After returning to Liberia in 2009 where he had been a Peace Corps volunteer decades before, Richard Fahey was struck that nothing had changed. Even after the country had been immersed in civil war, it was as if time had stopped. Electricity was undependable. At sunset, entire towns would go dark.

The experience had so impacted Fahey that he returned home and retired from his 40-year career as an environmental and energy law lawyer and plunged himself into creating a program to bring light back to Liberia. He founded the Liberian Energy Network which has provided thousands of solar lights to homes, business, and hospitals across Liberia. Students can now do their homework, medical staff can treat patients at all hours, and businesses can stay open to serve communities.

It IS possible to find meaningful work, even later in life. It’s just a matter of how bad you want it, how much work you’re willing to put in, and how persistent you’re going to be to reach your goal. “One of the nice things about being over 50 is that you can take a bunch of risks you can’t take when you’re a kid” (Richard Fahey)

Acknowledgement: Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative