AARP Announces Winners of the Annual AARP Purpose Prize Award

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- AARP has named the winners of the 2026 AARP® Purpose Prize® award, honoring nonprofit founders age 50 or older who are driving meaningful change. The annual award recognizes leaders who use their knowledge, life experience, and dedication to create lasting impact. Each honoree will receive $75,000 to support their organization, along with a year of technical assistance to help expand their reach and impact.

This year's winners are addressing urgent needs nationwide, including expanding access to health care and education, improving broadband availability, creating workforce opportunities, conserving natural resources, and advancing mental health and community engagement.

"We are proud to honor our AARP Purpose Prize winners. These remarkable individuals demonstrate how decades of life experience combined with a commitment to serve can be a powerful force for good," said Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, CEO of AARP. "Their work responds to pressing social challenges in their communities and demonstrates what it truly means to live with purpose."

Recipients and their organizations will be honored during an in-person celebration in Washington, D.C. on October 23, 2025.  For more information, go to www.aarp.org/purposeprize.

This year's AARP Purpose Prize winners are:

Aaron Casillas, 54, Mycelia Foundation, Las Cruces, NM

• Mycelia Foundation connects underserved and rural communities with high-speed broadband and artificial intelligence-enhanced digital literacy programs and curriculum. Through its innovative NET approach, combining networks, education and technology, the organization empowers families across New Mexico with essential connectivity and bilingual support, ensuring technology's benefits reach all communities.

Harold Garman, 90, and Spence Limbocker, 82, Gaithersburg Beloved Community Initiative, Gaithersburg, MD

• In keeping with the values of Beloved Community, GBCI builds intergenerational relationships through 10 programs involving mostly immigrant families and 150 Asbury Methodist Village residents and community volunteers. Older adult volunteers find special meaning through relationships with neighboring immigrant children and families. Program participants range from toddlers and their moms to high school students.

Ilyssa Manspeizer, Ph.D., 57, Landforce, Pittsburgh, PA

• Landforce trains and hires people who are excluded from family-sustaining jobs, often because they are justice-involved and face systemic hiring biases. Trainees work in environmental stewardship and responsible wood production to build skills, confidence, capacity and connections to future employers. At the same time, their work strengthens communities and climate resilience.

Larry McCord, 73, CHADS Coalition for Mental Health, St. Louis, MO

• CHADS saves young lives by advancing the awareness and prevention of depression and suicide. The organization provides suicide prevention presentations in classrooms, individualized social and emotional mentoring, and short-term therapeutic counseling. CHADS typically reaches more than 2,700 students per week, and most of its services are provided at no charge to its clients.

Jacquelyn T. Thomas, 62, Kids in Technology, Memphis, TN

• Kids In Technology delivers hands-on artificial intelligence and STEM education through in-school high-impact tutoring and enrichment programs. It helps K–8 students close academic gaps in math, science and reading while building foundational skills in AI. The organization's goal is to prepare learners for success in school and in a rapidly evolving, tech-driven world.

About AARP
AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the more than 120 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health security, financial stability, and personal fulfillment. AARP also drives solutions in the marketplace by sparking innovation and partnering with carefully chosen organizations to deliver new products and services that improve people's lives.

Media Contact: Randy LoBasso, 267-964-8001, [email protected]                   

SOURCE AARP Pennsylvania