Service Year Alliance Launches the Center for State Service Innovation, a New Initiative to Expand State-Based Service Years Nationwide
Backed by funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York and Einhorn Collaborative, the Center for State Service Innovation will create new opportunities for young people to serve.
WASHINGTON, DC (September 16, 2025) - Service Year Alliance announced today the launch of the Center for State Service Innovation, a new initiative to strengthen and expand state-based service year programs. Launched with philanthropic support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and Einhorn Collaborative, the Center will work with local leaders to unlock new funding for service years within their states by providing technical assistance, public policy support, capacity building, and cross-state collaboration.
“As an antidote to increasing polarization, state service programs can be one of the solutions," said, Geri Mannion, Managing Director, Strengthening U.S. Democracy Program, Carnegie Corporation of New York. “We are proud to support Service Year Alliance in the creation of the Center for State Service Innovation, and work toward a future where states can leverage service years to bring young people together from across their state and their differences to work together and realize their full potential.”
A service year is a paid opportunity for people to develop real-world skills while contributing to the communities they serve. More than 60,000 young people complete a service year each year. The vast majority of service years are administered at the federal level through AmeriCorps, which over the past decade has enabled more than 1.3 million Americans to address community needs while developing workforce ready skills.
However, demand for service years among young people routinely exceeds the number available, and gaps persist to meet critical needs in healthcare, education, disaster relief, and environmental stewardship — impact areas at the heart of the service year community. The disruption to national service resulting from cuts to AmeriCorps earlier this year also underscores the need for a more resilient and robust service year ecosystem and diverse funding streams.
States have stepped up in recent years by investing in service years:
- In Utah, the One Utah Service Fellowship combines state, private, and federal funding to offer young adults meaningful opportunities to engage in high-impact service that addresses Utah’s critical needs and priorities, while simultaneously providing pathways to higher education.
- In Maryland, executive leadership led to the creation of a cabinet-level position and formation of the Maryland Corps/Service Year Option.
These efforts come at a pivotal time for the future of national service.
“At a time when so many young Americans are feeling isolated, disconnected, and uncertain about their place in the world, service years offer something powerful: a chance to belong, to connect, and to make a positive difference in their surroundings,” said Jennifer Hoos Rothberg, Executive Director, Einhorn Collaborative. “Through this investment, the Center for State Service Innovation is well positioned to help local leaders grow service year opportunities in their states, advance innovative practices, and deliver service experiences that allow young people to become empathetic leaders and engaged members of their communities.”
Launched in September 2025, the Center for State Service Innovation will be operated by Service Year Alliance in close partnership with America’s Service Commissions and More Perfect, two leaders in the national service movement. New resources, research, and events through the Center will be available to all. Select states will benefit from direct support, including: additional staff capacity within state or policy offices working to advance service year programs, designing and leading stakeholder engagement processes to establish an advocacy agenda, advising state executives and legislators on innovative service year models, hosting convenings of policymakers and service champions on a state’s service agenda, and developing in-state coalitions to champion a shared vision for service.
“Service years are needed now more than ever in our country,” said Kristen Bennett, CEO of Service Year Alliance. “State and national service corps are vital to our nation’s ability to respond when disasters strike, educate our young people, care for our military veterans and seniors, and so much more. We envision a future where state service corps thrive alongside a robust and fully funded national service sector at the federal level. The Center for State Service Innovation exists to make this vision a reality.”
Service Year Alliance co-authored a report, State Innovations in National Service, with America’s Service Commissions and More Perfect in 2024. The report provided a blueprint for the many ways state leaders are expanding opportunities for Americans to serve, and examples for how leaders in other states can further ignite a culture of service and citizenship.
“The Center for State Service Innovation brings new partners, resources, and research to the national service sector,” said Kaira Esgate, CEO, America’s Service Commissions. “Alongside AmeriCorps, state-based service years have provided transformational opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve. Everyday, we see the incredible ingenuity and dedication that state-based leaders bring to serving their communities. The Center will be an important new catalyst for this mission.”
"Governors across the country are innovating to create fresh new models of national service,” said John Bridgeland, CEO, More Perfect. “The Center for State Service Innovation will play a catalytic role in expanding national service opportunities at a consequential time for our nation.”
Learn more about the Center for State Service Innovation and explore opportunities to partner with Service Year Alliance to support state service: https://www.serviceyearalliance.org/stateinnovation
About Service Year Alliance
Service Year Alliance is a national nonprofit organization working to make a year of paid, full-time service — a service year — a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans. We envision a future in which national service is an integral part of growing up in America, with one million young people serving their communities each year.. Learn more at serviceyearalliance.org.
About Carnegie Corporation of New York
Carnegie Corporation of New York was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. Today the foundation works to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for the issues that Carnegie considered most important: education, democracy, and peace. @CarnegieCorp
About the Einhorn Collaborative
Einhorn Collaborative is a foundation dedicated to advancing the science and practice of social connection and social cohesion to address America’s growing crisis of distrust and division. We work with community leaders, researchers, practitioners, culture makers, and funders to help Americans build stronger relationships, embrace our differences, and rediscover our shared humanity, so we can solve our most urgent challenges together.
About the America’s Service Commissions
America’s Service Commissions is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association representing and promoting the 52 state service commissions across the United States and territories with the mission to lead and elevate the state service network. State service commissions are governor-appointed public agencies or nonprofit organizations made up of more than 1,000 commissioners, private citizens leading the nation’s service movement and administering more than 75 percent of the federal AmeriCorps funds to address pressing community needs.
About the More Perfect
More Perfect is a bipartisan alliance of 37 Presidential Centers, National Archives Foundation, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Karsh Institute for Democracy at the University of Virginia, and more than 100 organizations working together to advance five foundational Democracy Goals: 1) Universal Civic Learning; 2) Expanding National Service & Volunteering; 3) Bridging Divides & Building Trust; 4) Trusted Elections & More Representative and Responsive Governance; and 5) Access to Trusted News & Information.
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