EngAGE Founder and Executive Director Tim Carpenter passed along this news from our friend Marc Freedman, Founder and C.E.O. of Encore.org, about the publication of his thoughtful essay:
With millions moving beyond the middle years, it’s time to create a “school for the second half of life,” as Carl Jung urged more than three-quarters of a century ago. In a new essay for Harvard Business Review‘s blog network, now live at HBR.org, I set out a case for this new stage of education, and try to imagine how we might realize its possibilities.
Higher education has an opportunity and, I believe, a responsibility, to respond to the new normal of longer, healthier lives with offerings that challenge, inform and inspire – that move beyond the enrichment courses that characterize much lifelong learning – and that can help individuals in their 50s, 60s, and 70s prepare for second acts infused with purpose and significance.
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I’m inspired by innovative efforts at Harvard and Stanford to prepare seasoned leaders to launch ambitious encore careers aimed at solving social problems in systemic ways. And I’m equally heartened by a growing array of institutions across the higher-education universe mounting their own groundbreaking initiatives targeting boomers and aimed at the twin goals of individual and social renewal. At Encore.org, we’re working with many of these institutions, including Pace, Tulane, and the University of Washington, through our emerging “Encore U” initiative. The time has come to dramatically expand these opportunities, and in the article I argue that we can do so through taking a page from the GI Bill’s transformative success. What do you think? I hope you’ll read the new essay, share it with friends and colleagues, and weigh in with your ideas and comments on HBR.org. With all best, Marc Freedman Founder and CEO, Encore.org P.S. A vanguard group of higher-education professionals will be part of Encore.org’s 2014 conference in Tempe, Arizona, Building an Encore Nation. They’ll be joining 500 leaders from media, business, philanthropy, government, local communities, and the nonprofit sector – who all see the potential of tapping the experience of those in and beyond midlife to improve our communities and the world. Our roster of speakers includes New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, AARP COO (and soon-to-be CEO) Jo Ann Jenkins, Packard Foundation CEO Carol Larsen, journalists Farai Chideya and Chris Farrell, as well as longtime Encore.org supporters Michael Eisner, Sherry Lansing, and Jane Pauley. If you are a leader or activist in the encore movement or would like to become one, we hope you’ll think about joining us, too. |
