Encore: Work that matters in the second half of life.

State governments are way ahead of the federal government in engaging boomers in meaningful work, says Stefanie Weiss, vice president of Civic Ventures, in a video interview with RetirementRevised.

“National government is very focused on Medicare and Society Security and, in that vein, most federal politicians see the aging of the baby boomers as an impending crisis, as a fiscal crisis," says Weiss.

"When you go out to the state governments, you find something totally different. State governments have more flexibility. They see an opportunity. They see shortages in state workers, teachers and health care, and then they see this big pool of people looking for something important and meaningful to do for encore careers that might last 10 or 15 years. So they see this as an opportunity.”

Examples of innovative state programs that she cites are the EnCorps program in California that helps recruit teachers from corporations and supports them during the transition; Arizona’s Mature Worker Connection, which matches older workers with jobs in government and nonprofits; and Maryland’s plans to expand Experience Corps.

The video is featured on Civic Ventures’ YouTube channel under the “Favorites” category on the page. Other videos on the Civic Ventures YouTube channel feature winners of The Purpose Prize and volunteers in Experience Corps, two initiatives of Civic Ventures.