Opportunities for Second Youth

Being interviewed by the talented and thoughtful Nam Kiwanuka on TVOntario’s Agenda in the Summer was such a pleasure. Nam has a real following judging from the feedback I received when our interview aired late last month.

One of the delightful responses I received was from Nancy Angus of Thunder Bay. Nancy was particularly taken with my response to Nam’s query about whether I was optimistic about retirement. I explained that I am optimistic because the concept of retiring - pulling back from life and from engagement - is completely out-dated. We need all the assets and skills of our retirees to be fully engaged. I said I’d love to see the development of an “Opportunities For Second Youth,” which would galvanize seniors to participate in community building projects across the country. (Also see the Huffington Post article)

Nancy wrote to say that my comments about “Opportunities For Second Youth” made her want to jump into action and help launch something like this.  Back in 1978, she was a participant in the federal youth program Katimavik.  “I’ve always felt that there could be a market for those of us “seasoned” youth!” she says.  Nancy would be an ideal person to have on this team. She just retired from the Recreation Division with the City of Thunder Bay and has been working on her encore career phase helping with age-friendly initiatives and recreation for seniors strategies.

You'll get a sense of Nancy's spunk by watching the digital story she produced called “Goddess of the Deep End”  It’s about her journey of learning to swim at age 55.

If you’d like to contact Nancy to talk more about her interests click on Contact Us on the left column and I’ll put you in touch.