A study by Stanford and Encore.org found that the majority of older adults want to give back in some way. Jim Ansara, an AARP 2024 Purpose Prize winner, is making a big difference in his retirement with his organization Build Health International. How might you redirect your skills and experience to make a difference?

Jim Ansara joins us from Beverly , Massachusetts.

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Jim Ansara is a retired general contractor who founded Shawmut Design and Construction in Boston in the early 1980’s and led it to become one of the top 25 construction companies in the US. While at Shawmut he led several volunteer teams of employees to build low-tech, clean water systems in Nicaragua with the organization, El Porvenir.

After retiring as Chairman of the Board, Jim redirected his energy to the developing world. In 2009 a trip to Haiti with Dr. Paul Farmer led to an invitation to build a small community hospital with Partners in Health (PIH) in Haiti’s Central Plateau. The process took a major turn when a massive earthquake struck the country on January 10, 2010. For three-and-a-half years after the earthquake, through the outbreak of cholera and political unrest, through hurricanes and unbearable heat, Jim, his partner Dr. David Walton of PIH, and hundreds of Haitian and Dominican workers persevered to build Haiti’s new 340-bed National Teaching Hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti. Since its completion, the mission to build and equip global health care infrastructure has continued via a new non-profit, Build Health International, based in Beverly, MA. The BHI team has undertaken projects in low-resource settings across 22 countries with PIH, the Kellogg Foundation, Cure International, Direct Relief International and numerous other NGOS.

For Jim’s philanthropy he has received Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from Amherst College and Salem State University, as well as distinction from Partners in Health, Health Equity International, The American Red Cross Northeast MA Chapter, the Political Asylum and Immigration Representation Project, Summer Search Boston, and more. He serves on the board of Health Equity International, and in years past on the boards of Salem State University, the Boston Children’s Museum, Youth Build, and City Year.

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For More on Jim Ansara

Build Health International (BHI)

Health Equity Humanitarian Delivers Hospitals for the Poor

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Podcast Episodes You May Like

Changing the World One Small Act at a Time – Brad Aronson

Live Life in Crescendo – Cynthia Covey Haller

The Best Day of My Life So Far – Benita Cooper

Why People Make a Career Change with Purpose Top of Mind – Chris Farrell

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Wise Quotes

On Learning and New Challenges in Retirement

“I’m passionate about tackling challenges and solving problems. And one of the things that really excites me in life is learning, not necessarily learning in traditional methods, but learning by sort of immersion, where I’m trying to keep my nose and mouth just above the flood tide. And I need a level of sort of challenge and the accompanying freneticism in my life to really be happy. I’d like it to be different. I’d like to be a more relaxed and easy-going person, but at 67, that’s not going to change probably. So it’s really a combination of those two things. And I found, and this is an area, Build Health International, where I could really exercise both of those things. It’s informative about who I am and who I’m not.”

On the Transition to Retirement

“I’d like to say that I got to where I am by lots of self reflection and and and that kind of thing, but it’s not true. I really fell into it. But I kept sort of trying to figure out what was next for me. And I was also clear on what I didn’t want to do. I knew some people who had sold companies and made some money, and many of them manage their money and got into business, either as consultants or advisors. One guy even started a hedge fund – that didn’t work out well. Lots of things like that. And I was clear that I didn’t love business. What I was able to eventually figure out is what I loved about being in business was the challenges, the problem solving, and the community I got from it. I wasn’t a particularly naturally social person. I got a lot of my community from work. Just learning was piece of it. And that’s what I loved about being in business. I didn’t love making money. I enjoyed the benefits of it, but it wasn’t my purpose. And I also knew that I was the beneficiary of lots and lots of hard work, plus great timing and things broke my way. I wasn’t a brilliant entrepreneurial entrepreneur. And I think that’s one of the things that confuses a lot of people who, like me, got really lucky once. Now, I also had to go through a transition, which was interesting, which luckily I was warned about. When you’re a CEO of a larger company, lots of things get done for you, and you’re used to being taken incredibly seriously, even if people think they’re really stupid ideas, and people say, Yes, I’ll get on that. And quickly that vanishes. And luckily I’d been warned about that. But that’s also very difficult for some people. I’m not saying everybody starts with that. But if you do, it can be a hard transition and I was able to come to terms with that fairly quickly and realize that I wasn’t special.”

On an Advisor Who Tells You the Truth 

“CEOs and executives, I think, live in sort of a feedback bubble where you don’t have a lot of people telling you the truth and their unvarnished opinions. You don’t have somebody saying That’s the stupidest damn idea I’ve ever heard. How can you think that? You just don’t have that. And it’s probably even less today as people are more politically correct and more cautious about what they say. And you really really need that. And I had one advisor who I had a love -hate relationship with but always respected ,Tom Feely, who was my CPA for many years and who also served as a strategic advisor. It’s an odd combination. And I would meet with him a couple times a month in person. I’d talk to him on the phone sometimes every day and he would not only push me but he would tell me when I was full of it or off base in no uncertain terms. And that was so valuable and it’s so hard to find those people in your life. So if in a transition like this if you can find people who will tell you that unvarnished truth you know whether you want to hear it or not that’s super valuable.”

On Forging Your Path

“Not everyone’s going to want to do what I’m doing, and I understand that. Everybody’s going to be different, and everybody’s going to want to plug in to whatever they’re doing at different levels and different ways. I think a lot of people are going to be more balanced about their approach than I am, which is probably good. But, I think it’s not just what you’re passionate about. I think that’s a piece of it. But it’s also what you can be effective at. Because if you’re not effective, it’s just not going to work. And I see a lot of entrepreneurs going on to second careers, where they’re not effective and not necessarily qualified, and they struggle.”

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About Retirement Wisdom

I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call to discuss how The Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one – on your own terms.

About Your Podcast Host

Joe Casey is the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. He’s an executive coach who also helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a twenty-six-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Today, in addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, which thanks to his guests and loyal listeners, ranks in the top 1 % globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.4 million downloads. Business Insider has recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference.