Mary Martin Niepold, a Wake Forest University journalism professor has been selected as a 2009 Purpose Prize Fellow by Encore Careers.  She was selected for her work with the Nyanya Project, a non-profit she began in 2007 that teaches sustainable skills to Grandmothers in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya.  Mary Martin teaches a cross-listed course in the Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise minor---Introduction to Professional Writing: Writing For a Purpose.

So far Niepold’s project has targeted over 140 grandmothers who, as a result of the AIDS pandemic, are left to care for sick and dependent family members with virtually no support from their governments.  Rather than offer handouts to these disadvantaged grandmothers, The Nyanya Project teaches these women skills like jewelry making and mushroom farming so that they can earn money to sustain their families.

According to www.nyanyaproject.org the grandmothers are trained in caring for HIV –infected family members and then the Nyanya Project helps them to form ”working cooperatives that generate the income necessary to provide healthcare, education and a loving home for their grandchildren.” The Nyanya Project is a self-sustaining model that allows the women it helps to become empowered and independent.

“For me, the honor of being named a Purpose Prize fellow really goes to the African grandmothers,” Niepold said.  “They provide love and sustenance to their families and AIDS orphaned grandchildren under incredibly harsh circumstances.  They inspire me, and I am privileged to know them.”

The Purpose Prize is a fellowship honoring 47 social entrepreneurs each year. Winners are all 60 or older and have chosen to use the wisdom and experience gained in their earlier years of life to better the world around them in a second career.

Sherry Lansing, CEO of the Sherry Lansing Foundation and former chair of Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, chairs the jury that selected this year’s winners. The 24 judges are leaders in business, politics, journalism and the nonprofit sector – including actor Sidney Poitier, social entrepreneur Thomas Tierney, former Senator Harris Wofford and journalist Cokie Roberts. Funding for The Purpose Prize comes from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation.

As part of her prize Niepold will join the other Purpose Prize Fellows at a Summit on Innovation from Oct. 31--Nov. 1 at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business’ Center on Social Innovation. Niepold says she looks forward to the networking contacts the Nyanya Project will gain from the summit.