Apply for the AARP Purpose Prize Award

Making a difference doesn't stop as you age. Millions of older adults are using their experience to give back, to solve problems, and to change lives. The AARP Purpose Prize award honors extraordinary individuals who use their lived experiences to make a better future for all – and now is the time to apply.

The AARP Purpose Prize award is all about a new story of aging — focusing on experience and innovation and the idea that our aging population is an untapped resource full of possibilities.

Up to seven winners who have founded a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) nonprofit will receive $50,000 for their organizations. Winners also have access to yearlong individualized supports to help further organizational goals. Examples of current supports include one-on-one leadership coaching for founders, data and evaluation consulting, succession planning, prospectus development, social media and branding support, and more.

Previous recipients from Texas include creative talents like Sharron Rush and Norma Comstock, both from Austin.

As the executive director and co-founder of Knowability, a nonprofit organization and leader in accessible information technology, Rush received an AARP Purpose Prize in 2022 in support of the organization’s mission to create an inclusive digital world for people with disabilities.

“When you design for people with disabilities, you make online products and services better for everyone — just as wheelchair ramps also benefit people with strollers, suitcases, canes and hand trucks,” Rush said. “Technology design has to be made as accessible as buildings.”

Comstock received the recognition in 2018 for work related to having founded an organization called Las Comadres Para Las Americas (translated as Female Friends for the Americas), an informal group that meets in many U.S. cities to build connections and community with other Latinas.

“By creating a way for Latinas to naturally connect with each other, I have found a way to both boost women’s confidence and engage them in innovative projects,” Comstock said.

 AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins, said: “Our Purpose Prize winners are shining examples of a simple, yet profound truth: When we find our sense of purpose—that certain something that gives us a reason to get up and get going every day—we not only give meaning to our own lives; we make the world a better place for everyone.”

 The call for applications runs through Feb. 29, 2024 at 5 p.m. ET. To be eligible, applicants need to be:

• 50 years of age or older and founded their organization after age 40
• The founder or co-founder of a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization
• A legal resident of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia.

See official rules and apply at www.aarp.org/apply.