History
What’s in a name?
We were founded 25 years ago as Civic Ventures with the idea that the growing, older population was less a problem to be solved than an opportunity to be seized. In 2012, we became Encore.org to put a name on the years beyond midlife and imbue them with social purpose. Today, as CoGenerate, we focus on what the vast (and still growing) older population can do in collaboration with younger generations to solve our nation’s most pressing problems.
Here’s a quick look at where we’ve been. Hope you’ll join us going forward!
“The real fountain of youth is the fountain with youth. And the only true way to live forever is to live together, not only in the present but from generation to generation. Now more than ever.”
— Marc Freedman, How to Live Forever
things we look back on with pride
1. We introduced and popularized 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 collaborated closely with AARP
the world’s largest organization on aging, to lean into purpose and the power of cross-generational relationships in later life. Watch for a new AARP-produced documentary, The Hidden Power of Purpose, narrated by Debbie Allen.
5. We placed more than 2,300 Encore Fellows
seasoned professionals who have provided over 2 million hours of service to the social sector, contributing the equivalent of $200 million to nonprofits in more than 50 US cities. 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 accelerated and amplified the work of 162 innovation and public voices fellows.
Public voices fellows diversified thought leadership at the intersection of longevity, intergenerational connection, and social justice. Innovation Fellows bridged generational divides while solving big problems like racial and climate justice, the need for more early childhood education, the loneliness epidemic, just to name a few.
7. We launched the Intergenerational Vaccine Corps
during the early days of Covid, mobilizing retired medical professionals and volunteers of all ages working alongside them to vaccinate 47,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area.
8. We spoke from some big stages
including the Aspen Ideas Festival, the United Nations, the Skoll World Forum, the World Economic Forum, the Milken Global Conference, SXSW, TED Democracy, and dozens of major universities.
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 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.
1. We introduced and popularized 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 collaborated closely with AARP
the world’s largest organization on aging, to lean into purpose and the power of cross-generational relationships in later life. Watch for a new AARP-produced documentary, The Hidden Power of Purpose, narrated by Debbie Allen.
5. We placed more than 2,300 Encore Fellows
seasoned professionals who have provided over 2 million hours of service to the social sector, contributing the equivalent of $200 million to nonprofits in more than 50 US cities. 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 accelerated and amplified the work of 162 innovation and public voices fellows.
Public voices fellows diversified thought leadership at the intersection of longevity, intergenerational connection, and social justice. Innovation Fellows bridged generational divides while solving big problems like racial and climate justice, the need for more early childhood education, the loneliness epidemic, just to name a few.
7. We launched the Intergenerational Vaccine Corps
during the early days of Covid, mobilizing retired medical professionals and volunteers of all ages working alongside them to vaccinate 47,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area.
8. We spoke from some big stages
including the Aspen Ideas Festival, the United Nations, the Skoll World Forum, the World Economic Forum, the Milken Global Conference, SXSW, TED Democracy, and dozens of major universities.
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 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.