Our 25th

Call us catalysts, thought leaders, innovators, community builders — we answer to them all. But, in this our 25th year, the term we most embrace is “norm entrepreneurs.”

In our first 20 years, we helped change the norm from golden years to encore careers, from “graying as playing” to “second acts for the greater good.” Now we’re working to change the norm from generations apart to generations together, bridging divides and solving problems that no generation can solve alone.

On this anniversary, we look back with pride, then forward with vision, drive and urgency. For your role in our past and our future, we’re so grateful. Thank you for all you’ve done and for all you will do to advance and support this critical work.

Please consider making a donation to honor our 25th anniversary and invest in our future.

We look forward to doing so much more together!

Marc Freedman
Founder and Co-CEO

Eunice Lin Nichols
Co-CEO

10 things we look back on with pride

1. We introduced the term “encore”

and helped change the narrative and the norm for the years beyond midlife.

2. We created Experience Corps

(now AARP Experience Corps), a 20-city tutoring program engaging older volunteers to help 30,000 K-3 students learn to read every year. Studies show the program boosts kids’ reading and social-emotional skills, while improving the older adults’ mental and physical health.

3. We launched The Purpose Prize

(now AARP Purpose Prize), to tell a new story about creativity and innovation in the second half of life. Called “a MacArthur genius award for older adults,” the Prize has invested nearly $8 million in social innovators over 50.

4. We influenced AARP

the world’s largest organization on aging, to lean into purpose in later life.

5. We placed 2,000 Encore Fellows

seasoned professionals who have provided over 2M hours of service to the social sector. Fast Company called the program “a bold and timely idea that wows us…the kind of innovative thinking that can transform lives and change our world.”

6. We helped diversify thought leadership

at the intersection of longevity, intergenerational connection, and social justice with 62 Encore Public Voices Fellows.

7. We accelerated the work of 60 innovators

bridging generational divides while solving big problems–racial and climate justice, early childhood education, the loneliness epidemic, just to name a few.

8. We won some big awards

including the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the World Economic Forum’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year, the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, and the Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence.

9. We produced six books read by hundreds of thousands of people.

Marc Freedman wrote The Kindness of Strangers, Prime Time, Encore, The Big Shift, and How to Live Forever. VP Marci Alboher wrote The Encore Career Handbook.

10. We raised more than $xxxM

over the past 25 years to do all of the above and so much more.

1993

Two social innovators, one 80 and hugely accomplished and one just starting out, meet at a conference. John Gardner — former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, founder of Common Cause, and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom — becomes a friend and mentor to Marc Freedman, then 35, as the two develop an idea to mobilize the time, talent and experience of older Americans to help children thrive.
1996

With Gardner, Dr. Linda Fried and Tom Endres, Freedman co-founds Experience Corps to match reading tutors aged 55+ with school children. AARP now runs the program, serving over 30,000 students each year in more than 20 cities across the country.
1998

With a small team of colleagues, Freedman, already the author of two books — The Kindness of Strangers and Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America — creates Civic Ventures.
2005

Civic Ventures launches The Purpose Prize to tell a new story about the tremendous potential for social contribution and impact in later life. Over 10 years, with support from the John Templeton Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies, the program invested $5 million in more than 500 social entrepreneurs over 60. The Purpose Prize lives today as a program of AARP.
2007

The New York Times covers Freedman’s new book, Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life (“Discovering Second Acts in Sustained Working Lives”). The Times called Freedman "the voice of aging baby boomers who are eschewing retirement for what he calls 'encore careers,' long periods of meaningful and sustaining work later in life."
2009

Civic Ventures creates Encore Fellowships to match skilled, seasoned professionals with social sector organizations in high impact, paid leadership engagements. To date, more than 2,000 Fellows have provided over 2 million hours of service, working on multigenerational teams and contributing the equivalent of $200 million in talent to nonprofits in 50 metropolitan areas.
2010

Freedman receives the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship for “transformative leaders whose organizations disrupt the status quo, drive sustainable large-scale change, and are poised to create even greater impact.”
2011

The Wall Street Journal calls Freedman’s new book, The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife, “invaluable and inspiring reading.” USA Today hails Freedman as “a natural storyteller, a deep researcher and a forward thinker.”
2011

Encore.org launches a network of leaders to champion the civic, social, and economic contributions of people over 50. Today, the Encore Network is an independent, nonprofit coalition with leaders from 11 countries.
2012

Going all in on second acts for the greater good, Civic Ventures becomes Encore.org.
2013

Encore VP Marci Alboher talks about her new book, The Encore Career Handbook: How to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life, on The Today Show.
2016

With hundreds of nonprofit partners, Encore.org launches the Gen2Gen Campaign to mobilize older adults to stand up and show up for – and with – young people.
2018

The Wall Street Journal ranks How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations, Freedman’s newest book, #1 on its list of the year’s best books on aging well.
2018

Encore, in partnership with the OpEd Project, launches the Encore Public Voices Fellowship to accelerate the ideas and impact of new and necessary thought leaders working at the intersection of aging, longevity, intergenerational connection and social justice.
2019

The Encore Physicians program, with support from Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit Programs, begins placing retired physicians in Bay Area community health centers to treat underserved people and mentor younger clinicians.
2019

Encore.org VP Eunice Lin Nichols receives the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award for advancing innovative and effective solutions to California’s most significant issues.
2020

In the early days of the pandemic, Encore team members Phyllis Segal and Dr. Gerry Bourne call for an intergenerational vaccine corps in a Newsweek op-ed. With support from AmeriCorps Seniors, it becomes a reality. The Encore Intergenerational Vaccine Corps mobilizes retired medical professionals — and volunteers of all ages — to help vaccinate 47,000 underserved people in the Bay Area.
2020

To support ambitious initiatives to solve problems and bridge generational divides, Encore’s Gen2Gen Innovation Fellowship enlists its first cohort of 15 innovators of all ages. The nine-month program provides expert coaching and peer assistance, exposure to important networks, help creating a three-minute pitch video, and a $10,000 stipend.
2021

The Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), an award-winning and influential magazine and website, publishes “Meeting the Multigenerational Moment” in partnership with Encore.org and The Eisner Foundation. The 13-part series shines a light on some of the nation’s most promising intergenerational innovations.
2022

In partnership with AmeriCorps, Encore announces eight recipients of $25,000 Generations Serving Together incentive grants to age-integrate national service programs across the country.
2022

Marc Freedman captures an emerging cultural shift in an essay published by The Boston Globe. There’s evidence, he writes, that popular culture is moving away from ageist stereotypes in favor of artistic collaborations that “illustrate the power of cross-generational connection and collaboration” and win over audiences, too.
2022

Encore Board Chair Susan Gianinno announces that Marc Freedman and Eunice Lin Nichols will become co-CEOs. “It feels so important to walk the talk, practicing cogeneration as we support others who are reaching across generational divides to change the world,” she writes.
2022

Encore.org commissions NORC at the University of Chicago to find out what Americans think about cogeneration. The results reveal widespread enthusiasm about working across generations for change, along with notable differences in perspective by generation and race.
2022

Encore.org becomes CoGenerate, doubling down on a strategy we call cogeneration and define as older and younger generations coming together to solve problems, bridge divides and co-create the future.
2023

CoGenerate launches the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity to elevate and accelerate innovative models bringing generations together to help create a more inclusive and prosperous future.
2023

We mark our 25th anniversary with gratitude to the thousands of people who have made this work possible — innovators and thinkers, leaders and followers, educators and activists, our funders and staff. Thank you for all you do. We look forward to doing so much more together!

Please consider making a donation to honor our 25th anniversary and invest in our future.

10 things we can’t wait to do next

1. We introduced the term “encore”

and helped change the narrative and the norm for the years beyond midlife.

2. We created Experience Corps

3. We launched The Purpose Prize

4. We influenced AARP

the world’s largest organization on aging, to lean into purpose in later life.

5. We placed 2,000 Encore Fellows

6. We helped diversify thought leadership

at the intersection of longevity, intergenerational connection, and social justice with 62 Encore Public Voices Fellows.

7. We accelerated the work of 60 innovators

bridging generational divides while solving big problems–racial and climate justice, early childhood education, the loneliness epidemic, just to name a few.

8. We won some big awards,

9. We produced six books read by hundreds of thousands of people.

Marc Freedman wrote The Kindness of Strangers, Prime Time, Encore, The Big Shift, and How to Live Forever. VP Marci Alboher wrote The Encore Career Handbook.

10. We raised more than $xxxM

over the past 25 years to do all of the above and so much more.

Please consider making a donation to honor our 25th anniversary and invest in our future.

Our 5-year plan

We’ll create a compelling alternative to age segregation by making cogeneration credible, doable, and sustainable. Find out how.

With gratitude
25 years of funding

AARP

Atlantic Philanthropies

AmeriCorps

Annenberg Foundation

Ares Charitable Foundation

Association for Growth and Education

Bechtel Foundation

Capital Impact

Cargill Foundation

Carnegie Foundation

Carolyn K Tribe Foundation

City of San Jose

The Cleveland Foundation

David & Lucile Packard Foundation

The Deerbrook Charitable Trust

East Bay Community Foundation

Einhorn Family Foundation

Einhorn Collaborative

Eisner Foundation

Fidelity Investments

Gerbode Foundation

Goldman Sachs

Hearst Foundation

Heising-Simons Foundation

Hewlett Packard

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

IBM

Intel

The James Irvine Foundation

John Templeton Foundation

Kaiser Foundation

Legacy Ventures

Lodestar Foundation

M Center of Excellence

Mackenzie Scott

The May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust: Home

MetLife Foundation

New Pluralists

Partnership for American Democracy

Qualcomm

RRF

Rockefeller Foundation

The Schultz Family Foundation

The Sherry Lansing Foundation

Skoll

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Social Venture Partners

Stanford University

Symetra Life Insurance

Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust

W. M. Keck Foundation

Want to connect across generations? Join us:

Our 25th

10 things we look back on with pride

1. We introduced the term “encore”

2. We created Experience Corps

3. We launched The Purpose Prize

4. We influenced AARP

5. We placed 2,000 Encore Fellows

6. We helped diversify thought leadership

7. We accelerated the work of 60 innovators

8. We won some big awards

9. We produced six books read by hundreds of thousands of people.

10. We raised more than $xxxM

Please consider making a donation to honor our 25th anniversary and invest in our future.

10 things we can’t wait to do next

1. We introduced the term “encore”

2. We created Experience Corps

3. We launched The Purpose Prize

4. We influenced AARP

5. We placed 2,000 Encore Fellows

6. We helped diversify thought leadership

7. We accelerated the work of 60 innovators

8. We won some big awards,

9. We produced six books read by hundreds of thousands of people.

10. We raised more than $xxxM

Please consider making a donation to honor our 25th anniversary and invest in our future.

Our 5-year plan

With gratitude25 years of funding

With gratitude
25 years of funding