This post is part of an ambitious project to crowd-source the January issue of Forbes Magazine. The goal is to find the companies, people, places and ideas that should be on people’s radar next year. You can submit your own ideas at “Names You Need to Know in 2011.” The best will run in the magazine.
I’m tossing Marc Freedman’s name into the ring. Freedman is one of the most inspiring guys I’ve ever met. If you’re a boomer wondering what to do when you retire, he’s your champion.
At 52, Freedman, the founder and CEO of Civic Ventures, a San Francisco nonprofit think tank focused on boomers, work and social purpose, is the nation’s leading authority on encore careers for the baby boomer generation. “Very few people start a second career purely for the money,” Freedman says. “They’re searching for work that is fulfilling and gets them out of bed in the morning.”
He knows that innovation has no age limit. He’s a humble man who exudes quiet hope for an aging nation, where a full quarter of the population will soon be over 60.
“Baby boomers are entering a period of their lives between midlife and the onset of true old age,” Freedman says. “For most, this period will not only be a new stage of life, but also of work.”
Some of his mottos:
Civic Ventures initiatives include the annual Purpose Prize, which provides grants of $50,000 and $100,000 to social innovators over 60, and Encore Fellowships, which train corporate retirees to work at nonprofits.