This was a red letter week for Encore Tampa Bay! Nancy Peterson, Senior Vice President for Encore.org came to Tampa Bay this week to award a grant to the new Greenhouse Encore Academy.
The Encore Academy will be one of 10 new initiatives that will serve as a model for creating pathways and programs for adults over 50 finding their passion, purpose and productivity in the second half of life!
The grant will be part of a new pilot program called The Encore Innovation Fellowship. The funds will support the development and execution of the Greenhouse Encore Academy. I will also be participating in an Encore Leadership program and working with 9 other fellows across the country.
Nancy Peterson spent several days meeting with various Tampa Bay organizations interested in launching specific initiatives related to the Encore movement. We started with the main event, the St. Petersburg Greenhouse, where the Encore Academy will be housed. The Greenhouse serves as a place that connects entrepreneurs and businesses to education and growth resources. The Encore Academy will be one of those programs, with a focus on helping adults over 50 to identify and connect with their Encore Career.
Nancy also met with representatives from Eckerd College who are focusing on leadership and lifelong learning for adults over 50. Jennifer Hall, Director of Coaching, shared a great new assessment that will be used at the Greenhouse, the Entrepreneurial Dimensions Profile. Nancy provided great examples of college programs across the country that have been successful at providing relevant learning programs for boomers.
Tom Esselman, CEO for Institute for the Ages, shared some of their exciting initiatives such as hosting the Seventh Annual International Positive Aging Conference in February 2014. Michelle Cyr, Associate State Director of AARP talked to Nancy about exciting opportunities to support and collaborate with Encore Tampa Bay’s mission of helping boomers identify their Encore Career.
Our final meeting was with Tammy Criollo, CEO of Seniors in Service, who will be launching a new community initiative called, Coming of Age. Coming of Age will provide a web portal and a variety of programs that will help non-profits and other community organizations capture the energy and expertise of adults over 50.
It is so exciting to see all the leaders and organizations in our community that are beginning to embrace the call to action- to develop new approaches and programs that help adults in mid-life to make meaningful choices for their next stage of life! Our community will reap the benefits through economic growth and contributions to our non-profit and other community organizations!
It is an incredible honor and opportunity to officially belong to the National Encore network and to be involved in the Encore Innovation Leadership program!