disadvantaged youths entering the green-collar workforce. Some “Green Encore Fellows” receive intensive solar energy training to design and install green energy systems and be placed with employers who have an urgent need for skilled supervisors and trainers.
• Rio Salado College (Tempe, AZ) – This college will increase the number of 50+ adults enrolled in teacher certification programs through marketing and recruitment efforts with AARP and local partners.
• Southeastern Community College (Whiteville, NC) – The college’s Green Pathways Project will reach out to older low-income and dislocated workers whose traditional income sources have disappeared and provide them the skills necessary to apply for emerging green encore careers linked to the county’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.
• Union County College (Cranford, NJ) – Support systems are now strained for hard-to-employ individuals including an increasing pool of ex-offenders in need of jobs. Union County’s Workforce Specialist Academy will prepare older professionals and volunteers as adult educators to fill the gaps in adult basic education, workforce development, and prisoner re-entry services.

“By investing in our nation’s community colleges, we are opening more doors to older Americans in need of affordable and flexible retraining,” said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation. “This initiative supports colleges on the forefront of tapping the talent of older adults to meet community needs, and also provides a road map for other colleges to follow.”

After a year of implementing their initiatives, the colleges will collaborate with Civic Ventures to report on lessons learned from their programs and to make recommendations on how best to provide courses that work for boomers interested in encore careers.

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About Civic Ventures
Civic Ventures is a think tank on boomers work and social purpose. Learn more at www.encore.org.

About MetLife Foundation
MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 by MetLife to carry on its long-standing tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. The Foundation has been involved in a variety of aging-related initiatives addressing issues of caregiving, intergenerational activities, mental fitness, health and wellness programs and civic involvement. Learn more at www.metlife.org.