The Voice of Experience
SEPTEMBER 2006
in this issue
MEMBER PROFILE
A Letter from the CEO
I’ve been a public school parent for 15 years, and an ardent supporter of public education for even longer. I’ve always believed that public education is a great and noble idea...but that doesn’t always translate to great and noble schools.

As 50 million kids return to America’s 95,000 public schools this month, it’s no surprise that there are problems. The surprise is that we don’t hear more about solutions. In that vein, let me tell you about two programs of special interest in this back-to-school season.

Give Kids Good Schools is a nationwide campaign to get more people involved in improving local public schools -- an old idea to be sure, but a vigilant, engaged and demanding public works like nothing else. Just ask the folks in five communities recently profiled in PARADE magazine. Learn more at GiveKidsGoodSchools.org.

Stand Up is also a national campaign, focusing on reducing the high school dropout rate and ensuring that all kids leave high school "ready for success." The facts are alarming -- according to a recent survey of public school dropouts entitled The Silent Epidemic, nearly one-third of kids don’t complete high school. For African American and Hispanic students, that number is close to 50 percent. Find out what you can do about it at www.standup.org.

Experience Corps is not quite a national campaign...yet. But we’re getting more of the public involved this year by expanding to five new cities in the Midwest and Southwest (see news item below) and engaging hundreds more older adults to tutor thousands more students who need help.

I know it’s boring to say things like "put the public back into public education," but there’s really no other way to make the system responsive and successful. And in our democracy, is there anything more important?

So as we launch the new school year, I hope you’ll look past my soapbox...but not the message: Our schools need you. Please get involved!

Best wishes for a successful school year.

John S. Gomperts
jgomperts@experiencecorps.org

P.S. Take a look at this great article in the Tucson Citizen, written by Ellen Hargis, president and CEO of the Volunteer Center of Southern Arizona. Ellen is one of the country's premier leaders in community service and we couldn't be more pleased that she's running Experience Corps in Tucson. Her column tells the story of Dottie, an Experience Corps member who changed the life of a student -- and her own.

Experience Corps Expands to Five New Cities

This fall, Experience Corps will launch projects in five new communities, expanding the number of sites to 19. In each site, a community agency will host the program. If you'd like to get involved in any of these communities, click here for contact information.

Winners of the First-Ever Purpose Prize Announced

The winners of the Purpose Prize -- five $100,000 awards recognizing people over 60 who are using their experience and passion to tackle some of society's biggest challenges -- were announced by Civic Ventures on September 5. They are:
  • Conchy Bretos, who helps bring assisted-living services to low-income adults who need help to stay in their homes;
  • Charles Dey, who started a program that provides paid internships and workplace mentors to predominantly minority high school students with physical, mental and emotional disabilities;
  • Marilyn Gaston and Gayle Porter, who created Prime Time Sister Circles to encourage goal-setting, peer support and empowerment in improving the health of African-American women;
  • Wilson Goode, who created a nonprofit that provides mentors for children of incarcerated parents;
  • Akbar Ahmed and Judea Pearl, who conduct dialogues on religious tolerance, linking their stories to a call for reconciliation and providing a rare forum for moderate Muslims in the U.S.
The winners -- along with dozens of other social innovators in the second half of life -- gathered in San Francisco for the first Innovation Summit. Read more »

NCOA Initiative Highlights Best Practices for Engaging Older Adult Volunteers

The National Council on Aging’s RespectAbility initiative -- launched in 2005 to identify "promising practices" in the realm of civic engagement involving older adults -- has released its first and second reports, RespectAbility in America: Promising Practices in Civic Engagement among Adults 55+ and Profiles of the Most Promising Initiatives Engaging Adults 55+. "These reports will help non-profit leaders, program directors and others who want to capitalize on the changing demographic in our nation," said Director of RespectAbility Tom Endres. "Utilizing adults 55+ in meaningful leadership-level roles within non-profits can reap huge organizational benefits, from increased capacity to enhanced service delivery, not to mention improving the lives of older adults in communities across the nation." Experience Corps in Philadelphia was recently named a "Program of Excellence" by NCOA. Read more »

Web-Based Volunteering Gaining Popularity among Older Adults

A recent Associated Press article on the rise of web-based civic engagement explains how "virtual volunteering" allows people to overcome the hurdles of time and space to share their expertise with people thousands of miles away. It noted that 14 percent of the volunteer opportunities last year on VolunteerMatch, a group that pairs volunteers with projects requiring assistance, were virtual, compared with 1 percent in 1998. Examples of online volunteer opportunities include web design, translation, and even mentoring. And it's not just for the young -- "Retirees like Tom Davis, 63, offer advice on relationships, careers and other life matters via the Internet’s Elder Wisdom Circle," the article reports. Read more »

Retaining Older Workers Could Be Key to Economic Success

How is it that Ireland, formerly one of Europe’s most economically retrograde nations, is today one of its strongest? Acclaimed author Malcolm Gladwell posits an answer: demographics. Ireland’s lifting of restrictions on contraception in 1979 meant less children dependent on government support in the 1990s -- and an improved "dependency ratio," or the "relation between the number of people who aren't of working age and the number of people who are." In a recent New Yorker article, Gladwell applies this same concept to US pension programs, noting that "the current arrangement discourages employers from hiring or retaining older workers." But, Gladwell asks, "don't we want companies to retain older workers -- to hire on the basis of ability and not age?" Read more »

New Fellowships Honor Eli Segal; GU Calls for Proposals

  • In recognition of his momentous contributions to national service in America, AmeriCorps is announcing the Eli Segal Fellowship program to honor Eli Segal, former CEO of the Corporation of National and Community Service, who passed away in February. The fellowships will be awarded to AmeriCorps alumni "who have exceptional leadership, drive, and commitment who will help to advance the mission and strategic goals of the Corporation." More information about the new program is available ».
  • And Generations United is welcoming proposals for sessions for its 2007 conference, Intergenerational: IT’S MONUMENTAL. Focused on "improving the lives of children, youth and older people through intergenerational strategies," GU is accepting proposals online through November 1. Read more »

Experience Corps in the News

  • "'Me Generation' becomes 'We Generation'," USA TODAY, Aug. 2. Columnist Daniel Kadlec contrasts the traditional notion that baby boomers are "the most self-absorbed generation in American history" with the fact that the emerging retirement model "embraces personal growth, giving back and continued employment."
  • "Life, Act II," Money Magazine, Sunset, Sept. Quotes Experience Corps CEO John Gomperts.
  • "The Right Way to Volunteer," TIME, Aug. 27. Kadlec warns that unless "l;the newest crop of volunteers -- baby boomers...feel they are making a difference, they’ll walk.»
  • "Making More of a Milestone," The Washington Post, Aug. 1. Abigail Trafford’s column on President Bush turning 60 noted that while "more than 70 percent of boomers plan to keep working in their golden years," only a quarter of employers have "any plans to accommodate the wave of retiring boomers with job opportunities."

About Experience Corps

Experience Corps, an award-winning program, engages people over 55 in meeting society's greatest challenges. Today, in 23 cities across the country, 2,000 Experience Corps members tutor and mentor elementary school students struggling to learn to read. Independent research shows that Experience Corps boosts student academic performance, helps schools and youth-serving organizations become more successful, and enhances the well-being of the older adults in the process. Experience Corps is a signature program of Civic Ventures.

Learn more about Experience Corps in these cities: Annapolis, MD, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, MD, Beaumont, TX, Boston, MA, Cleveland, Evansville, IN, Grand Rapids, Greater New Haven, Marin County, Mesa, Minneapolis, New York City, Oakland, Philadelphia, Port Arthur, TX, Portland, OR, Revere, MA, San Francisco, St. Paul, Tempe, Tucson, AZ, Washington, DC.

Questions or comments? Send an email to info@experiencecorps.org

Experience Corps is a signature program of Civic Ventures.
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