AmeriCorps is a voluntary civil society program supported by the U.S. federal government, foundations, corporations, and other donors that engages adults in public service work with a goal of "helping others and meeting critical needs in the community." Members commit to full-time or part-time positions offered by a network of nonprofit community organizations and public agencies, to fulfill assignments in the fields of education, public safety, health care, and environmental protection. The program is often seen as a domestic Peace Corps. It employs more than 75,000 Americans in intensive service each year.
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, formerly the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) is an office within the White House Office that is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a network in the U.S. of community-based units initiated and established by local organizations to meet the public health needs of their communities. It is sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The MRC consists of medical and non-medical volunteers who contribute to local health initiatives, such as activities meeting the Surgeon General's priorities for public health, and supplement existing response capabilities in time of emergency. The MRC provides the structure necessary to pre-identify, credential, train, and activate medical and public health volunteers.
Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in the United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service.
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, the Volunteer Generation Fund, and other national service initiatives. The agency's mission is "to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering." While a government agency, CNCS acts much like a foundation and is the nation's largest annual grant maker supporting service and volunteering. CNCS, formerly known as the "Corporation for National Service" or "CNS," was created by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993.
The President's Volunteer Service Award is a civil award bestowed by the President of the United States. Established by executive order by George W. Bush, the award was established to honor volunteers that give hundreds of hours per year helping others through the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The award can be granted to individuals, families and organizations located throughout the United States. Depending on the amount of service hours completed, individuals can receive the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and/or the President's Call to Service Award. The Call to Service Award is the most prestigious, and it has been awarded to few Americans to recognize over 4,000 hours of extraordinary service including notable honorees such as S. Truett Cathy, Mark Carman, Zach Bonner. Awardees may receive a personalized certificate, an official pin, medallion, and/or a congratulatory letter from the President depending on the award earned.
Citizen Corps is a program under the Department of Homeland Security that provides training for the population of the United States to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack. Each local Citizen Corps Council partners with organizations, volunteers and businesses to organize responders, volunteers and professional first responders for an efficient response so efforts are not wasted by being duplicated. By training in Incident Command, volunteers know whom to report to and how the incident is organized. This prevents sites from being inundated by untrained and unprepared personnel preventing operation. Citizen Corps also works in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service in promoting national service opportunities for promoting homeland security needs.
Jonathan Greenblatt is an American entrepreneur, corporate executive, and the sixth National Director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Prior to heading the ADL, Greenblatt served in the White House as Special Assistant to Barack Obama and Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.
John M. Bridgeland is a former director of the United States Domestic Policy Council and USA Freedom Corps. He is president and CEO of the public policy firm Civic Enterprises, the co-founder and CEO of the COVID Collaborative and the vice-chair of the non-profit organization Malaria No More.
Desiree Thompson Sayle is an American political aide. She most recently served as deputy assistant to the president and director of Presidential Correspondence in the Trump administration. She previously served in the same role from 2001 to 2004 during the Presidency of George W. Bush, and also served as Director of the USA Freedom Corps from 2004 to 2008.
CaliforniaVolunteers is the state agency charged with increasing the number and impact of Californians engaged in service and volunteering.
ServiceNation was a campaign of Be The Change, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. Its mission is to rekindle an ethic of civic responsibility in America through universal national service. ServiceNation's goal was to expand opportunities for Americans to spend a year in non-military national service such as AmeriCorps. National service programs like Americorps pay a living stipend and reward volunteers who have completed service with a monetary education award.
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act or Serve America Act was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on March 9, 2009, by Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York. Originally titled the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, the bill reauthorizes and expands the AmeriCorps program that was first established in 1993. It passed in the House of Representatives on March 18, 2009. The U.S. Senate debated and approved an amended version of the bill on March 26, 2009, renaming it the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, after Senator Ted Kennedy. The House of Representatives voted on the bill a second time, approving the amended version on March 31, 2009. It was signed by President Barack Obama on April 21, 2009.
The Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation was an office new to the Obama Administration, created within the White House, to catalyze new and innovative ways of encouraging government to do business differently. Its first director was the economist Sonal Shah. The final director was David Wilkinson.
Anju Bhargava, a management consultant, was a member of President Barack Obama's inaugural Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership.
Henry Lozano is a non-profit executive and grassroots organizer. His years of public service culminated in his post at the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of USA Freedom Corps. On August 10, 2011, he was appointed to serve as the Director of Los Angeles County Teen Challenge and Urban Ministries Initiatives.
Created in June 2006 by President of the United States George W. Bush, the Task Force on New Americans is an interagency initiative to help immigrants learn English, embrace the common core of American civic culture, and fully become American. Established within the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Michael Chertoff serves as Chair of the Task Force. Membership includes representatives from 12 Cabinet-level departments and a technical working committee of eight additional federal agencies. Alfonso Aguilar, Chief of the Office of Citizenship at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), serves as Chair of the Task Force’s technical committee. Since it was established more than three years ago, the Task Force has worked to develop interagency initiatives to help immigrants settle in their new country and maximize the use of federal resources in promoting integration. By providing technical resources to communities and organizations, encouraging volunteerism, developing effective training methods, conducting targeted research efforts, and providing recommendations to the President, the Task Force has sought to encourage successful immigrant assimilation in a comprehensive manner.
The Franklin Project was a policy program of the Aspen Institute from October 2012 to December 2015, that focused on advancing national service in the United States. Walter Isaacson called the project the "biggest idea" to come out of the Aspen Ideas Festival during his tenure as CEO of the Aspen Institute. In January 2016, the project merged with ServiceNation and the Service Year Exchange project of the National Conference on Citizenship to form Service Year Alliance.
The following is a timeline of the Presidency of George W. Bush, from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003.
