By Suzanne Braun Levine

This has been quite a month!

First of all, I finally held in my hands a copy of my new book How We Love Now; it has been eighteen months since I finished it, and at last it is real. The scary part is that it will soon be in the hands of actual readers, and while I am anxious to hear if it resonates with other women, I am less anxious to hear if it doesn’t, which will undoubtedly happen.

By Suzanne Braun Levine,
Civic Ventures Board Member

I joined the Board of Civic Ventures in 2009, and one of the most inspiring elements of their mission is the discovery and celebration of outstanding social entrepreneurs in the Encore stage of life. The winners of the Purpose Prize have been selected from hundreds of nominees, and having had the honor of being one of the judges, I can tell you that the choices were tough to make; there were many resourceful and courageous candidates for this year’s prizes.

By Suzanne Braun Levine

Back in 2000 my first book Father Courage: What Happens When Men Put Family First came out. In it I talked about men who desperately wanted to be more involved with their families and do more of their share at home but were constrained by the workplace culture and the prevailing image of how a Real Man prioritized his work and family. One told me that he was so afraid of getting caught leaving his office at 6:00 p.m. and being thought not committed to his work that he parked in a distant corner of the parking lot. Another told me that when he went to the playground with his baby daughter on a weekday, people assumed one of two things – that he was unemployed (a failure) or a sexual predator.

By Stefanie Weiss,
VP Communications at
Civic Ventures

Some of the most inspiring Encore stories come from Civic Ventures Purpose Prize winners and fellows, people in their 60s who are tackling society’s toughest problems.

By Ruth A. Wooden,
Chair, Civic Ventures

Shift Happens. It’s probably happening to you right now

My big shift started when I retired last year, and it’s still going. I’m not sure where I’m headed, but it’s been a pleasure to hit the pause button while I ponder. Lately, certain life moments have hooked my attention, turning points that mark shifts not only in the world around me but in the way I view it.

Marc Freedman, Founder & CEO
Civic Ventures, THE BIG SHIFT: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife

What is so special about Marc Freedman’s new book, THE BIG SHIFT is that it shares a vision for a new stage of life that will be rich and full for both the people entering their fifties and sixties and the society at large.

It also shares stories of people who have entered that Encore stage. I always think one story is worth a thousand words. Here is Anne Nolan’s from THE BIG SHIFT…

By Suzanne Braun Levine

This is past weekend I experienced a powerful antidote to the gloom and doom that seem to have settled over current events: the company of inspiring and determined social entrepreneurs, who had gathered in Philadelphia (appropriately, given the reminders everywhere of the idealism and perseverance that it took to invent our Constitution) to share information and give fellow pioneers moral support.

By Ruth Wooden

President, Public Agenda & Chair of the Board, Civic Ventures
There’s a new chapter required in The Etiquette Handbook:  “What to say to someone who is retiring.”
I can’t get over some of the things people have said to me after a routine announcement that I plan to retire as President of a NYC-based nonprofit later this year.  By the time I retire, I will be 64 and will have served more than seven years in this position after a working career of more than …

“ENCORE CAREERS – Recession Prompts Reinvention”

By Terry Nagel, Managing Editor
Encore.org
As the economy forces people to rethink their careers, a vanguard of the adventurous and the desperate is navigating an unrecognizable landscape that has little to do with resumes and contacts.
In the June issue of San Francisco magazine, Nina Martin tells the stories of more than a dozen Bay Area residents who have discovered that all the rules about job hunting have changed. Landing a job these days requires reinvention – “a do-it-yourself proposition,” according …

Civic Ventures and Encore.org in the News – Again!
Photo Credit: Angela Jimenez for The New York Times
Ever since the June, 2009 White House hosted an event salute to social innovators who are in their Encore Careers, Civic Ventures www.civicventures.org and Encore.org have been in the news.
On March 3, 2010 The New York Times (by Elizabeth Pope) reported on “Matching Life Experience With New Careers:”
“HEALTH navigator? Conflict coach? Pollution mitigation outreach worker? These emerging jobs aren’t household terms yet, but they are a natural fit for older people looking for …