The MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures BreakThrough Award is for innovative organizations that tap the passion and experience of people over 50 to improve society. It’s a salute to any nonprofit or public sector agency that takes on local, national, or international challenges by engaging this vast and vibrant workforce for good.

Nominations were open for creative organizations that use the know-how and can-do of Americans over 50 to meet society’s biggest needs. Consider these examples of flexible new approaches combining the spirit of service with the benefits of work:

• An organization recruits people over 50 and matches them with flexible schedule jobs in social service and government agencies.
• A hospital creates patient counselor jobs, and offers seasonal-work positions with full-year benefits, to recruit and retain experienced nurses.
• A school district pays stipends to experienced adults tutoring students in math and science.
• A nonprofit creates new part-time or part-year jobs that attract older adults seeking meaningful, flexible work.

This Award did not apply to volunteer work done without any type of financial support. "Financial support", however, was broadly viewed and could include things such as health insurance, stipends, living allowance, or other creative benefits. Organizations that are engaging individuals over 50 solely as volunteers, without any form of compensation, were not eligible for the Award.

The BreakThrough Award is sponsored by Civic Ventures – a think tank and incubator generating ideas and inventing programs to help society achieve the greatest return on experience – and is funded by the MetLife Foundation.