Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • April 27, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com Two nonprofit templates keep CT's aged engaged By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com T he bubble of Connecticut Baby Boomers closing in on retirement was hot on the lips of Hartford region business, nonprofit and community leaders as far back as 20 years ago. Their brainstorming back then about how to cope with a fast-moving train of citizens age 50 and older yielded a pair of innovative efforts for the dual purpose of harnessing older worker's energy, brainpower and wisdom and putting them on a track toward healthy aging. Encore!Hartford, a partnership involv- ing UConn and Leadership Greater Hartford already has graduated more than 110 "fel- lows" over age 50 who previously were either retired or laid off to do paid or volunteer work at nonprofits and public agencies. Nine out of its 10 graduates are employed, with three out of every four working at a nonprofit. The other, Third Age, teams participants with nonprofits, where they commit to a year- long assignment that benefits the agency. Both, say the programs' sponsors, supporters and graduates, exem- plify Connecticut's leadership in rethink- ing the meaning of "retirement." It also highlights, they add, the innovative approaches being embraced, first by nonprofits, that could provide a road map for transitioning older work- ers that American industries could embrace. More than that, observers say, is that Boomers who are at or near retirement have fresh avenues through which, aside from travel or golf, they can seek out altruistic pursuits that benefit communities at large. "There's a stereotype out there — and you could call it ageism — that is not looking at the assets that seasoned workers bring,'' said David Garvey, director of UConn Department of Public Policy's Nonprofit Leadership Program, who has researched the man- power capacity needs of nonprofits. "They bring in wisdom, the past experience of being able to deal with changing situations.'' Nonprofit Leadership Greater Hartford (LGH), which promotes community conver- sations around these kinds of topics, was at the nexus of discussions about how to serve the needs of aging citizens and keep them productively engaged through the remainder of their "golden years.'' Ira W. Yellen, a Glastonbury marketing-com- munications advisor, sat on the task force that met at a Litchfield nunnery in 1997, just as the first Boomers were hitting their early 50s, to debate the state's aging issue and plot alternatives. It was out of that brainstorming that the idea for Third Age and later, Encore!Hartford, were an outgrowth, Yellen said. What if, those leaders reasoned, older indi- viduals' organizational, analytical, project- and people-management skills honed over years working in the private sector could be readapted for the nonprofit sector, where the need for those skills is perpetually great? "People said, 'I like that idea'," Yellen recalled. The same year an aging summit drew 300 to 400 participants, including the American Asso- ciation of Retired Persons and other organiza- tions focused on aging issues, Yellen said. Late Elson's rocky trek led to job nirvana By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com U p until the Great Recession, Steven Elson relished his career in private real-estate finance. But the loss of his job combined with per- sonal circumstances, including a long, unfruit- ful search for another job at a time when he needed one most, led him to deep introspection of the contributory value of his skills in devel- oping retail shopping centers. Afterwards, he emerged with a fresh sense of purpose, and, benefitting from participation in the Encore!Hartford pro- gram, he landed a full-time post analyzing, arranging and financing affordable housing for a nonprofit employer in Fairfield County. Elson and past and future graduates of Encore!Hartford and a related initiative, Third Age, are poster children, experts say, for the realignment now underway in attitudes among middle-age and older Americans about a life in which career or vocation are dialed back a few notches in favor of a "retirement'' or lifestyle that better balances paid and volunteer work with travel and other leisurely pursuits. Now 61 and residing in New York state, Elson says he has no immediate retirement plans, partly because he can't afford it. But also because, he said, for the first time in his life, he can see the fruitful impact of his hard work on the community, not in fatten- ing someone else's wallet. "It was devastating,'' Elson said of his 2008 layoff from a Hartford area realty developer/ manager. "I loved the work I was doing. I had kids in college. My wife was working. But it's very hard. Your work-life encompasses so much of you. Then nobody wants to hire you. That's depressing.'' After his layoff, Elson says he landed a temporary post in the multi-family-hous- ing division of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority. Two years later, he was unemployed again. This time, though, there were no job nibbles to be found. But Elson contacted a counselor at Leadership Greater Hartford Vice President Dolores "Doe'' Hentschel built her career and reputation creating and running college adult continuing-education and nonprofit career-development programs like Third Age. Like many of her peers, Hentschel also finds that workplace and community engagement, plus some fun, can make their golden years more fruitful. P H O T O | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R Steven Elson's rollercoaster career journey from for-profit to nonprofit wasn't easy, but he says it led to fulfillment. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D UNAMI SILVER S Connecticut's

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