Service Year Alliance praises President Biden’s nominations for the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service

Shirley Sagawa, founding CEO of Service Year Alliance, in particular, is a visionary for the national service movement

WASHINGTON, DC - Service Year Alliance released the following statement today praising President Biden’s nominations for the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service:

“Investing in and empowering the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service has the power to greatly improve the impact and equity of national service in America. Today’s nominations from President Biden of Cynthia Hogan, Catherine McLaughlin and Shirley Sagawa is an important sign that this Administration is dedicated to prioritizing national service,” said Jesse Colvin, CEO of Service Year Alliance. “In particular, we are thrilled to have Shirley Sagawa, the founding CEO of Service Year Alliance, nominated to the Board. Shirley has devoted her own career to service and has been an architect and visionary for national service as an opportunity and expectation for all young people. She will bring expertise and an innovative spirit to the Agency as it fulfills the President’s mission of building America back better. National service has the potential to transform our nation, our young people, and our democracy. We hope that this is a signal that the President will invest in transforming national service as the Service President — he will be very well-served by Shirley’s leadership if he does.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Service Year Alliance Praises Reintroduction of Bipartisan CORPS Act to Expand National Service and Support COVID Recovery 

The bill takes takes critical steps towards making national service more equitable and inclusive 

WASHINGTON, DC (April 15, 2021) – Today, Senators Coons and Wicker were joined by eight Democrats and seven Republicans in reintroducing the Cultivating Opportunity and Recovery to the Pandemic through Service (CORPS) Act, which would grow national service positions for the next three years to support recovery from the COVID pandemic. Service Year Alliance released the following statement in support of the CORPS Act: 

“National service continues to play a critical role in our nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and it has the power to help America recover and rebuild. Service Year Alliance is proud to support the bipartisan CORPS Act which will allow existing programs to expand their impact and will jumpstart the creation of new national service programs to boost our recovery efforts,” said Jesse Colvin, CEO of Service Year Alliance...

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New Report Details Power of National Service and Public-Private Partnership to Respond to Community Needs
Resulting from COVID-19 Crisis

Schultz Family Foundation, Service Year Alliance and Serve Washington release report on innovative program that combines federal and state government resources with philanthropic support to respond quickly to the pandemic, offers recommendations to scale public-private service model to additional states as officials deploy $1 billion in new funding for national service

Partnership announces Request for Proposals to extend program for a second year of service focused on widespread effects of COVID-19 on the most impacted communities

SEATTLE, WA (March 29, 2021) – The Schultz Family Foundation, Service Year Alliance and Serve Washington, released a report today detailing learnings from the first six months of the Washington COVID Response Corps, a first-of-its-kind youth service program created to quickly respond to record levels of community need resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. The report, which follows $1 billion in investment from the federal government for AmeriCorps in the new stimulus package, describes the program, details preliminary findings from the initial implementation period and offers recommendations with the hope of expanding the innovative public-private model to additional states.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that people need other people. Membership in community helps us see our stake in our neighbors’ dreams and struggles, as well as our own. It deepens our understanding of others. We could use that in America right now. And that healing can begin with a robust investment in national service.

The American Rescue Plan, signed into law by President Biden this month, includes $1 billion for national service, the largest amount in decades. This funding will help provide living wages to young Americans and create additional positions that are accessible to Americans regardless of their financial means. Now we need to find the best ways to put that money to work in communities. And no one knows how to do that better than local leaders who are on the ground. That’s why everyone from the leaders in the statehouse to those in the schoolhouse should be at the forefront of deciding where to direct national service resources.

Service Year Alliance wholeheartedly denounces the tragic hate attacks and racist violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Atlanta this week. We stand in solidarity with the families who lost loved ones and everyone who is feeling heartbroken, fearful, and outraged at this moment. As an organization, we are committed to racial justice and equity — in national service, within our own organization, and across America — and this includes condemning white supremacy and anti-Asian hate. We have a responsibility to not only denounce and condemn but to stand up to racist policies and rhetoric while understanding the long history in America of violence against the AAPI community, and specifically Asian women. We stand in solidarity with the AAPI community and encourage every member of society to act with love for humanity by accepting, respecting, and valuing our differences — our nation will be stronger as a result. We must Stop Asian Hate. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

National Service Opportunities to be Expanded with Passage of American Rescue Plan COVID-19 Relief Bill  

Serve America Together Celebrates Major Step Forward in Effort to Make National Service More Accessible

WASHINGTON, DC (March 10, 2021) – Serve America Together, a campaign working to make national service part of growing up in America, released the following statements today applauding congressional leaders on the passage of the American Rescue Plan COVID-19 relief bill. The legislation, which now awaits the signature of President Joe Biden, prioritizes $1 billion to help communities across the country recover from the pandemic through the expansion of national service opportunities. This additional funding allows for an increase in the national service living allowance, making the opportunity to serve more accessible to all Americans, and represents the largest investment in national service in decades.

Service Year Alliance Statement for the Record for the Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on: 

Final Recommendations and Report of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Inhofe and members of the Armed Services Committee,

Service Year Alliance is pleased to submit this testimony for the record for the hearing on the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service.

Service Year Alliance is an organization working to make a year of paid, full-time national service — a service year — a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans. We do that through our Serve America Together campaign, which brings together a coalition of military and civilian service organizations, among others, to advocate to make civilian national service part of growing up in America. We also support service year programs and help stand up new innovative models, and maintain the only online portal — ServiceYear.org — that connects young people to all different types of available service year opportunities, including AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, YouthBuild and non-federally funded programs. 

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Service Year Alliance Statement on the House Education and Labor Committee Inclusion of $1B for National Service

Funds would be used to expand and strengthen opportunities for national service

WASHINGTON, DC – Service Year Alliance, a national non-profit organization that is working to make national service a common expectation and opportunity for all young people, released the following statement in response to the House Education and Labor Committee including $1B in its portion of the budget reconciliation bill toward the expansion of national service opportunities.

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New Poll: As President Biden Calls for National Unity, Majority of Americans Support National Service to Bridge Divides 

Nearly 7 out of 10 Americans Believe President Biden Should Prioritize Programs that Work Towards Healing the Nation

WASHINGTON, DC – New polling data released today by the Serve America Together campaign show that the majority of Americans support President Joe Biden’s focus on healing the nation and believe an expansion of civilian national service opportunities for young Americans can help accomplish that goal. President Biden’s inaugural speech focused largely on the idea that for the nation to heal and move forward national unity must be prioritized, arguing that we never fail when we act together. More than three-quarters of respondents to the poll said they support Congress passing legislation that would expand national service opportunities, such as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.