Friendships are finally getting their due. Once relegated to a distant third position after life partners and children, a spate of new books are spotlighting the importance of friends. And research shows that people with close friends are healthier – both emotionally...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
An Intergenerational Approach to Getting Families Housed in Santa Barbara
Lyiam Galo is the co-director of Generations United for Service, a program of the Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Utilizing Faith-Owned Land to Strengthen Intergenerational Community in Seattle
E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
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Bernie Glassman
Purpose Prize Fellow 2007
Harnessing the energies of business, government, and social-service providers to address urban decay.
Bernie Glassman’s first career was as an aeronautic engineer for McDonnell-Douglas in the early 60s, concentrating on interplanetary flights. But Glassman became a social entrepreneur in 1982, articulating a vision that socially responsible businesses can have a double bottom line: generating profits and serving the community. The Greyston Bakery was the first such venture, the building block of a larger socially responsible business model which Glassman developed. Known as the Greyston Mandala, this network of for-profits and not-for-profits has worked together to improve the lives of individuals and the larger inner-city community of southwest Yonkers for 25 years. Glassman left Greyston in 1996, but 10 years later (after founding Zen Peacemakers), he has plunged back into social entrepreneurship, this time in Springfield, Massachusetts, a city in steep decline. Where others saw hopelessness, Glassman saw an opportunity to once again provide a comprehensive solution to urban decay by harnessing the energies of business, government, and social-service providers. In 2006, at the age of 68, Glassman created the PathMaker Partnership, an alliance of Zen Peacemakers, a local “green” business entrepreneur, and the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office. PathMaker provides housing, jobs, and support programs to homeless persons and those who were formerly incarcerated.