We’ve been featuring ReServists who have served in the military, in honor of Veterans Day. Read this article about ReServist Shimon Schwarzschild, who currently serves as a development specialist at Sustainable South Bronx. You can read our article about ReServists Muriel Watkins here and Michael Smith here.

Shimon Schwarzschild, a ReServist has had many career transitions in his life, from the for-profit sector to the government sector to working for nonprofits, Shimon has had successful careers as an environmental activist, journalist and technical writer, and engineer.

Shimon first joined the Navy on his 18^th birthday during World War II. He came to the US as a refugee, his parents having fled Hitler’s Germany when he was 10 years old.

“Somehow I had this idea that I would like to see the world, even though at the time I got carsick and train-sick,” he said. I became an electronic RADAR technician. I was sent to school to learn about a new way of echo ranging called RADAR. It was so classified, we weren’t even allowed to use the word ‘RADAR.’”

He served in Okinawa, and eventually was discharged. After his service, he wanted to become an electronic engineer, and so returned to school under the GI bill. He attended the Newark College of Engineering (now the New Jersey Institute of Technology). After he graduated, he got his first job as chief engineer of a small company, but then was called back for the Korean War in 1950 shortly after he graduated. He served for two years, and then worked for an electronic company.

He changed careers from engineering and environmental conservation. “It was kind of dramatic and traumatic,” he recalls. “I was distraught and tired of selling instruments and applications, and everything was always paid for by the Department of Defense. One day, I said to myself ‘I want to do something in public life, not just be involved in military hardware.’”

He left the engineering field, and took his first nonprofit position as the executive director of American Youth Hostels in San Francisco where he developed a chain of hostels along the California coasts. Then he became the director of a whale and ocean conservation organization, the Whale Center. He then joined the US Forest Service’s research branch as a technical publications editor.

Shimon Schwarzschild (Credit: Christa von Keiser)

Shimon’s other projects included the founding an organization called Action for Nature, which awards Eco-Hero Awards to young people between 8-16 years old, who solve environmental problems in their community.

Shimon credits the GI Bill for putting him in college and launching his career and says opportunities for the current generation of young people to do altruistic things after college are limited because of the student debt they have going forward. “Without the GI Bill, I would have gone to college anyway, but I saw people in my classroom who had families, or came from the [poorer communities], who never would have had the opportunity to get higher education.”

After retiring, he needed additional sources of income to augment his savings, but he found the job market very challenging as an older worker.  He was becoming discouraged when he learned about ReServe at a dinner party. A fellow guest turned out to be Deborah Hoffman, the chair of the Advisory Board of ReServe Miami who was working to bring the ReServe model to her home city. Immediately Shimon registered to attend an open house for prospective ReServists, known as First Impressions. “There were a variety of people there from different backgrounds with different motivations for wanting to join ReServe,” he recalls.

Shimon was accepted and placed as a development specialist at Sustainable South Bronx, a role he’s had for nearly a year. “I like the organization very much, and I enjoy what they are doing,” said Shimon. The organization’s program offerings include community greening initiatives and green collar workforce training. As a development specialist, he researched foundations whose giving was a good fit for Sustainable South Bronx, and he subsequently filed applications to those foundations that are now approval.

His advice for older adults who may wish to transition their careers into community service is to understand that this is about giving back to communities and not about making money. He says “It’s a wonderful opportunity to make a contribution in terms of your skills and talents, and to do something by and large that is very positive.”

“Being a ReServist gives you’re a feeling of satisfaction while also augmenting your income. It’s an opportunity to find work in an age where finding work can be very difficult.”

You can visit Shimon’s website here.