The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including 176,000 female participants. The BSA was founded in 1910; about 130 million Americans have participated in its programs, which are served by 477,000 adult volunteers. BSA became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.
St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and the Patron Saint Olaf II of Norway and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Alpha Gamma Delta (ΑΓΔ), also known as Alpha Gam, is an international women's fraternity and social organization. It was founded on May 30, 1904, by eleven female students at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, and thus it is the youngest member of the Syracuse Triad of North American social sororities that also includes Gamma Phi Beta (1874) and Alpha Phi (1872). Since its founding, Alpha Gamma Delta has, as of December 2021, initiated over 201,000 members and installed 199 collegiate chapters and more than 250 alumnae groups.
Service-learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs.
Sigma Chi (ΣΧ) International Fraternity is one of the largest of North American social fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated over 350,000 members. The fraternity was founded on June 28, 1855, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, by members who split from the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
United Synagogue Youth (USY) is the youth movement of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ). It was founded in 1951, under the auspices of the Youth Commission of what was then the United Synagogue of America.
Chi Omega is a women's fraternity and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference, the umbrella organization of 26 women's fraternities.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (ΑΚΑ) is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen students led by Ethel Hedgemon Lyle. Forming a sorority broke barriers for African American women in areas where they had little power or authority due to a lack of opportunities for Black Americans in the early 20th century. Alpha Kappa Alpha was incorporated on January 29, 1913.
Omega Phi Alpha (ΩΦΑ) is an American national service sorority. It was founded in 1967 at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Omega Phi Alpha, also known as OPhiA, currently has 29 active chapters in the United States, as well as one prospective new chapter and one interest group.
The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs is a public policy and planning school at the University of Minnesota, a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named after Hubert H. Humphrey, former Vice President of the United States and presidential candidate. The school is located on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota, which is also home to the University of Minnesota Law School and Carlson School of Management in Minneapolis. The Humphrey School is accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA).
Best Buddies International is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. It consists of volunteers that create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The program's main purpose is to allow volunteers to be paired up with a buddy with an intellectual and developmental disability and provide them with a friend or a mentor. Best Buddies is the world's largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with IDD. It is an international movement that has spread to over 54 countries worldwide.
Lambda Sigma (ΛΣ) is an American college honor society for second-year students. Originally named the Society of Cwens, the society was established at the University of Pittsburgh in Fall 1922 as a women's honors society and became a national organization with the 1925 foundation of chapters at Miami University and the University of Missouri. The society is "dedicated to the purpose of fostering leadership, scholarship, fellowship, and the spirit of service among college students, and to promoting the interests of the college or university in every possible way".
The Student National Medical Association (SNMA), established in 1964, is the oldest and largest independent, student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of black medical students in the United States. It was established as a subdivision of the National Medical Association in 1964 by medical students from Howard University and Meharry Medical College. The organization is committed to supporting current and future underrepresented minority medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians.
An alternative break is a trip where a group of college students engage in volunteer service, typically for a week. Alternative break trips originated with college students in the early 1980s as a counter to "traditional" spring break trips. These trips are usually led by 2 "site leaders" who are students that have already participated in an alternative break and have gone through extensive leadership training.
Citizen Schools is an American nonprofit organization that partners with middle schools across the United States to expand the learning day for children in low-income communities. Its stated mission is "educating children and strengthening communities". Currently, Citizen Schools serves over 5,000 students and recruits over 4,280 volunteers over 31 program sites in 13 cities across 7 states. The center pieces of the Citizen Schools model are its apprenticeship programs run by volunteers that culminate in public demonstrations called WOW!s, and partnering with some middle schools to expand learning time for students. Citizen Schools offers the AmeriCorps National Teaching Fellowship providing a 2-year paid service opportunity for citizens interested in using their personal talents to enhance life opportunities for middle school students. Fellows in their second year can participate in a residency program operated by one of three university partners to obtain teacher certification in California, Massachusetts and New York. In honor of its 20 anniversary in 2015, Citizen Schools honored 20 alumni of the Fellowship who continue to make a profound impact in the community today.
Jewish Veg is an international 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission is to encourage and help Jews to embrace plant-based diets as an expression of the Jewish values of compassion for animals, concern for health, and care for the environment. Jewish Veg was formerly called Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) and, prior to that, the Jewish Vegetarian Society of America.
ThereforeGo Ministries is a Christian youth ministry for short-term mission trips in the United States and Canada that was formed in September 1919. The organization is a non-denominational ministry that has its roots in the Christian Reformed Church in North America, but partners with other Christian denominations. ThereforeGo is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission (SOE). It is one of two youth ministries under the Dynamic Youth Ministries umbrella organization, with the Calvinist Cadet Corps.
Break Away is a national nonprofit organization that promotes the development of quality alternative break programs through training, assisting, and connecting campuses and communities. The organization has chapters on about 200 college campuses throughout the United States. Break Away holds training sessions for directors at each chapter school, who then train the student leaders and participants. An alternative break consists of a group of college students who serve a community with a focus on a specific social issue for a specific amount of time, whether it is a weekend or a week. Most trips are weeklong trips, with the majority over college spring breaks. 60% of trips occur over spring breaks and 15% occur over winter breaks. The social issue pertains to the community to which the group goes. Break Away emphasizes service-learning in which group members learn about the community they will be serving and how to avoid voluntourism. Break Away encourages student leaders, with each trip consisting of student leaders, student participants, a partner organization, and most of the time, a learning partner. By emphasizing the Active Citizenship Continuum and the Eight Components of a Quality Alternative Break, Break Away hopes to produce valuable alternative breaks, which will then lead participants to become more aware and active in their community. Break Away has about 200 chapter schools, more than 500 nonprofit partnerships, and thousands of participants and alumni worldwide. Just in 2014, there were a total of 1,551 trips with over 20,000 participants, which equates to over 1 million hours of service. Of the 1,551 trips in 2014, 1,334 were domestic and 251 were international.
Phi Lambda Sigma (ΦΛΣ), also known as the National Pharmacy Leadership Society, is a North American college honor society for pharmacy students. It was founded at Auburn University in March 1965.
Claremont School, is a public separate middle/high school located in Orangeville, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The school was founded in 1966 with the purpose of serving the needs of students with intellectual disabilities. The school continues to serve students with disabilities, grades 6-12, offering career & technical training in areas such as food & beverage management.