What's next for women over 40?

Susan Dickson had been unhappy with her job for several years and her hours had been cut to part-time.

When her position finally was terminated, it only confirmed what she already knew -- she needed to find a new career direction.

Dickson hopes to put together a plan for what comes next in Project Second Act, a pilot program for women 40 and older seeking to expand their career opportunities and improve their financial security.

"I never could hit on what my second act was supposed to be," said Dickson, who has worked in the arts and most recently for a not-for-profit organization.

"I'm hoping to focus my energies in a direction that will satisfy me and use my talents to their fullest."

The six-session weekly program starts Saturday at National-Louis University in Lisle and will be offered at one of National-Louis' other locations in downtown Chicago, Skokie or Wheeling when enough women have registered.

Project Second Act came about because many women in Dickson's age bracket are seeking new direction for their lives, project director Terry Kozlowski said.

The program originally was intended for women 50 and older, but younger women asked to join, she said.

"So many women in their mid- and late-40s said, 'This is me, this is so perfect,' " she said.

Some of the women have had change thrust on them through divorce, layoffs or family circumstances. Others have raised their children and want to re-enter the work force.

Women currently employed may want to gain a promotion at work, or seek entirely new opportunities by starting their own business or moving in another career direction.

Kozlowski herself, who works with corporate leaders in career transition, left her former position with a consulting organization and started her business six years ago after her mother became ill.

"A lot of people were coming to me trying to figure out what was next," she said.

That need may be felt particularly by women, said Maria Malayter, director of the Center for Positive Aging at National-Louis, which is a partner in the project. Because women often juggle multiple roles, their sense of identity is more dispersed.

"They come to the table with all these skills, but they are not aware of it," Malayter said. "A lot of times they place their lives on hold for everybody else."

The Center for Positive Aging at National-Louis is working with The Transition Network, for women over 50, and the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor to make the project possible.

Nancy Chen of Naperville, regional administrator with the labor department's Women's Bureau, said she supported funding the project after seeing the success of a similar program in Ohio.

"I'm pleased we sponsored this project," she said. "I think it's a very needed kind of program for women."

The six, 2½-hour sessions will include an orientation, talent review, goal grid and plan for taking the next steps. The cost is $100. The fee has been kept low to make the program affordable to women who would benefit from it, Kozlowski said.

"We're all volunteers," she said.

Along with the trainers, the program will include volunteer mentors.

Veronica Buckley agreed to serve as one. After returning to college to finish her undergraduate degree as an adult, she went on to earn a doctorate. Her dissertation dealt with five older women who were aging vibrantly. She found several common threads in their lives.

"They all reinvented themselves in middle age," she said.

Four of the five went back to school. They all retained a sense they could contribute and make a difference in life despite experiencing their share of losses and illnesses, Buckley said.

"They just kept going in spite of it," she said. "It is never too late to grow and change."

Too often that's not the message society sends.

Kozlowski recalled one bright, well-educated woman who went to the career center of her alma mater to see how she could get back in the work force after her children were grown.

"The person she spoke with laughed at her," Kozlowski said.

Corina Crosier, an administrative assistant at College of DuPage, plans to attend the program. When Crosier arrived in the United States from Mexico about 17 years ago, she was a single mother with two children to support. Although she had the equivalent of an associate's degree in accounting and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Mexico, she lacked the language skills and cultural connections to make use of her education here.

"I did housekeeping and I worked in restaurants," she said.

Crosier now wants to earn a master's degree in counseling that would enable her to help other immigrants to better use their education and professional experience.

"I want to learn from different women and at the same time share my experience," she said. "I think we have got to get together to find ways to improve our situation."

If you go

What:Project Second Act, a program for women 40 and older seeking new career opportunities and improved financial security

When:9:30 to noon Saturday and Oct. 27, Nov. 3, Nov. 10, Nov. 17 and Dec. 1

Where:National-Louis University, 850 Warrenville Road, Lisle

Cost: $100

Info:(312) 353-6985 or projectsecondact@gmail.com