Wendy Bay Lewis, a former fund raiser, was struck by cancer while bringing a capital campaign to a close — and discovered a new passion, a love of words. While recuperating, Ms. Lewis started compiling a “civic dictionary” to document the vocabulary of the nonprofit world.

“Wielding a pen reminded me that, even though I was tethered to a drip bag, my intellectual curiosity was alive and well,” she writes in the latest issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy “Taking my pen to the daily newspaper, I wondered what words would inform the average citizen about civic involvement.”

While she still helps groups raise money on a volunteer basis, Ms. Lewis now says she’d “rather be an anthropologist who studies our clan and records our lexicon.”

More stories from people who have made career transitions and resources to help them are available in The Chronicle’s Regeneration section.