Our Mission & Vision

We mobilize leaders, professionals, and allies to activate the power of experience, driving opportunity across employment, entrepreneurship, and service in an era of longer lives.
We envision a world where the opportunities of longer lives are fully realized, fueling stronger communities, a more inclusive economy, and meaningful contribution for everyone.

Our Values

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Community & Shared Learning: We are a collegial, action-oriented community where members learn from one another, share expertise, and co-create solutions that no one could achieve alone.

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Connection, Collaboration & Impact: We act as a connector, catalyst, and convener—linking people, ideas, and institutions—and we measure our success by the real-world impact we help advance.

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Equity, Inclusion & Justice: We recognize that age intersects with race, gender, class, geography, and other identities, and we work to expand opportunity, voice, and access for all.

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The Value of Experience: We affirm the power of experience as a driver of insight, contribution, and impact—and reject ageism in all its forms.

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Member Leadership & Shared Responsibility: We empower members to lead, experiment, and take ownership, sharing responsibility for the Network’s direction, strength, and impact.

Our Strategy

Our three-year strategy (2027-2029) is driven by a goal to expand opportunities for experienced adults to contribute through employment, entrepreneurship, and service, and is supported by four pillars.

Read about our strategy here.

Our History

The Encore Network began as a community of practice for leaders of organizations focused on helping people 50+ transition to the nonprofit sector. Over time, we evolved into a field operations for Encore.org, whose thought leadership, under founder Marc Freedman, was a cornerstone for our efforts. When Encore.org became CoGenerate, we spun off to continue our focus and fulfill the promise of the encore movement.

 

The encore movement grew out of early successes demonstrating that the energy and experience of people 50+ could be harnessed to address long-standing social challenges. The encore idea now encompasses other opportunities for contribution: continued work, business startups, skills-based volunteering, community service, and social action. This more expansive view is now the focus of our mission.

Our Leadership

We are governed by a volunteer Board of Directors: 

Rimas Jasin, MA, MPA (Chair), Executive Director, Presbyterian Senior Services, New York, NY

Leigh Sempeles, JD (Treasurer), Senior Fellow, Del Mar Fellows Initiative, The Dayton Foundation, Dayton, OH

Doug Dickson, (Secretary), Co-founder, The Encore Network, Boston, MA

Jen Butz, MA, Founder, WonderCrone, San Miguel de Allende, MX

Lem Lloyd, MS, CEO, Founder,  LongevityWorkers, San Francisco, CA

Kindred Murillo, PhD, Independent Consultant, Former Community College President, Albuquerque, NM

Andy Oden, APR, Nonprofit Advisor in Communications & Advancement, Jones, OK

Victor Ortiz, Senior Program Manager, CNM Ingenuity, Albuquerque, NM

Maggie Riad, MBA, Co-founder & VP Strategy and Innovation, 50WISE, Chicago, IL

Barbara Richardson, MEd, Founding Director, Indy Encore, Indianapolis, IN

Helen Hirsh Spence, MEd, Founder & CEO, Top Sixty Over Sixty, Ottawa, ON

We are supported by the work of six committees:  Finance & Advancement, Marketing & Communications, Membership & Partnerships, Operations & Governance, Programs & Member Experience, Strategy & Impact.

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Be part of a vibrant community.  Grow professionally.  Collaborate with colleagues to advance opportunities for people 50+.

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