Purpose Prize

A special event will be taking place the last day of February. Encore careerists will be discussing how they ended up changing careers in mid-life, and winners of The Purpose Prize will talk about their experiences as social entrepreneurs. Curious about the Encore Career concept? I recommend Marc Freedman's book, Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life. More information is below from guest blogger, Alexandra Kent, Director of the Purpose Prize initiative of Civic Ventures.

Encore Careers: Use your experience, pursue your passion

As more and more older adults extend their working lives - out of desire or necessity, the tarnished dream of endless leisure in the "Golden Years" is giving way to a new form of practical idealism: Encore Careers.

Encore Careers provide an opportunity to put experience and skill to work for the greater good while finding personal fulfillment and a paycheck.

Want to hear from people who overcame obstacles and found a rewarding and challenging encore career? On Saturday, February 28th at 2 PM, The New York Public Library will host Encore Careers: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life, a networking event for the public. You'll hear from:

Elizabeth Alderman of Bedford, NY, who will talk about losing her 25-year-old son, Peter, in the World Trade Center attack on 9/11 and how she turned her grief into a new sense of social purpose. Along with her husband, Stephen, she has devoted the last six years to setting up clinics to treat survivors of torture, war and terrorism around the globe to honor her son's memory.

Catalino Tapia, a gardener who immigrated to the United States from Mexico with $6 in his pocket, who will share how in his sixties, filled with an overwhelming desire to enable children of Latino immigrants to go to college, he founded the Bay Area Gardener's Foundation to raise scholarship money.

Other guests include Michael Watson, a former IBM executive who transitioned to the nonprofit sector in his late 40s, and now heads up Human Resources for The Girl Scouts of America. He'll discuss encore transitions from a personal perspective and as an encore employer.

Jeri Sedlar of Don't Retire, REWIRE! will lead a discussion on getting started on your encore career, the opportunities, obstacles, and tips along the way.

Please join us!

Where: New York Public Library, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, 42nd Street & Fifth Avenue, South Court Auditorium
When: Saturday, February 28
2 to 4 p.m., followed by reception.
Reservations: Free and open to the public. No reservations required.

This event is being co-sponsored by The Encore Careers campaign and The Purpose Prize®, a major initiative of the campaign, which invests in a new generation of social innovators over the age of 60 creating new ways to solve social issues.

Today's Guest Blogger: Alexandra Kent, Director, The Purpose Prize®

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done... as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.
We have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.

Our new president spoke these words to us yesterday, challenging and exhorting us to do what we can, gladly. Our country—and our world—are full of opportunities to do useful work, but how do you find the right one for you? If you’re over 50, consider the following:

• Senior Corps, a national effort begun in the 1960s, connects people over 55 with people and programs that need them. Three programs currently exist under the Senior Corps umbrella: Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and RSVP.
• The Peace Corps is looking for people over 50.
• Experience Corps finds people over 55 to tutor, mentor, and work with afterschool programs in New York City and over 20 other cities nationwide.
• If you’re in New York City and want to volunteer in the public elementary or high schools, consider Learning Leaders.
• New York Cares works in hundreds of locations throughout New York City and touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers each year.
• SCORE volunteers counsel those struggling to start or grow a small business.
• If you want to mentor a child, the Mentoring Partnership will help you find a program that’s right for you.
• ReServe Elder Service connects New York City’s retired professionals with compensated service opportunities.
• Women over 50 should take a look at the Transition Network’s website for plenty of ideas for volunteering, and much, much more.
• Other places to look are the New York City Department for the Aging website and, of course, AARP’s user-friendly website.
• The Mayor's Volunteer Center of New York City has partnered with the United Way of New York City to produce an amazing website.

And I would be negligent if I didn’t mention Civic Ventures’ Purpose Prize, which awards up to $100,000 to several Americans aged 60 or over each year to take on a major challenge of society. The New York Public Library will be welcoming several winners of The Purpose Prize and representatives from Civic Ventures, to an event at the South Court auditorium of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 2 P.M. Come to find out how you too can help solve a problem of society, whether local, national, or global.