Stories
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For media inquiries and requests for speakers, please email Stefanie Weiss, director of communications, at [email protected].
These Minnesota Teens Joined Forces With Local AARP Members To Fight Outdated Unemployment Laws
When Cole Stevens learned that it wasn’t just teenage workers like himself being cut off from receiving unemployment benefits and pandemic unemployment assistance in Minnesota, but also older people who are recipients of social security, the 19-year-old had an aha...
“We’re Both There for Companionship”
It’s a Sunday night and we’re gathered to prepare and eat dinner together. Tiaira, our senior program manager, in her thirties and wearing an apron, tells us to form the crab cake mixture into rounds on our baking sheets. In their Zoom squares, our clients and college...
In the Classroom or Over Zoom, These Tutors Created a Bond Across Generations
Charlene Young, a retiree, and Jordan Fong, a recent college graduate, probably wouldn’t have crossed paths if not for a mutual interest in helping kids learn to read. Before the pandemic, Young, 69, and Fong, 33, were Reading Corps tutors in the same elementary...
He’d Never Considered the Nonprofit Sector. Now He Doesn’t Want To Leave.
David Pfeifer brought decades of experience running small and mid-size businesses to Futures and Options last year when he joined the team as an Encore Fellow — a seasoned professional paid a stipend to work at a nonprofit for 3 to 12 months. When his fellowship...
For This Encore Fellow, the Reward Comes From Both Learning and Teaching
Kathleen Kostrzewa brought corporate IT and business development experience — plus age diversity — to the EnCorps STEM Teachers Program last year, when she joined the team as an Encore Fellow. “Kathy has decades of experience and offers our team sage advice and a...
City of San Jose Expands Virtual Mentoring Program for Underserved Youth
In 2020, San Jose Works — a city program that provides underserved youth between the ages of 14 and 29 paid internships at local businesses, city agencies and nonprofits — added a new element. Now experienced professionals serve as mentors to the interns, offering...
For This Encore Physician, the Pandemic Creates “A Greater Sense of Purpose”
I was a Kaiser physician for decades, and I knew it was time to move on. As a cardiologist, the demands of the job and the engagement you need to have, you kind of have to be an adrenaline junkie. I wasn’t ready to give that up entirely, but wanted to work 2-3...
These AmeriCorps Members at SBP Are Bridging the Generational Divide
SBP, a national disaster relief organization that engages AmeriCorps members in rebuilding homes, has had 49 members over the age of 50 — working alongside younger members, solving problems together and bridging divides. Here are three stories — two from boomers and...
What is it Like to See Life From an 80-Year Perspective
Ken Dychtwald has been interested in the power of human potential since his twenties when he was a self-described “hippie, yoga-loving guy with long hair and an earring” leading workshops at Esalen and living out of a van in Big Sur. In the nearly 50 intervening...