Marc Freedman

Marc FreedmanCourtesy Encore.org

Marc Freedman is CEO and founder of Encore.org (formerly Civic Ventures). He spearheaded the creation of Experience Corps (now AARP Experience Corps), mobilizing Americans over 55 to improve the education of low-income children, and The Purpose Prize, an annual $100,000 award for social innovators in the second half of life. He is author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife, and three other books.  Freedman serves as a member of The Wall Street Journal's group "The Experts,"  where he writes regular commentaries on the changing nature of retirement and later life.  Fast Company magazine selected him three years in a row as one of the United States' leading social entrepreneurs, and AARP The Magazine last year named Freedman one of "The Influentials," the 50 people over 50 "affecting your life – and your future."  Freedman has an M.B.A. from Yale University and was a Visiting Research Fellow of Kings College, University of London.  He lives with his wife and children in the San Francisco bay area.