Gap years are common in many nations around the world. After finishing public education, it’s a chance for young people to travel, see new parts of the world, experience new cultures, and gain work experience before committing to their future career paths, whether that involves college or entering directly into the workforce.

For many young people, gap years can take the form of service years: signing on with an organization that does charitable work for communities in need. While the pay for this work is nothing to write home about, it’s an opportunity to help others, gain hands-on experience in practical work, and bolster their resumé with potential employers and educational institutions.

Service Year Alliance connects young people with organizations that offer these opportunities. Service Year Alliance does not host service year programs, and people do not serve with them directly. Instead, Service Year Alliance supports service organizations with resources and tools to help them improve and scale their programs. And it advocates for additional funding for service organizations at the federal and local levels.

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As first reported by POLITICO Morning Energy:

Media Contact: Aly Ferguson, [email protected]

Over 120 Labor, Conservation, Youth, National Service, and Racial, Economic, and Climate Justice Organizations Call on Congress to Pass $30B Civilian Climate Corps

The diverse coalition calls for a bold investment in the CCC in the currently moving reconciliation bill

WASHINGTON, DC (September 2, 2021) – Today, over 120 organizations released a letter calling on Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi to include at least $30B for a bold, ambitious Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) in the final reconciliation package. Congress has the opportunity to mobilize a generation of young people to serve their communities and tackle the climate crisis while developing the skills they need to succeed in a 21st century economy through the CCC. The letter brings together conservation, labor, youth, and national service organizations as well as racial, economic, and climate justice movements in support of the CCC. 

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

Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Hearing: Examining the Potential for a Civilian Climate Corps 

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Chairman Neguse, Ranking Member Fulcher, Members of the Committee,  

Thank you for holding this hearing and 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.”

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.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

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.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

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.