They include people like Sidney Poitier, Monica Lozano, Cokie Roberts, Gloria Steinem. They’re all over 60, and they’ve continued to have really vital lives. They’re all examples of people who have done wonderful things.

What does this movement imply for affluent boomers?

You can just do it, and there’s no excuse for not doing it. Our finalists, by and large, didn’t have tremendous wealth, so they had to slog through the bureaucracies to make things happen by sheer will and passion. If you have a high net worth, you can change the world.

Like Warren Buffett, who is 77, uniting with Bill Gates, who is 51.

They’re the poster boys for what we’re doing. They’ve made volunteerism cool. If you’ve been blessed by economic success, you can actually fund things yourself. Any dream you have to make the world a better place, you can actually say, "I’m setting this up."  When you have achieved all your dreams and have achieved great wealth, what are you going to do with it? How many houses and boats do you need? At the end, it becomes hollow, unless you try to have some relevancy in your life and unless you can see that you will leave something behind in your life that will last.

The only reason to make a lot of money is to be able to give it all away. If you earned it over a lifetime, you fulfilled your dream. If you inherited it, think of what you have and how you could actually put the money to work to change the world. It’s a wonderful opportunity.

How does this fit into your work on health and education?

I’ve always been active in cancer research because I lost my mother to cancer, but also in education because I was a teacher. Now I can do philanthropy full time. There’s a season to do everything. You want different things as you evolve, and this is far and away the happiest time in my life.

My passion is the policy. I was appointed to the stem cell oversight committee, which is an eight-year government committee in California, a state that voted $3 billion for stem cell research. I’m one of those appointed to oversee funding and co-chair the standards committee. That’s really like a full-time job. I’ve also taken over as chair of health services for the University of California Regents; that’s a 12-year appointment.

And, to come full circle, you now work with President Carter.

About a week after I announced my resignation, I was on my way to Long Beach for a sneak preview of Lemony Snicket when my secretary called and said President Carter was on the phone. I picked it up, and he said, "Sherry, I’ve just come from a board meeting, and we’ve unanimously voted to make you a member of the Carter Center. We hope you’ll accept." I just started to cry. It confirmed that everything I’m doing now is the right move. He’s remarkable, and the Carter Center is wonderful, but just being in his presence makes you a better person. He’s a living example of a life well spent.