Utah’s Lloyd Pendleton Honored as 2009 Purpose Prize Fellow for Innovation, Extraordinary Contribution in Encore Career. Entrepreneurs Over 60 Win for Using Creativity, Experience to Solve Long-Standing Social Problems
Lloyd Pendleton has been named a 2009 Purpose Prize fellow, an honor for social entrepreneurs over 60 who are using their experience and passion to take on society’s biggest challenges. Now in its fourth year, the six-year, $17 million program is the nation’s only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life.
Pendleton, Utah’s Homeless Task Force Director for the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development was named a Fellow for his work in developing and implementing the State of Utah’s 10-Year Action Plan to End Chronic Homelessness.
Pendleton will join 46 other Purpose Prize Fellows at a Summit on Innovation on Nov. 1 at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business’ Center on Social Innovation, a world leading academic centers focused on social entrepreneurship.
The fellows underscore a trend in entrepreneurialism later in life. According to studies by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the 55-64 age group is the most active in creating new ventures. Counter to stereotype, people ages 20-34, the study found, are the least entrepreneurial.
“More than ever, the problems facing our communities, country and world call out for creative solutions,” said Marc Freedman, co-founder of The Purpose Prize and author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life. “Fortunately, we don’t run out of ideas as we age.”
“Like so many others in this new stage of life between the end of midlife careers and the beginning of true old age, The Purpose Prize fellows combine creativity, experience and passion with a desire to do something bigger than themselves,” Freeman continued.
“I am extremely honored to be named a 2009 Purpose Prize fellow,” Pendleton said. “This honor recognizes the work we are all doing with Utah’s most vulnerable population, the chronically homeless. Not only are we succeeding in helping them rebuild their lives, but we are freeing up services for those on the cusp of homelessness.
