America’s Service Commissions and Service Year Alliance Statement for the Record

Bicameral public Senate Climate Change Task Force discussion on Civilian Climate Corps proposals

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Members of the Task Force, 

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this testimony for the record. 

In the American Jobs Plan, President Biden proposed a Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) in the spirit of the original Civilian Conservation Corps to: “Mobilize the next generation of conservation and resilience workers. This $10 billion investment will put a new, diverse generation of Americans to work conserving our public lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, and advancing environmental justice through a new Civilian Climate Corps, all while placing good-paying union jobs within reach for more Americans.”

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Media Contact:
Aly Ferguson, [email protected]

Service Year Alliance Releases Statement in Response to Receiving Contribution from MacKenzie Scott 

Service Year Alliance was included among the 286 organizations that MacKenzie Scott supported with her $2.7 billion in giving

WASHINGTON, DC (June 23, 2021) – Last week, in a Medium post entitled “Seeding by Ceding,” MacKenzie Scott announced $2.7 billion in philanthropic giving to 286 organizations across the country, including Service Year Alliance. Service Year Alliance released the following statement in response to this generous contribution: 

“It is an honor to be among the 286 organizations that MacKenzie Scott has chosen to support and entrusted with her contribution and confidence. This generous donation will provide a substantial boost to Service Year Alliance’s work to make a service year a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans...

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Service Year Alliance Praises Nomination of Michael Smith to the Position of CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service

WASHINGTON, DC (June 15, 2021) – Service Year Alliance released a statement today praising President Biden’s nomination of Michael Smith to the position of CEO of AmeriCorps, formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service. 

“Service Year Alliance welcomes the nomination of Michael Smith to the position of CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. On the heels of the largest investment in national service in decades in the American Rescue Plan Act, and with the opportunity for additional investments in the American Jobs Plan, including for a Civilian Climate Corps, CNCS will thrive under the leadership of someone with a bold vision for the future of national service," said Jesse Colvin, CEO of Service Year Alliance. "We’re hopeful that Michael’s experience serving on the board of Public Allies, working with the Boys and Girls Clubs, and running My Brother’s Keeper can bring a fresh perspective to the agency at a pivotal moment for national service — exactly the kind of leadership the agency needs at its helm right now. He has the opportunity to lead the way in reimagining national service so that every young person in America has the opportunity to serve our country and be put on a pathway to opportunity. We hope for a speedy confirmation and look forward to working closely with Michael Smith to build and strengthen AmeriCorps so that national service becomes a more equitable and accessible opportunity for all.”

Service Year Alliance’s Statement on President Biden's FY22 Budget for AmeriCorps

“We are encouraged by many of the priorities outlined in President Biden’s FY22 budget proposal for AmeriCorps. By including DACA recipients in all AmeriCorps programs and requesting Congress provide them access to national service education awards, focusing resources to under resourced communities, and devoting resources to improve e-grants and working to replace the system long-term, it is clear that the President understands what it means to make national service an opportunity that is available to all young people and all communities in America. We were also pleased to see a significant increase for YouthBuild programs. 

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

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

Thursday, May 19, 2021

Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Rogers 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. 

American presidents have long vied to echo John Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you.”

The spirit of service, declared Ronald Reagan, “flows like a deep and mighty river through the history of our nation.” Bill Clinton created AmeriCorps. George H.W. Bush likened volunteer organizations to “a thousand points of light.” George W. Bush created the USA Freedom Corps. Barack Obama called on Americans to “ground our politics in the notion of a common good.”

Their arguments are all the more compelling today, in a bitterly divided America struggling with a pandemic...

...Mr. Biden has an opportunity to make some version of this a reality. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former commander of international forces in Afghanistan and head of the “Serve America. Together” campaign, recently called on the president to invest in universal national service for one million young Americans annually as “the most important strategy we can implement to ensure the strength and security of our nation.”

Read the full New York Times editorial board endorsement of national service.

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Service Year Alliance Releases New Report that Reimagines National Service and Calls on President Biden to be the “Service President”

The new report, “Reimagining National Service: A Roadmap to a Service Presidency” outlines six recommendations for the Biden-Harris Administration to utilize national service to meet our nation’s top priorities 

WASHINGTON, DC (April 26, 2021) – Service Year Alliance, a national nonprofit organization that is working to make national service a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans, released a new report on national service entitled: “Reimagining National Service: A Roadmap to a Service Presidency.” The report provides a recommended roadmap for how the Biden Administration can reimagine national service to meet the nation’s top priorities and make national service a cornerstone issue of his presidency.

“This new report aims to reimagine what it means to serve our country and serves as a roadmap to make national service a central part of the Biden Administration. As a lifelong public servant and advocate for service in all its forms, President Biden has an opportunity to become the Service President and make a bold investment in national service as a solution to today’s convergent crises,” said Jesse Colvin, CEO of Service Year Alliance. 

Service Year Alliance released the following statement in response to the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial: 

"Yesterday, our nation saw accountability for the murder of George Floyd. It is our hope at Service Year Alliance that his family can begin to find a measure of peace in the face of this preventable tragedy. George Floyd’s death, along with many others, is an outcome and a symptom of the systemic racism crisis that is deeply rooted in America. The work to break down structural inequities and stop violence against people based on racial identity and difference is just beginning. We are committed to acting with love and humanity in our work to address inequities. We continue to believe that until black lives matter, our mission to make national service a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans cannot be realized."

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.”

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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...