SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Civic Ventures today announced a major pilot program with Intel to offer all of Intel’s U.S. employees who are eligible to retire the chance to apply for Encore Fellowships – paid, part-time, yearlong assignments working at local nonprofits.
This marks the largest expansion of the Encore Fellowships program and a bold expansion of the national conversation about retirement in the 21st century.
Encore Fellowships, first piloted by Civic Ventures in Silicon Valley in 2009, are designed to provide a new source of experienced talent to organizations solving critical social problems, while offering those who have finished midlife careers the chance to transition to encore careers in the nonprofit sector.
Intel’s new program underscores the changing nature of longer lives. For many people, retirement from midlife careers no longer marks the end of work and contribution. Instead it marks the beginning of a new, encore stage of life, often dedicated to work that benefits society.
New research from Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation shows that as many as 9 million people, or 9 percent of all people ages 44 to 70, are currently in encore careers, having made major career changes after age 40 or come out of retirement to do work that combines personal meaning, continued income and social purpose. (Civic Ventures will release the report, Encore Career Choices: Purpose, Passion and a Paycheck in a Tough Economy, on November 29.)
“Intel offers those who aren’t ready to wind down a new option: Gear up for the greater good,” said Marc Freedman, founder and CEO of Civic Ventures and author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife.
Encore Fellows are matched with nonprofits, where they typically work 1,000 hours over a six- to 12-month period, through either a part- or full-time schedule, and earn a stipend of $25,000. Intel employees will offer nonprofits a wealth of skills – operations, finance, marketing, IT, human resources and more – that can help nonprofits achieve their goals and transform their operations.
“Encore Fellowships go well beyond traditional volunteer and board roles. These paid positions focus on the retiree’s evolution to a new stage of work and broaden the talent and experience available to local nonprofits,” said Richard Taylor, Vice President of Human Resources at Intel. “Intel cares a lot about its communities and our talented and skilled retirees, so this is a win-win for us.”
Civic Ventures – a nonprofit think tank on boomers, work and social purpose – created Encore Fellowships in 2009 with funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. HP was the first company to sponsor fellows. Other major sponsors now include the California HealthCare Foundation and Agilent Technologies. About 100 people have either completed their Encore Fellowships or are now working as Encore Fellows.
Encore Fellowships are now available, via various funders and company sponsors, in Silicon Valley; the San Francisco Bay Area; Sacramento, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Maricopa County, Ariz.; New York; California’s Central Valley; Albuquerque, N.M.; Hudson, Mass.; Seattle; and Washington, D.C.
Evaluations from existing Encore Fellows programs over the past two years have shown an extremely high level of satisfaction among the participating nonprofits and Encore Fellows. See a video about the program here.
About Civic Ventures (www.encore.org)
Civic Ventures is a national think tank on boomers, work and social purpose that introduced the concept of encore careers that combine purpose, passion and a paycheck. For more information about the Encore Fellows program, go to www.encore.org/fellowships.