My Dad’s Journey for an Encore Career: Part I

by Monisha Kapila

One of the hottest topics in nonprofit human capital is leveraging the potential of Baby Boomers who are looking for an "Encore" career. Encore: Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life started as a concept in a book, and is now taking hold in society through the leadership of Civic Ventures.

The Encore Careers campaign aims to engage millions of boomers in encore careers, providing personal fulfillment doing paid work and producing a windfall of human talent to solve society's greatest problems. The SERVE America Act currently being discussed by Congress even includes support for Encore Fellowships.

My Dad recently retired from a 45+ year career as an engineer in the automotive industry. He is now exploring opportunities to give back through an Encore Career. We will be tracking his journey in the coming months. Here is the first update from my Dad:

Dear Monisha: Since I retired from Bosch in February 2009, I have been looking for some volunteer work. I have been volunteering at the Rochester Hills Older Person's Commission in their Meals on Wheels program. This program has volunteers delivering hot lunch trays to people who are in need. I have met quite a few people already and I feel good doing this work. I still have enough free time to look for some additional volunteer work.

I finished reading the book Encore by Marc Freedman that you gave me during my last visit to DC. I enjoyed reading it and learned a few things. This book is very motivating for people who are either at the peak of their careers or are close to retirement and would like to transition into something more meaningful and satisfying, such as non-profit or volunteer work. There are a lot of case studies of people who have made the transition into non-profit jobs and feel very satisfied, in spite of taking a large cut in salary. I have explored some of the reference websites to look for opportunities of my interest. I have not found anything yet but I will keep looking. I think this book will be useful for you as well.