The 2008 Purpose Prize Winners One winner put his mechanical know-how to work and invented a $28 machine to help rural African villagers shell peanuts more efficiently, boosting village income from a critical cash crop. Another, in Fargo, North Dakota, rallied hundreds of local volunteers to help thousands of refugees from countries like Iraq and Somalia start new lives in their city. A third is working to ensure that Black farmers in the South are included in the new "green" economy. Six $100,000 winners and nine $10,000 winners were chosen from more than 1,000 nominees for their creative and effective work tackling problems ranging from poverty to pollution, recidivism to racial reconciliation, health care to homelessness. For the first time, Americans doing work abroad were eligible to win. The Purpose Prize®, a six-year, $17 million program, is the nation's only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life. In addition to the 15 winners, Civic Ventures has named more than 50 new Purpose Prize Fellows, all leaders in the movement to invent new ways to solve society's toughest challenges. Winners and Fellows have all been invited to the Encore Careers Summit, Dec 5-7 at Stanford University. Funding for The Purpose Prize® comes from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation. Read the full news release here »