Maria T. Nagorski, Executive Director of Fair Chance, Selected by Civic Ventures as a 2010 Purpose Prize Fellow
Fair Chance is pleased to announce that Executive Director Maria T. Nagorski has been selected by Civic Ventures as a 2010 Purpose Prize Fellow. Selected as 1 of 46 awardees from an initial pool of more than 1,400 nominated individuals, Ms. Nagorski was awarded this prestigious prize in recognition of her dedication to improving the lives of children, youth, and families living in poverty in her hometown of Washington, DC. As Executive Director, she works to strengthen the sustainability of nonprofit organizations and their leaders to transform the lives of children and youth living in poverty, ensuring that every child in the District of Columbia receives a fair chance to succeed. Purpose Prize Fellowships are awarded to social entrepreneurs over 60 who are in their encore careers, utilizing their experience and passion to make an extraordinary impact in their communities. Now in its fifth year, the six-year, $17 million Purpose Prize program is the nation's only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life.
Speaking in response to the award, Maria said, "I am honored and excited to be among this group of extraordinary honorees. It is wonderful to be in the company of so many individuals who believe in their dreams and know they can make a difference in the world. As Helen Keller once said, 'Life is either a daring adventure or nothing…' and clearly for all of us life is an adventure and a time for service"
"Purpose Prize Fellows show what's possible in our communities CC and the world when experienced adults apply their passion and skill to improve the lives of others." said Alexandra Céspedes Kent, Director of The Purpose Prize. "Imagine the potential for society if tens of thousands of adults focused their know-how on the social causes they are most passionate about it's a tremendous opportunity."
The 46 Purpose Prize Fellows of 2010 were honored at the Purpose Prize Summit on November 12-14 in Philadelphia. Approximately 400 attendees of the invitation-only event heard from featured speakers such as W. Wilson Goode Sr. (former mayor of Philadelphia and 2006 Prize winner); writer and cultural anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson (author of Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom); civil rights leader and social innovator Robert Moses (founder of The Algebra Project); and bestselling author Martin Seligman (founder of the field of positive psychology).
The Purpose Prize, funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation, is a program of Civic Ventures' Encore Careers campaign (www.encore.org), which aims to engage millions of baby boomers in encore careers combining social impact, personal meaning and continued income in the second half of life.
For more information, visit: www.encore.org/prize. For Maria's bio www.encore.org/maria-t-nagorski
About Fair Chance (www.fairchancedc.org)
Believing that every child in the District of Columbia deserves a fair chance to succeed, the mission of Fair Chance is to strengthen the sustainability of nonprofit organizations and their leaders to transform the lives of children and youth living in poverty especially in Wards 5-8. Since 2002, Fair Chance's capacity and social chance model has helped 50 community nonprofit organizations that provide quality and needed services to over 50,000 children, youth, and families. After partnering with Fair Chance, on average, organizations double the number of youth served, triple their fundraising, improving the quality of their programs, and strengthened their organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
About Civic Ventures (www.encore.org)
Civic Ventures is a national think tank on boomers, work and social purpose.
About The Atlantic Philanthropies (www.atlanticphilanthropies.org)
The Atlantic Philanthropies are dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Their work is aimed at aging, disadvantaged children and youth, population health, and reconciliation and human rights.
About the John Templeton Foundation (www.templeton.org)
The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for research and discoveries relating to what scientists and philosophers call the Big Questions. The Foundation supports work at the world's top universities in such fields as theoretical physics, cosmology, evolutionary biology, cognitive science and social science relating to love, forgiveness, creativity, purpose and the nature and origin of religious belief.
