Cleveland Foundation announces Encore Cleveland Prize

New award recognizes individuals and organizations empowering the Encore movement in Greater Cleveland

RELEASE DATE: 5.12.2015

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Foundation today announced it is now accepting nominations for the inaugural Encore Cleveland Prize of the Cleveland Foundation. The foundation will award two $25,000 prizes, to one individual and to one nonprofit or public agency, in recognition of significant, innovative work that combines personal meaning with social impact and engages older adults in social purpose.

The Encore movement is a national effort to leverage the energy and experience of Americans who seek to fill community needs upon retirement or near the end of their primary careers. Encore Cleveland, launched in 2013 by the Cleveland Foundation, helps to connect and fund a network of organizations to provide experienced Greater Clevelanders age 50+ with an array of meaningful opportunities in the community. To date, the foundation has awarded more than $2 million in grant dollars to support Encore Cleveland programs.  

“Throughout the past two years, we have been pleased with the growing engagement of our community in the Encore Cleveland movement,” said Robert E. Eckardt, executive vice president of the Cleveland Foundation. “We hope that, by recognizing outstanding individuals and organizations utilizing Encore talent and experience to benefit Greater Cleveland, their stories inspire others in our community to develop their own Encore paths.”

The Encore Cleveland Prize for Individuals recognizes one Encore individual, age 50 and older, who resides in Lake, Geauga or Cuyahoga County and leads extraordinary, innovative social purpose work. The work must be serving a social purpose within Greater Cleveland and have a track record of impact for a minimum of three years. Social purpose work is defined as work by an experienced person (age 50 and older) who applies their talent and expertise to a cause important to him or her to achieve a significant difference in the quality of life for others. The monetary award must be given to a 501(c)(3) organization designated by the award recipient.

The Encore Cleveland Prize for Nonprofit and Public Sector Organizations recognizes one nonprofit or public sector organization located in Lake, Geauga and/or Cuyahoga County that engages people 50 and older in its efforts to improve quality of life for others. Nonprofits are required to have operated as a 501(c)(3) for a minimum of three years. Current Encore grantees are not eligible to apply.

Applications for the Encore Cleveland Prize are due by June 19, 2015. A panel of judges will review the applications and recommend the recipients to the foundation’s board of directors for final review and approval. To learn more about the Encore Cleveland movement and to download nomination forms for the Encore Cleveland Prize, visit ClevelandFoundation.org/encore

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Established in 1914, the Cleveland Foundation is the world’s first community foundation and one of the largest today, with assets of $2.1 billion and 2014 grants of $98 million. Through the generosity of donors, the foundation improves the lives of Greater Clevelanders by building community endowment, addressing needs through grantmaking, and providing leadership on vital issues. The foundation tackles the community’s priority areas – economic transformation, public-school improvement, youth development, neighborhood revitalization, and arts advancement – and responds to the community’s needs.

For more information on the Cleveland Foundation, visit ClevelandFoundation.org/100Plus1 and follow us on  Facebook.com/ClevelandFoundation, Twitter @CleveFoundation and Instagram@CleveFoundation.