The Future of National Service
Begins Here and Here and Here...

States are at the Center of National Service

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. 

States have long been catalysts for innovation in national service. 

• In Maryland, executive leadership led to creation of a cabinet-level Secretary of Service and Civic Innovation to lead a newly formed state Department of Service and Civic Innovation. This position and department boasts one of the most robust state investments in service years through Maryland Corps/Service Year Option, and the Governor’s Office of Service and Volunteerism (which directs national service and volunteer programming in Maryland). 
  
  
• In Massachusetts, the Commonwealth Corps is a state-funded service internship program administered by the state service commission. Established in 2007 through executive and state legislative leadership, Commonwealth Corps members address critical needs in workforce development, education, health & nutrition, youth development, and veterans support.
  
  
• 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.

These states have demonstrated that progress is not just possible, but critical. That’s why we need more states to take action now. 

Because when states are equipped and resourced to lead - using service years as a strategy and demonstrating that the state-based investment has staying power - then they can tackle their challenges head-on. And, together, we’ll reimagine the future of national service by empowering state-based leaders to innovate, evolve, and grow a more resilient service year ecosystem for the future.

A New Resource for State Service Year Innovation

The Center for State Service Innovation engages state-level stakeholders - including state service commissions, lawmakers, and civic leaders - with the tools they need to create new funding for service years within their states by providing technical assistance, public policy support, capacity building, and cross-state collaboration.

• Gain access to shared learnings and expertise to better navigate changes in the service year ecosystem.
• Join mission-aligned individuals and organizations that can inspire and equip stakeholders in your state through both thought leadership and action.

Connect with the Center for State Service Innovation if you:

• Work in state government and want to create or expand service year programs to meet the needs of your constituents and address priorities in your state.
• Are part of a state service commission, and want to expand state-level support for service years through on-the-ground advocacy, coalition-building, partnerships or narrative-building.
• Lead an established service year program and want to connect your work to other service models with state-wide impact.
• Want to strengthen the connection between philanthropy and the service year ecosystem in your state.

About our State Cohort Program

Core to our ability to provide front-line support to states is the State Cohort Program. Through the cohort, we work collaboratively with state leaders, providing 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.

In November 2025, Service Year Alliance announced the inaugural cohort of state partners: California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New York. Through the cohort:

• Leaders in California, led by California Volunteers, will seek to maintain the current largest state investment in service year positions in the country.
• Leaders in Colorado, led by Serve Colorado, will work to secure new investments to support 400 new service year positions annually—positions that expand mental health services and talent pipelines through service year programming in the state.
• Leaders in Kentucky, led by Serve Kentucky, will aim to secure private and philanthropic funding for new service year positions that are critical to addressing workforce and talent pipelines in communities throughout the state.
• Leaders in New York, led by the State University of New York (SUNY) and aided by enhanced data collection impact analysis, aim to secure new investments to expand the Empire State Service Corps to 1,500 annual service positions.

If you are interested in learning more about the cohort, please contact: [email protected].

Center for State Service Innovation Partners

This work is made possible by investment and partnership with the following:

State Service Innovation in the News