These are stories Civic Ventures has collected over years of research into creative engagement by people in the second half of their lives. Most are living today, some famous and others not so well known. Taken as a group, they exemplify the characteristics and accomplishments we want to recognize through The Purpose Prize.

Diane Granito was hired in her early 50s as a grassroots recruiter for foster and adoptive parents in New Mexico and shortly thereafter founded the HEART Gallery – a showcase for portraits by well-known photographers of children available for adoption. The first gallery in Santa Fe was a tremendous success, prompting the creation of other HEART Gallery exhibits in several states across the country.

Anthony Essaye retired at age 68 from a career as a corporate lawyer and helped launch the International Senior Lawyers Project to do pro-bono legal work with a focus on promoting the rule of law in developing countries.

Margie Richard, a retired middle school teacher, spearheaded a community campaign against a chemical plant in her Louisiana hometown. The company was pressured to reduce toxic chemical emissions by 30 percent and to provide resettlement assistance for those too poor to relocate.

Herman Bank retired from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California, and seven years later – in his 70s – founded Volunteer Professionals for Medical Advancement. The organization recruits retired engineers and scientists from the Jet Propulsion Lab, NASA, and CalTech to apply their expertise to projects that improve health care.

Steve Weiner, the retired provost of Mills College in California, co-founded at age 65 the Campaign for College Opportunity, a group that advocates for increased support to keep the state's postsecondary schools affordable for low-income students.

"It seems to me this is not the time to step out; it's the time to step up. So I am not on a lounge chair, because I am doing the work I want to do, and I've never felt more competent to do it."
- Angela Glover Blackwell
Founder, PolicyLink

Angela Glover Blackwell, a renowned social activist, founded PolicyLink in 1999 at the age of 54. PolicyLink is a national nonprofit research, communications, capacity building, and advocacy organization working to advance policies to achieve economic and social equity.

Charlotte Frank and Christine Millen founded the Transition Network, a New York City-based organization that helps women over age 50 move from the career and/or family-focused phase of their lives to the next stage. Their chief goal is to ensure that older women have post-retirement opportunities commensurate with their skills.

Maria Rifo, a migrant farm worker involved with the United Farm Workers' efforts to unionize California's farm laborers, founded Alternatives to Violence USA. The organization helps young people who have been in trouble with the law to develop self-respect and more constructive lifestyles.

J.H. "Jack" Hexter, a distinguished professor of history at Yale and Washington University in St. Louis, began at age 80 to promote the concept of "Troops to Teachers" and convinced Senator John Danforth to secure federal funding for the program. Troops to Teachers was launched in 1998, two years after Hexter died, and has helped channel thousands of retired veterans into teaching, particularly in high-demand subject areas.

"When I look back at my life, I'd like to be able to say I left the world a slightly better place."
- Jane Roberts
Co-founder, 34 Million Friends

Jane Roberts and Lois Abraham founded the grassroots movement 34 Million Friends with the concept of asking 34 million people to give $1 each to the United Nations Population Fund. The funding supports work in 140 countries to prevent violence against women and to help women survive childbirth, plan their families, and avoid AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Suzanne Mintz co-founded the National Family Caregivers Association, prompted by her own experience as a caregiver for her husband Stephen, who has MS. NFCA is a grassroots organization that educates, empowers, and speaks up for family caregivers.

Jerry Conover is a trial lawyer turned mediator/arbitrator and the founder of Hope for Generations, an organization that funnels social security money (part or all of recipients' benefits) toward children's charities.

Ruth Brinker, a retired grandmother, watched a friend die of AIDS and realized that malnutrition was a serious issue for many people infected with HIV/AIDS. Using her experience as a manager with a local food program, Brinker enlisted the help of her friends, secured a basement kitchen at a local church, and began to serve meals to ill clients through Project Open Hand.

"I wouldn't probably have chosen this life, nor would I have planned it out for myself. But as these doors opened, and I was willing to walk through them, I've just gone on this amazing adventure!"
- Sally Bingham
Founder, The Regeneration Project

Sally Bingham combines environmentalism and religion in her role as an Episcopal priest and executive director of The Regeneration Project in San Francisco. The nonprofit, which she founded at age 51 while still in the seminary, gets people of faith involved in protecting the earth.

Bill Schwartz, a 57-year-old internist in private practice, enlisted the help of Walter Gaines, a retired radiologist, and founded the Samaritan House Free Clinic to serve the working poor in San Mateo County, California.

Jack and Lois Wolters created a Habitat for Humanity program where groups of RVers help build houses in areas that have difficulty finding enough local volunteers. Inspired by their love of RV living and volunteering for Habitat, an ecumenical Christian organization, the Wolters started running the program out of their North Carolina home or from the road when they were leading a building team.

Maggie Kuhn was forced to retire from her career with the Presbyterian Church at age 65. Infuriated by being pushed out, she and a group of her friends founded the Gray Panthers to work on issues of concern to the elderly, such as pension rights and age discrimination. At the core of the Gray Panthers' message was that older people needed to seize control of their lives and be actively working for issues in which they believed.

"I came of age in the great era of service-oriented America, the late '50s, early '60s. You didn't ask, you just did. I was inspired by JFK's speech. That was my beacon."
- Chris Klose
Co-founder, Peace Corps Encore!

Jerr Boschee and Chris Klose, two former Peace Corp members, are the founders of Peace Corps Encore!, a nonprofit organization that specializes in developing, managing, and measuring social impact projects around the world. Former Peace Corps volunteers and staff members are deployed on short-term assignments in their areas of professional expertise.

Cherry Kinoshita was a driving force behind the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which apologized to Japanese Americans held in internment camps during World War II because of "racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership."

Charlie Costello and Jim Conroy, both Jesuit priests, recognized an eagerness on the part of lay people in the Catholic Church who were seeking ways to grow spiritually and help others in their community. In response, they created the Ignatian Lay Volunteer Corps, a nonprofit involving people age 50 and older who work with the poor and reflect on that ministry.

 

The photos on this page of Bill Schwartz and Jim Conroy are © Alex Harris