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Civic Engagement in an Older America E-Newsletter March, 2007 CONTENTS • Civic Engagement and the New Promise of Old Age • Experience Wave Website Launched • Baby Boomers and Volunteering • 2007 Civic Engagement and Paper Awards • Civic Engagement and Aging Resources Civic Engagement and the New Promise of Old Age
The current issue of Public Policy & Aging
Report explores the promise of older adult civic engagement
while also acknowledging its potential pitfalls. Sabrina Reilly
from the National Council on Aging provides a front-line perspective
on how older Americans are meaningfully engaging in community activities.
Andrew Achenbaum places civic engagement in a historical context,
focusing on the past and potential contributions of Civic Ventures,
the signature organization of the older adult civic engagement movement.
Rob Hudson contributes a political analysis, noting how commentators
on the right and left view elders' civic engagement and the larger
purposes it might serve. Finally, Martha Holstein outlines the collective
fate that might befall older people—women in particular—should
the civic engagement movement redefine the social and economic place
of elders in American life. For a limited time only, readers of
this newsletter can click here
to download a free copy of this issue. Experience Wave Website Launched
M+R Strategic Services, with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies,
has launched a new website, ExperienceWave.org, that highlights
their efforts to develop federal and state-level policy recommendations
to keep older Americans engaged in the workplace and civic life
beyond traditional retirement age. The site includes summaries of
bills recently introduced in the New York and Maryland state legislatures.
To visit the website click here.
A new research brief from the Corporation for National
and Community Service, titled Keeping Baby Boomers Volunteering,
reports that Baby Boomers today have the highest volunteer rate
of any age group and volunteer at higher rates than past generations
did when they were the same age. Using data collected by the U.S.
Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, the study examined
the volunteer habits of Baby Boomers over two consecutive years.
The study found that three out of every ten Boomers who volunteered
one year chose not to volunteer in the following year. The report’s
findings show that the type of volunteer work boomers do has a big
impact on whether they continue to volunteer over time. Retention
from the first year of volunteering to the second year is highest
when they're involved in professional or management activities,
such as strategic planning, marketing, or volunteer coordination.
Click here
to read the full report, which includes a discussion of its implications
for nonprofits that are seeking to attract and retain Baby Boomers
as volunteers. 2007 Civic Engagement Paper Awards
GSA's Civic Engagement in an Older America
project awards cash prizes to recognize two outstanding papers on
older adults’ civic engagement: $500 to a paper from a student
or junior scholar (no more than five years post-doctorate on September
1, 2007) and $1,000 to a paper from a senior scholar. The paper
must focus on an aspect of civic engagement and explore questions
related to federal, state, or local policy initiatives that maximize
involvement of older adults in meaningful, productive civic roles,
including work, caregiving, and volunteering. Those who wish to
apply for this award must first have an abstract submitted and accepted
for presentation at GSA’s 60th Annual Scientific Meeting to
be held in San Francisco, November 16-20th. The deadline for submitting
abstracts to the Annual Meeting is March 29. To submit an abstract
online, click here.
For further information about this award, please contact Ellyn Emsley
at: eemsley@agingsociety.org. Civic Engagement and Aging Resources Have you checked out the National Academy on an Aging Society’s resources on civic engagement recently? We’ve added links to several new reports, including Citizens at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement, written by Dr. Cynthia Gibson and commissioned by the Case Foundation; Canadians & the Common Good: Building a Civic Nation through Civic Engagement, a major policy report from the non-profit, non-partisan think tank Canada25; and Measuring Volunteering, a thought-provoking report from the Points of Light Foundation. To view these reports click here. The CE-Newsletter is the E-Newsletter of GSA’s Civic Engagement
in an Older America Project. The "Civic Engagement in an Older
America" project is supported If you have been forwarded this by a colleague and would like
to subscribe, please click
here and type “Subscribe” in the subject line. If
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