The Best Life

The idea of older people finding new work passions and careers well into their 60s and even 70s has entered the mainstream. Driven by surging numbers of aging baby boomers and a tough recession, encore careers have become increasingly common. That wasn't the case in 1997, when Marc Freedman founded Civic Ventures and began supporting and celebrating older social entrepreneurs who developed ventures to make the world a little bit better.

The name Civic Ventures was always envisioned as a temporary placeholder that would be replaced with a more specific name, Freedman recalls. "From the get-go, we really felt like the epitome of the encore career is kind of a practical idealism," he says. "It combines the requirement for most of us to continue earning a market income with health insurance, with having a sense of purpose." One of the branding phrases of encore careers, he notes, became "passion, purpose, and a paycheck."

"There are millions of people who are already at this work," he says, describing the sustained trend of new and extended careers for seniors. "For us, it is less of an abstract notion and more of an opportunity to tell the stories of people who are already doing it." Partnering with foundations and corporate supporters, the group began an annual awards program to celebrate inspiring stories of social entrepreneurs. This year, five entrepreneurs received $100,000 prizes for their work and the stories of another 35 finalists were also collected and publicized. All are at least 60 years old.

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