What’s Next? Combine Purpose, Passion and a Paycheck

It is not news that many Connecticut residents are looking for employment. What is unique is that many older Connecticut professionals, those over 50 in the boomer generation, are seeking more than just a paycheck in their second half of life—but employment with a purpose—encore careers.

What’s Next?: Combine Purpose, Passion and a Paycheck in a Connecticut Encore Career will be held Thursday, September 23, from 9 am—Noon, at the Artists Collective in Hartford. The event is free and designed for Connecticut professionals, over 50 years old, who are interested in transitioning their skills and talent to purposeful encore careers in the Connecticut nonprofit and social service sector.

What’s Next? is a collaboration of Civic Ventures – a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose – the University of Connecticut Nonprofit Leadership Program and Encore!Hartford. The event is generously funded by the Aaron Marks Foundation Funds at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford and Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

What’s Next? sessions include:

Discovering and Creating Encore Careers featuring former CNN senior correspondent Mark Walton, social entrepreneurs and Civic Ventures Purpose Prize winners Mark Goldsmith and Sharon Rising and former New York Times “Shifting Careers” columnist, Marci Alboher. Mark and Sharon will share their experiences about leaving their primary careers and starting new encore careers in the social sector. Marci will provide tips and expert advice on moving from the private to the nonprofit sector.

Employing Encore Careerists in the Nonprofit Sector: A Program for Nonprofit Employers with Dr. Doe Hentschel, Vice President, Leadership Greater Hartford.

The session will explain the workforce/hiring trends that are impacting the Connecticut nonprofit sector, the benefits of tapping into the seasoned corporate professionals human resource pool, and how nonprofits can host an Encore Fellowship in the next Encore!Hartford program Spring 2011.

Encore!Hartford: A Connecticut Encore Program with Dr. David Garvey, Director, University of Connecticut Nonprofit Leadership Program

Participants will learn about Encore!Hartford, a three month workforce training program designed to assist corporate professionals in transitioning their skill-sets for managerial and professional roles in the Connecticut nonprofit sector. Next class opens in Spring 2011.

This event will include a networking reception.

RSVP

For more information on the event and to RSVP go to www.continuingstudies.uconn.edu/professional/nonprofit

Doors Open at 8am for check-in and light refreshments.

Parking

The Artists Collective is located at 1200 Albany Avenue, Hartford. Parking is available behind the Artists Collective via Woodland Street off of Albany Avenue. Staff will direct you to additional parking lots for later arrivals.

Civic Ventures is a nonprofit think tank on boomers work and social purpose. The Purpose Prize, a program of Civic Ventures, provides awards of up to $100,000 to individuals making extraordinary contributions in an encore career. Learn more at www.encore.org.

Encore!Hartford is a workforce training program for seasoned corporate professionals transitioning into the Connecticut nonprofit sector. The program is a statewide partnership of University of Connecticut Nonprofit Leadership Program, Leadership Greater Hartford, Connecticut Department of Labor, Capital Workforce Partners, CTWorks, Connecticut Association of Nonprofits and the United Way of Central and Northeast Connecticut. Encore!Hartford’s next program will be launched in Spring 2011.

The Aaron Marks Foundation is a Hartford-based family philanthropy dedicated to enhancing education, human well-being and the environment worldwide.