The ServiceNation Summit in NYC Sept. 11-12 was an extraordinary gathering, and our only regret is that not everyone who loves and supports service could be there (we would have needed Yankee Stadium AND the Meadowlands!). But we have been doing our best to recreate the Summit online, and will keep working at it until everything that went on is easily accessible to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. So far, we have posted lots of videos here, and lots of photos here, and you can also browse easily on our custom photo and video players here. But just to make sure that you catch all the highlights, we will start posting some of our favorite moments here on Change/Wire. And since it is Friday, I want to have some fun and kick this feature off with the fabulous Alicia Keyes, who brought the house down with an awe-inspiring version of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.” Take it away, Alicia….
The beauty of the internet is that you can now carry on (or listen to) a coherent discussion by mulitple experts who aren’t even in the same place…or city…or continent. Or even commenting at the same time. Taking advantage of this most excellent possibility is a website called NewTalk, which brings together experts to rip into difficult topics for the benefit of the rest of us out here in internet-land. And they do it in a very refreshing way. Here is how NewTalk describes what it is all about:
At a time when politicians are mired in shallow, partisan debate, NewTalk asks the hard questions to build an honest and informed dialogue that can lead to real progress. We’re not afraid to confront issues where the current systems are failing and fundamental reform may be needed. Our approach calls for a clean slate. If we’re going to make America better, we need to face up to the tough trade-offs and question our most basic assumptions.
Now that’s an approach that’s pretty hard to find flaw with. And next week, from Oct. 14-16, NewTalk will address the following critical question: “What Should Universal National Service look Like?” The NewTalk lineup is all-star when it comes to this subject, and if you are going to have an all-star lineup to talk about service you of course have to include Alan Khazei and John Bridgeland, two of the leading lights in our very own ServiceNation movement. Go here to check out all the details, and make sure you follow along next week (just have that “boss button” ready!).
Old School: “Why are we all sitting around this table? Shouldn’t we be, like, on the internet?”
It’s not often that our fearless leader, Be the Change, Inc. CEO and Founder Alan Khazei, shows up in the same paragraph as Paul Revere and Edwin Land (inventor of the Polaroid camera). But Ira Jackson, dean of the Drucker School of Management, manages to pull it off in a thoughtful Boston Globe op-ed titled “What Makles Boston In A League Of Its Own”.
Peter Drucker, the father of modern management, was the first to understand that we live in a knowledge economy. Drucker might have seen Boston today as the equivalent of a factory of the future, where smart people use their minds, fueled by investors who match ideas with market needs, producing green, clean, and sustainable products for the world.
Drucker also said that “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” Boston’s been creating the future for four centuries. The Legatum Center at MIT, founded by Iqbal Quadir, a former investment banker turned social entrepreneur, is just the latest version and incarnation of Edwin Land (Polaroid) or Paul Revere (patriot, who also was the first public health commissioner in America) or Alan Khazei (who co-founded City Year). Dreamers and doers, pioneers and inventors, taking risks, sounding the alarm, harnessing technology - and potentially changing the world.
In the piece, Jackson tries to figure out why Boston is so exceptional when it comes to producing pioneering ideas and personalities. His least convincing (tongue-in-cheek) theory is that there is something in the soil. But the rest of his ideas are well worth considering as the United States faces a period of time in which we all need to be thinking carefully about the catalysts of innovation, creativity and success.
Earlier today, we posted (see below) on Caitlin Sullivan’s essay encouraging Princeton grads to consider public service in lieu of shrinking opportunities on Wall Street and in the private sector.
Here’s another angle to consider. The financial meltdown and lack of budget dollars will tempt many to argue that federal funding for service programs needs to be trimmed. But Chuck Slocum, President of The Williston Group, a management consulting firm in Minnesota, makes the opposite–and correct–argument: that during the tough economic times which America is just beginning to endure, the safety net provided by service programs will be more important than ever. Here’s the point Williston made in a post to MinnPost.com, following a day on Capitol Hill organized by Voices For National Service:
Whatever the final outcome of the federal plans to shore up ailing financial markets, the volunteer advocates told members and staffs of the U.S. House and Senate on Sept. 25 that, in the coming months and years, more and more fellow citizens would need the social “safety net” fortified by the national service movement.
Williston then went on to detail how service programs in Minnesota (including one of our ServiceNation coalition partners, Admission Possible), are making a real difference in improving literacy, delivering return on investment, and leveraging private dollars:
The reading corps currently in the field in Minnesota is helping in the effort to close the so-called “achievement gap” with a two-year initiative that is reaching 15,000 youngsters with necessary literacy skill development. Minnesotans offered the 10-member Congressional delegation information about the kids selected, the sites served in each of the state’s eight districts, the public-private $15 million funding streams, the one-on-one methodology applied to each child and the 80 percent success rate.
In AmeriCorps programs funded in Minnesota through its oversight group, ServeMinnesota, some $10 million was leveraged last year, the fourth-highest in the national competition, involving 800 in the field and trained AmeriCorps members working on a dozen projects including Admission Possible, the Minnesota Math Corps and the Community Technology Empowerment Project. By emphasizing “innovation, investment and alignment,” the organization has directed money and people power to programs that serve as community catalysts for positive social change.
These are the sorts of arguments we all need to be making forcefully, clearly, and with good data. Nice work, Chuck!
The financial meltdown is undoubtedly affecting the number of traditional private sector job opportunities for the college class of ‘09. But Princeton ‘07 grad Caitlin Sullivan, currently the program manager at the innovative CityBridge Foundation in Washington, DC, discourages her fellow Princetonians from moping around. Instead, in a very nice piece in the Daily Princetonian, Sullivan declares:
I write now to challenge the Class of 2009 to turn this economic constraint into professional liberation. My proposition: The Class of 2009 launches more careers in public service than any class in Princeton’s history.
I remember clearly what senior fall is like. Recruiters clamoring at FitzRandolph Gate, classmates ducking out of classes in business attire to make an inconveniently timed interview, the pressure (and, with an offer, relief!) of knowing what the future holds as soon as possible. My message today, delivered with the humility of a young alumna who is only a step removed from your position, is that pursuing a job in the public interest, a decision that may look risky, unorthodox and unpredictable, is actually quite the opposite under the Princeton umbrella.
Now that’s the kind of challenge we here at ServiceNation love to see. And Sullivan goes on to detail some of the ways that Princeton helps graduates connect with public service, and how that led to her current work at CityBridge. Princeton is a leader when it comes to encouraging its students to engage in public service, and Sullivan is a perfect example.
Caitlin Sullivan: There is life beyond Wall Street….
The reports keep rolling in, and they are inspiring. In today’s roundup:
The Massachussetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers organized a voting registration drive. And the Harvard Crimson wrote about it.
HandsOn Northeast Ohio transformed a neighborhood, and Executive Director Jeff Griffiths blogged about it:
“I thought I was on the different street.” This is the comment a young women made getting off the bus after volunteers transformed her street in the Glenville neighborhood on Saturday, September 27 as part of the national ServiceNation Day of Action hosted by Hands On Northeast Ohio and the Glenville Development Corporation. Volunteers mowed lawns, trimmed bushes, planted flowers, cleaned up trash and debris, painted hallways at a local school and much more.
Mount Rainier Volunteers, a National Public Lands Day event, worked to clean up and preserve (you’ll never see this coming): Mount Rainier. Read about it here. And check out their pics here.
Rainier Volunteers: We love to serve!
A Conservation Leadership Corps team from the Student Conservation Association takes a break from trash cleanup along Forest Road 59 near Mount Rainier National Park during National Public Lands Day, September 27, 2008. (Photo by Kevin Bacher)
Great editorial titled “Help For The Helpers” from B’more, emphasizing the fact that investment in service delivers impact and return. The piece focuses on the work of ServiceNation partner Experience Corps, and argues that the Serve America Act proposed by Senators Kennedy and Hatch would be a worthy investment and help fill gaps left by the public and private sectors. Here’s a key excerpt:
When Shirley Cherry was helping out at Guilford Elementary School a couple of years ago, a boy spoke rudely to her, and his teacher made him write an apology. But the note was poorly written, full of grammatical errors and bad punctuation. “I can’t accept this,” Ms. Cherry told the boy, who was about 10. “But if you’d like me to help show you how to write this letter, I’d be happy to.” By the time they were done, the boy, all smiles, had told the 70-year-old retiree that he hoped she would return to his class the next day.
Finding more people who, like Ms. Cherry, are willing to invest their time and talents in bettering their neighborhoods is a key goal of the timely, bipartisan Serve America Act. The first major legislation in 15 years designed to bolster volunteerism and national service, it would funnel resources to volunteer centers across the country; expand service learning opportunities for youths; create a series of “corps” focused on health, the environment and other specific areas; and create new opportunities for older Americans to volunteer.
Full editorial can be found here.
Experience Corps In Action: A Case Where More Is Definitely Better…
(Photo: Used with permission of Experience Corp; copyright Civic Ventures)
One of the coolest partnerships ServiceNation has going forward is with an online network for kids called Woogi World. Woogi World is a place for kids to learn, play smart games, and…learn about service at the ServiceNation Service Station. And on the Day of Action Woogi World kids spent lots of time checking out ServiceNation, and posting questions on service (5840 participated!). Going forward they will be signing the Declaration of Service and helping us get their parents to sign as well. Nothing like the persuasive powers of a child–put to a good cause! Here are some screenshots of what Woogi World looked like on Saturday.
And here is a sampling of what the kids had to say about service:
rosesa: YY i think service is inportant because you can do work and always have fun. Besides who does not like helping others? I love helping other people anyway! from rosesa
bradyboy: i will help others who need help
kadester7: i am going to help my mom clean the house my dad is coming home today so we are going to make it spotless for him!
bewarebear: i will help my mom with her chores.
j21: it shows how you can help others and have a great time
pauladeen1: I love service yy because if I do service for other people we will be treated equally
cool37: Service is very important because helping others is one big job!
momma10: You last responded: 2008-09-27 The service center is realy important to woogi so they will learn about respecting someone not like someone but to all people or woogi
tonyman123: one thing i will do to serve today is go visit my grandma at the nursing home and volunteer to help with whatever she needs to be done because i love her and i am willing to do just about anything to help her with her needs
jamie560: yo whats up yy you rock and i will serve my country through the whole wide world
loucario: i will clean the cage of my dog and help my mom whit all in house
ecjb: i will make everyone i know and see today smile. like doing the chores before my parents even ask me to. i already did the dishes!
missy123: dear yy im going to make everyone around me smile that is what im going to do for service day.
hiemmaitisme: Hi YY One thing I will do today is I will probaly baby-sit today. but if not I will clean my living room. From, Hiemmaitisme
ashelin24: i helped a old lady cross the street at 11
xan10: the service is about helping people without receiving anything to change it is service to the community of that it is the service for my
luigi921: Dear YY, I like the service. I think that you are receiving a lot of messages. I want to be in the service with you. -luigi921
toad931: Dear YY, i like the service i want to come to woogie world i want to be in a service.
runboi: it is fun and shows great things in life
abybo: Dear YY, today i will help my friends playing flute and violin. If you like my service, please return. Abybo.
cofish: i will wash a car for free shine shoes and babysit today
cool37: Service is very important because helping others is one big job!
luigi921: Dear YY, I want to serve food to other woogies.
That’s our future, folks. And I feel reassured…
One of the highlights of the ServiceNation Day of Action on Saturday was that both Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain signed the ServiceNation Declaration of Service. Mrs. Obama was at a rally at Florida A&M, and here’s a picture of her meeting with service leaders during the event.
