Life by Design Northwest

About Life By Design Northwest

The Program
The Inspiration
The Process
The Partners

The Program

Life by Design Northwest brings together nine major institutions in Portland, Oregon in a partnership to support people contemplating retirement and older adults by providing opportunities for in-depth assessment and life planning, lifelong learning and civic engagement.

Life by Design Northwest is currently offering a series of employee workshops that employers can make available as an added benefit at a small cost per individual. Workshops can be held on site at your place of business or at a Portland Community College facility.

These workshops provide hands-on activities and access to online tools your employees can use as they explore the transition from one phase of life to the next. Employees participate in a process of personal goal setting, financial planning and exploring future options for volunteerism learning, re-employment and civic engagement.

Ultimately, the Life by Design Northwest program will expand from an employer-specific program to include services for the general public consisting of in-person workshops, access to one-on-one coaching, and a comprehensive Web site featuring online community resources. Your employees will be able to build on the Life by Design Northwest workshops you’ve provided for them by leveraging these additional services on their own.

The Inspiration

Members of the Baby Boom generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) have already begun leaving their primary careers. Seventy-six million will retire during the next 30 years. By 2015, Baby Boomers will swell the ranks of Oregonians aged 50 and over to an estimated 1.5 million people; over 700,000 of them will reside in Multnomah and the surrounding counties.

Today’s retiring adults are the healthiest, most active and best educated in American history. They represent an unprecedented combination of experience, available time, energy, networks and life assets, and they are, on average, more civic-minded than any other population segment. For them, success and health in mid-life and beyond will depend on how well they understand and use their inherent health, creativity, passion and life/work experience to strengthen their communities and achieve personal fulfillment.

Life by Design Northwest seeks to support this segment of the population as they transition to the next phase of life, helping them achieve personal fulfillment and engage with their communities in meaningful ways.

The Process

The Life by Design Northwest workshops take a comprehensive approach to retirement planning. Each workshop leads employees through a process of making personal discoveries, designing achievable plans, and exploring opportunities for meaningful engagement in the next phase of life.

Discovery: Hands-on activities and online assessments support employees in discovering their passion and purpose, and help them better understand their finances, health and wellness, values, strengths and challenges.
Design: Hands-on activities, financial exercises and online tools support employees in creating a vision and specific plan for the future.
Engagement: In-class discussion and online tools and resources support employees in finding opportunities to implement their plans, balancing personal fulfillment and enhancing their contribution to their employers and their communities.

Find out more about the workshops

The Partners

Life by Design Northwest is a partnership of the following organizations:

The governing body of Life by Design Northwest is its Leadership Council, which consists of the following members:

Chair:: Maynard Orme, Interim Executive Director, KBPS
Vice-Chair:: Margaret Neal, Director, Institute on Aging, Portland State University
Secretary:: Neal Naigus, Assistant to the District President, Portland Community College
Treasurer:: Jay Bloom, CEO, Bloom Anew
Council Members:: Andy Nelson, Executive Director, Hands On Greater Portland; Bill Stoller, President, Express Personnel Services; Jerry Cohen, State Director, AARP/Oregon; Joyce DeMonnin, Director of Public Outreach, AARP/Oregon; Kim Guard, Owner, Beaverton, Express Personnel Services; Kim King, Human Resources Manager, NW Natural; Lea Anne Doolittle, V.P. of Human Resources, NW Natural; Marvin Kaiser, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Portland State University; Molly Raphael, Director, Multnomah County Library; Penny Hummel, Public Relations Manager, Multnomah County Library; Preston Pulliams, District President, Portland Community College; Tia Gray Stecher, President/CEO, Morrison Child & Family Services
Staff:: Karen Shimada, MPH, Program Manager, Life by Design Northwest
office: (503) 731-6650
fax: (503) 731-6676
e-mail: kshimada@lifebydesignnw.org; Kelley Carmichael Casey, PsyD, Education & Community Engagement, Life by Design Northwest
office: (503)-731-6650
email: kcarmichael@lifebydesignnw.org