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The Purpose Prize honors outstanding career-changers over age 60 who find new ways to solve tough social problems. The five annual winners, who receive up to $100,000 apiece, have demonstrated a passion to change the world — and they have the experience to do it. Civic Ventures, a nonprofit think tank focused on older people, created the Purpose Prize in 2006. This year AARP sponsored one of the awards, the Purpose Prize for Intergenerational Innovation.

meet the
2011 winners

Do You Want to Change the World?

Jenny Bowen did it. She quit Hollywood to help China’s orphans. Watch

Randal Charlton 2011 Purpose Prize winner

Putting the Big Mo Back in Motor City

Entrepreneur Randal Charlton is helping to put Detroit's economy back in high gear. Watch

Nancy Sanford Hughes 2011 Purpose Prize winner

Saving Lives One Stove at a Time

Nancy Hughes had a better idea: deliver safe, low-cost stoves the world over. Watch

Wanjiru Kamau winner of 2011 Purpose Prize

Helping Immigrants Find Their Way in America

Wanjiru Kamau draws from her own experience to introduce Africans to a new life. Watch

Assembling a Toolbox for Green Buildings

Architect Edward Mazria helps others increase energy-efficiency, decrease pollution. Watch

meet some
past winners

2010

Allan Barsema

Helping the Homeless

In launching Carpenter's Place, an outreach center for the homeless in Rockford, Ill., Barsema found his "life calling." Watch

2009

Marcy Adelman; the Aldermans; Duncan Campbell

Interviews with some of the winners

Adelman's Openhouse project advocates for affordable, LGBT-friendly senior housing. Through the Peter C. Alderman Foundation, Elizabeth and Stephen Alderman honor their son, killed on 9/11, by bringing mental health treatment to trauma victims around the world. Campbell's Friends of the Children matches mentors with at-risk children for 12 years, no matter what. Listen