WASHINGTON, DC — Traditional leadership programs target young people at the start of their careers and mid-career professionals climbing the corporate ladder. Over the past two years, Experience Corps piloted a leadership development program that broke with tradition.

Experience Corps provided intensive leadership training to 50 of its members - all tutors and mentors over 50. All had finished with their midlife careers. The majority were African American women. Prior to the training, many would not have called themselves leaders.

"It may seem counterintuitive to invest in the leadership of those who are closer to the end of their lives than the beginning," says Michelle Hynes, director of Experience Corps. "But in a world of scarce resources and tremendous needs, it seems shortsighted and wasteful to overlook people with the time and talent to lead efforts to solve some of our nation's most pressing social problems."

Twice in the past few years, Experience Corps ran a pilot program, called the Learning and Leadership Exchange, for members from six of the largest and fastest-growing Experience Corps projects (Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC).

The six-month learning opportunity centered around a two-day workshop in Washington, DC. Participants prepared for the event by using the StrengthsFinder^® online assessment process and reading Now, Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. Starting with strengths, the Learning and Leadership Exchanges also covered team building, networking and personal wellness.

Once at home, participants exercised their new-found leadership skills by launching community projects for the children they tutor and mentor. Two examples: The Cleveland team created new ways to boost communication with parents and increase their involvement in their children's education. In Washington, DC, Experience Corps members helped bring dental services to more than 125 elementary school students in an underserved neighborhood.

"The event taught us to use skills we were not aware of," said Experience Corps member Dan Houton of Boston. "That's a powerful message. It’s like waking a sleeping elephant."

Leading with Experience: Engaging Older Adults as Community Leaders, a new tool kit from Experience Corps, summarizes the case for investing in leaders in the second half of life. The publication includes an overview of the Experience Corps leadership institutes, key findings and conclusions, and 25 pages of materials to help other nonprofits develop their own older adult leadership trainings.

The Learning and Leadership Exchanges were funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The publication, Leading with Experience: Engaging Older Adults as Community Leaders, was funded by the UPS Foundation.

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