Purpose Prize

Marc Freedman Portrait

The Latest from CoGenerate

New Survey Reveals Benefits of Older-Younger Tutoring Teams

New Survey Reveals Benefits of Older-Younger Tutoring Teams

For the past year, Ampact, with support from CoGenerate’s Generations Serving Together program, placed cogenerational pairs of AmeriCorps members in elementary schools. The older and younger adults worked side by side to improve students’ reading and math skills. A...

The Billionaire Who Gave Away His Fortune Took a Big Chance on Us

The Billionaire Who Gave Away His Fortune Took a Big Chance on Us

We at CoGenerate (formerly Encore.org) are mourning the loss of Chuck Feeney this week. Without Chuck's vision and generosity we likely would not exist as an organization. Twenty-five years ago Atlantic Philanthropies took a chance on our start-up, playing a...

*

Mark Guterman

Springboard Forward
Purpose Prize Fellow 2009

Guterman is striving to break the cycle of poverty through intensive, one-on-one career coaching and related services that help low-wage workers map new career paths.

Guterman, a longtime career coach, wants everyone – regardless of income level – to feel inspired by their work. Wanting to serve low-wage workers, in 2003 Guterman joined Springboard Forward, a nonprofit that spurs people to develop long-term plans for career mobility. For that organization, Guterman helped develop the Engaged Employment program, which partners with businesses to provide career support to low-wage workers, with the goal of improving retention, performance, and customer service. As part of the program, Guterman designed an in-depth, one-day career discovery workshop that encourages workers to see their jobs as stepping stones to success, rather than dead ends. Also for Springboard Forward, Guterman created a vigorous vetting process for recruiting a pool of more than 50 coaches who provide one-on-one counseling. According to an independent review, 44 percent of Engaged Employment participants received a raise or promotion within four months, and 79 percent have reported better relationships with their direct managers. As time goes on, Guterman says, “I am even more committed to using my strengths, energy, and enthusiasm to help alleviate the problem of poverty in the United States.”