When we began thinking about how to showcase exceptional social innovators over the age of 60, we knew we were looking for a few specific things.
We wanted to find individuals who had discovered an innovative approach to an important social problem and whose best work was still ahead of them. “Don’t call it a lifetime achievement award. They’re just getting started,” was the headline in our first ad in “The New York Times.”
We wanted to show that social entrepreneurship wasn’t limited to the rich or famous. While we believed that Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates exemplified what social innovation in an encore career could mean, we also believed that new solutions to challenging problems were being devised by everyday people in unexpected places. That was the undiscovered continent of social innovation we sought to explore.
Lastly, we wanted to show that purposeful next chapters could be written by just about anyone, that the life trajectories of people who became social problem-solvers were varied and didn’t require special talents or training. We wanted to inspire people to see themselves in our Purpose Prize winners, to say to themselves, “I could do that – or something like it.”
To be eligible for The Purpose Prize, we had a few simple rules. Nominees needed to:
• Be at least 60 at the time of the application,
• Have started working on the issue in their 50s or later,
• Be a U.S. citizen or legal resident,
• Address an important social issue in a new way, and
• Have plans to continue working on the issue for at least another five years.
As the program grew and winners attracted media attention, The Purpose Prize team was challenged to refine a group of as many as 1,000 nominees each year down to a few dozen who would become Purpose Prize fellows, the pool from which a handful would be selected to win cash prizes.
Through multiple stages of review, we strove to find individuals with compelling personal stories and demonstrable impact, who represented the widest possible diversity of issues, geographies and backgrounds. We invite you to meet them –creative and committed people from all walks of life, who prove that life’s third chapter is worth the wait.
