Over 55 and thinking of starting a nonprofit career? This meetup is for you

A job is not the same as a career, and a career is not the same as a life passion — but it can be.

Encore Community of Philadelphia is a new networking group for professionals 55 and older who are seeking a career change. Or, as its Meetup description puts it: “This community is for those of us in the second or third chapters of our lives who want to make a positive difference in the world, and maybe also continue to earn a living.”

The meetup’s organizer, Yosaif August, works as a life coach for older adults seeking help finding their next step — but he wants to make it clear this group isn’t for people looking for any old change.

“It’s not just the ‘next thing.’ It’s something with social purpose. It’s not just a career development,” said August, 74, who made his own drastic life shift in his 50s when he and his wife abandoned the consultancy they’d founded to pursue what he calls their “life passion.” (She went to rabbinical school.)

Each month’s meetup will focus on a new topic, including opportunities in education, healthcare, government and social entrepreneurship, though they’ll always incorporate professional “empowerment” in some way.

The group’s next meeting, on Wednesday, Dec. 13, at the Chestnut Hill branch of the Free Library, will focus on nonprofit careers.

Kitchen Cred founder Doug Barg, who also runs the nonprofit subgroup of networking group Beacon, is speaking. It’s a perfect fit: Barg started the youth-serving nonprofit five years ago after a 37-year career as VP of Barg Industries, an international marketing and project development firm.

“This is for people who want to make a difference and also want to make a living at this stage of life,” August said. “The world is ripe with problems, and they’re ripe with talent and wisdom.”

Sound like you? Get involved: