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Discovering Second Acts In Sustained Working Lives

The New York Times, 2/11/08

Abstract:

Marc Freedman has become the voice of aging baby boomers who are eschewing retirement for what he calls "encore careers," long periods of meaningful and sustaining work later in life. Mr. Freedman, who was one of the founders of Experience Corps, now runs Civic Ventures, an incubator of programs and ideas to redefine the second half of life. One of those programs, the Purpose Prize, gives monetary awards to entrepreneurial innovators over the age of 60 who have contributed to the social good.

After reading his book "Encore" (PublicAffairs, 2007), I decided to chat with Mr. Freedman about the growing phenomenon of encore careers, the obstacles facing older workers, and why it is so hard to come up with language to describe this new period of work life.

Following are excerpts from our conversation:

Q. You have coined the term "encore career" to describe work in the second half of life that combines continued income, new meaning and a significant contribution to the greater good. When did you notice this was happening?

A. During the time of the first Clinton administration there was a great deal of enthusiasm around programs like AmeriCorps and Teach for America. A lot of the focus was on young people, and I felt there was an undiscovered continent of idealism and experience in the older population. So, along with the late John Gardner and others, I helped to create ExperienceCorps, a national service program for people over 55. It was designed to be like the Peace Corps — something you do for a year or two and then move on. What we discovered is that no one ever leaves. Instead of being something you do for a ear or two, it became as significant to people as the work they did before.

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