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Community Impact –
Del Mar Encore Fellows

The Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative is changing the conversation around aging. This initiative is harnessing the talents and expertise of Greater Dayton’s retired or career-transitioning older adults to aid area nonprofits and move the needle on community initiatives.

Here to help.

Leigh Sempeles
Executive Fellow
(937) 225-9949

Since 2017, more than a dozen highly skilled, older adults have been at work in the community as Del Mar Encore Fellows, helping other organizations address significant community issues. Their work has led to the creation of new tools, resources and insights, including:

  • a COVID-19-triggered program to retrain laid-off restaurant workers as personal care aides;
  • new technology to help low-income older adults have increased access to healthcare;
  • a report on the prevalence of low-literacy in our community;
  • increased attention to the digital divide as an impediment to children’s access to learning;
  • the development of new education and employment pathways for early childhood educators; and
  • the establishment of regional age-friendly communities.

Each Fellow receives an annual stipend of $30,000 from The Dayton Foundation and works a part-time, flexible schedule of 20 to 32 hours per week.

How to Apply for a Fellow

The Dayton Foundation currently is seeking Requests for Proposals from organizations interested in hosting a Fellow to help advance an initiative that is addressing a community need. Proposals are due to The Dayton Foundation by 4:00 p.m., Friday, June 6, 2025. 

STEPS TO APPLY

1. Ensure that your organization is eligible to apply for a Del Mar Encore Fellow. Contact Leigh Sempeles, senior fellow, lsempeles@daytonfoundation.org.

2. Review the Foundation's Request for Proposal guidelines.

3. Submit the Request for Proposal via email.

 

Organizations that have hosted Fellows include the Area Agency on Aging, PSA 2; Brunner Literacy Center; Dayton Metro Library; Learn to Earn Dayton; NCCJ; Ruth Frost Parker Center for Abundant Aging; Preschool Promise; Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education; St. Mary Development Center, and more.

The Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative was conceived by Don Ambrose, president of Del Mar Healthcare and advisor to the DMH-Dayton Fund of The Dayton Foundation.

 

Interested in becoming a Del Mar Encore Fellow? Contact our Senior Fellow Leigh Sempeles at (937) 225-9949 for more information.

Living Longer Resources

Publications

  • AARP Roadmap for the Rest of Your Life: Smart Choices About Money, Health, Work, Lifestyle ... and Pursuing Your Dreams, by Bart Astor (Wiley, 2013)
  • Changing the Myths of Aging: An Encore Solution, 2019
  • Encore Career Handbook, by Marci Alboher (Workman, 2013)
  • Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life, by Marc Freedman (Public Affairs, 2008)
  • How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations, by Marc Freedman (Public Affairs, 2018)
  • Impact Evaluation Report: The Dayton Foundation Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative, July 20, 2022
  • Refire! Don’t Retire, by Ken Blanchard and Morton Shaevitz (Berrett & Koehler, 2015)
  • The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott (Bloomsbury, 2016)
  • The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife, by Marc Freedman (Public Affairs, 2012)
  • This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, by Ashton Applewhite (Networked Books, 2016)
  • Wisdom @ Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, by Chip Conley (Doubleday, 2018)

Fellows Look to Expand Program’s Reach

Read more about the Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative in our Fall/Winter 2022 newsletter, Good News.

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