AmeriCorps on Steroids
President Obama last week signed legislation that will expand the AmeriCorps program to 250,000 people. That is the equivalent of two college towns suddenly unleashed to fight poverty across the country. Amazing. At this scale we need to rethink the whole program and ecosystem needed to support them to ensure the results our nation needs.
Here are four ideas for how to support this growing army.
1) AmeriCorps is a well-known brand at universities and with folks entering the job market. We need to expand this reach to promote the program to mid-career professionals who are either looking to do a career change or a sabbatical. To do this, AmeriCorps could market to career coaches and corporate HR departments. They will quickly spread the word. This will bring a needed influx of middle management into nonprofit organizations and also build a pipeline for leadership in the sector.
2) The AmeriCorps program will need to market to nonprofits much more aggressively. It should partner with the Foundation Center to do trainings for nonprofits across the country where they can help organizations understand all the ways they could leverage the program.
3) Much like the IRS has created an industry to help people and organizations file their taxes, my sense is that we will need a small industry to support AmeriCorps. The nonprofit sector does not have the capacity to manage this new influx. We need intermediaries to help nonprofits design programs, apply for AmeriCorps grants, find the best people for the jobs and help a nonprofit integrate Corps members into their organization. These intermediaries will need lobbying, grant writing, recruitment, program design and training competencies.
4) Speaking of armies, AmeriCorps would be an interesting re-entry program for returning veterans from the Middle East. It would enable them to continue to serve while integrating them into the domestic workforce.
So, there they are. Four ideas of how we can harness the exciting influx of AmeriCorps members.
Very exciting surge in AmeriCorps-yay! My thoughts: (1) 250,000 is a lot of people and a lot of voices. How can AmeriCorps do a better job of building its national community and helping AmeriCorps members feel more connected to one another currently serving as well as alums? The network is incredible and not enough is being done to leverage it to impact this country. (2) Would also love to see more on how AmeriCorps measures its impact in general--how do they measure how well they are fighting poverty and providing their members with a quality service experience? How do they measure how the AmeriCorps experience inspires a member to be a life-long volunteer--would LOVE to see the stats on what AmeriCorps members go on to accomplish after. (3) Increase diversity!! For example, their current insurance plan does not cover preexisting conditions--this eliminates ANYONE with a disability or chronic health issue from participating. (Almost couldn't participate myself) How are they recruiting and how can they better enable ALL Americans from ALL backgrounds participate in service? (4) I agree, intermediaries are needed to help NPOs think about using AmeriCorps volunteers strategically to make a sustainable impact on their organization. (5) Cut costs on the fluff, focus on essentials--I remember they printed out HUGE AmeriCorps binders for every member at orientation. Forget it! Everything should be online. No need to give us teeshirts either (mine was too big and I'll never wear it, I can tell you). We aren't looking for goodies like that nor are teeshirts what builds community. Many more cost effective ways to do that.
Great post, Aaron. It is great to see that the number of applications is rising right along with the government support of this great program. Over 35,000 people applied in Q1 09 (I was one!). That is more than triple the number from last year.
Recently, national service organizations like Americorps and the Peace Corps have worked hard to change the age make-up in their ranks, but this mostly means an increased number of retired people, and not the mid-career professionals that could be most useful. Let's hope this "new industry" will be able capitalize on the need, at a time when so many of these people have found themselves out of work and ready to serve.
Miriam, great point about the waste. I, too, have a frumpy, too big polo shirt in my drawer that will never "get things done." And added diversity is very also important- it was a big eye opener for me when I saw how white and upper-middle/middle class our national service programs are. Let's keep on our mission of alleviating poverty, in hopes of bringing ALL AMERICANS up to a point where they are able to serve their country!
Thank you for this post Aaron and for your comments Miriam and Aaron Z. I'm specifically interested in the post-service aspect of this increase in AmeriCorps service.
Peace Corps' Third Goal is to bring back to our own communities some of the experiences gained during the two years abroad. This is lived out in different ways by different Returned Peace Corps volunteers but is essentially a commitment to ongoing service (broadly defined) and advocacy both for Peace Corps in general as well as the ideals of national service. This is an expected part of being a volunteer and has created a 'cottage-industry' of service and advocacy groups. Many returned volunteers belong to "Friends of" organizations which function to link returned volunteers with grassroots projects in their former countries of service. The National Peace Corps Association also directs outreach for educational and service projects for RPCVs.
It will be interesting to see in what interesting ways the increased number of AmeriCorps volunteers will continue to be engaged post-service. Are there opportunities for alumni to connect and advocate for change by issue area in which they served: education, capacity building, direct social service? How can alumni leverage their time in service to assist the non-profit sector?
At different times up to 40% of career Foreign Service Officers have been returned Peace Corps volunteers. I can imagine a non-profit sector where a similar percentage of professionals began their careers in AmeriCorps and come to the sector with meaningful experiences in high-performing npos. This would be a powerful pipeline into the sector as Aaron suggests.