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Past Purpose Prize Winners and Fellows

En español | AARP Purpose® Prize® honorees give back to their communities with a generosity of spirit that is at once impossible to match and irresistibly ​inspiring. They are living their lives to the fullest so we can live ours. Through this important annual award, AARP celebrates a new story of aging—one full of meaningful impact and limitless possibilities.


2024

Winners

Ken FalkeBoulder Crest Foundation

Peter JensenThe REACH Institute

Janice MaloneVivian’s Door

Don SchoendorferFree Wheelchair Mission

Laura StachelWe Care Solar

Fellows

Julie Clugage, Team4Tech Foundation

Shana Erenberg, Libenu

Lee Ann KlineSTEM Advantage

Scarlett LewisJesse Lewis Choose Love Movement

Pamela LindsayCollege of Adaptive Arts

Geeta MethaAsia Initiatives

Maura O'MalleyLifetime Arts, Inc.

Rob PerezDV8 Kitchen Vocational Training Foundation

Ming-Ming Tung-EdelmanRefugee Artisan Initiative

Renita WhiteOf Color Inc.


2023

Winners

Zerqa AbidMY Project USA

Jamesetta FergusonMolo Village, CDC

Sharron RushKnowbility

Bill TooneEcolife Conservation

Dr. Imani WoodyMary’s House for Older Adults

Fellows

Gulshan HarjeeClarkston Community Health Center

Judith HeilmanMontana Racial Equity Project

Chien-Chi HuangAsian Women for Health

Debra IsaacsUnshakeable

Mishelle RudzinskiSpoon

Charles SchmuckPeninsula College Fund

Richard SeslerCamp Blue Skies

Elizabeth ShaughnessyBerkeley Chess School

Richard ValenzaRaiseAChild

Dr. Michele R. Wright and Terry Gene WrightNational Organization of African Americans with Cystic Fibrosis


2022

Winners

William “Bill” BrackenBracken’s Kitchen

Raymond A. JetsonMetroMorphosis; 2022 Winner

Alan MillerNews Literacy Project

Ify Anne NwabukwuAfrican Women’s Cancer Awareness Association

Rita ZimmerHousingPlus

Fellows

Larry BergerSLB Radio Productions

Rebecca BonnerThe Bridge Way School

Terri ChandlerFuture Smiles

Dexter FrederickBrain Expansions Scholastic Training

Sheila JaffeFelix Organization

Shellie LayneAt Home Foundation Inc./Women Under Construction Network

Terri WinstonWomen’s Audio Mission

Ana Pallés YelenHealing Warriors Program


2021

Winners

Mark BardenSandy Hook Promise

Cindy EggletonBrilliant Detroit

Hope HarleyBronx Children’s Museum

Arturo A. NoriegaCentro Community Partners

Susan TachauPennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation

Fellows

Mark BardenSandy Hook Promise

Jerilyn BrusseauPeaceTrees Vietnam

Liz FanningCorpsAfrica

Patricia FunegraLa Cocina VA

Andrea IvoryThe Women’s Breast & Heart Initiative

Robin KelleherHope for the Warriors

Sharon LoveOne Love Foundation

Donna OdomSociety for History and Racial Equity

Ngozi OkaroCustom Collaborative

Katherine SollTeens For Food Justice

Lisa H. ThurauStrategies for Youth


2020

Winners

Shirley Acevedo BuontempoLatino U College Access

Georgette BennettMultifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees

Paul LeonIllumination Foundation

Sister Edna LonerganSt. Ann's Center for Intergenerational Care

Wintley A. PhippsUS Dream Academy

Fellows

Im Ja ChoiPenn Asian Senior Services

AnnMaria De Mars7 Generation Games

Adele Della TorreReady Set Smile

Linda B EaganFulton Block Builders

Beth EhrhardtSenior Charity Care Foundation

Gregg KanderSuperior Motors/Ohringer Arts

Molly MacDonaldThe Pink Fund

Vicki SokolikStarting Right, Now

Kirk WhislerLatino Literacy Now


2019

Winners

Sayu BhojwaniNew American Leaders

Karen CassidyHildegard House

Susan CottonThe Lily Project

Reid CoxiFoster

Bettye PerkinsToday's Students Tomorrow's Teachers

Monica Kamal SpaeniAccess Ability Wisconsin

Fellows

Kristy Baxter and Mark GriffinUNDERSTOOD

Patrick CogginsAskMyBuddy Personal Alert Network

Nora de Hoyos ComstockLas Comadres Para Las Americas

Donna GambrellAppalachian Community Capital

Lisa GualtieriRecycleHealth

Marc SophosMedia for the Public Good, Inc./OutCasting Media

Laura TalmusBeyond Differences

Sheila WarnockShare The Caregiving, Inc.

Karen YoungSweet Readers, Inc.


2018

Winners

Cynthia BarnettSaturday Academy/Amazing Girls Science

James FarrinThe Petey Greene Program

Celeste MergensDays for Girls

Dr. Mike F. WeaverSee and Serve America, Inc

Fellows

Bonnie J. AddarioBonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI)

Gary EichhornMusic & Youth Initiative

Dr. Laurie GreenThe MAVEN Project

Annie GriffithsRipple Effects Images

Cindy KerrRyan's Case for Smiles

Sister Marilyn LaceyMercy Beyond Borders

Dr. Ashok MalhotraNinash Foundation

Anne PollackCrossing Point Arts, Inc.

Lynn PriceCamp To Belong

Juanita SuberMy Sistah's Place/Golden Generations