In honor of Michael Jackson, we devote this week’s Peace Out to the inspiration his music will always provide (his YouTube channel is here). Whatever his demons, he cared.

Let’s start with the iconic, MJ-produced, “We Are The World”:

And how about “Heal The World”?

And we’ll finish with “Man In The Mirror,” because it is about how change starts with all of us. In fact, it flows directly from our belief in Gandhi’s wisdom that “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

“If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change.”

Amen, brother. RIP.

Politico has some very nice video of the First Couple helping kick off their “United We Serve” summer of service campaign with a service event to support our troops.

It’s all about making a difference. And all you need is something, anything, to give. Here’s the latest from our friends at KarmaTube.

The backstory:

	Drop a thank you note to the difference makers.
	Pick a random kindness act and complete it today!
	Spend the next 24 hours looking to be a positive influence for anyone you meet and write about the experience.

The video:

Ross Cohen, BTC’s Director of Civilian-Military Partnerships, is out in San Francisco and reports on an action-packed first day:

Monday was an amazing day for service. The biggest highlight was, of course, First Lady Michelle Obama’s amazing keynote speech. She reminded us all once more that she truly comes from the service world. She spoke of the doubts that her friends and family had when she left her job in the corporate world to serve her community on Chicago’s South Side. She talked about the President making the same decision - and she told us all that today was just the beginning, and this summer’s United We Serve (from June 22 to September 11) was also just the beginning. As a nation, we will learn to make service a part of our daily lives.

Other highlights included the always awesome Arianna Huffington, who talked of us moving from an era of competition to an era of collaboration - and that those who collaborated best would succeed best. Lisa Paulsen of the Entertainment Industry Foundation spoke of Hollywood’s desire and capacity to make service not just trendy, but a permament fixture in America’s cultural DNA.

Melody Barnes, the Director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, spoke about the new Office of Social Innovation and CNCS Chairman Alan Solomont talked about the need to identify the most successful social entrepreneurs. The list of truly outstanding speakers goes on and on, and included Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California’s First Lady Maria Shriver, our own Alan Khazei and Michael Brown, Laysha Ward from Target, Shannon Schuyler from PWC, Michelle Nunn and Neil Bush from Points of Light (who, along with the Corporation for National and Community Service, amazingly put together the entire week!), and of course, Jon Bon Jovi and Matthew McConnaughey.

A truly great day, and we were all honored to be a part of it.

We’ll have some video from the conference later (I hope). In the meantime, our friends at AmeriCorps Alums are posting videos to their YouTube channel. Here is First Lady Michelle Obama speaking to the conference (it’s like a Grateful Dead bootleg tape, but you go with what you got…):

It’s all happening out in San Francisco this week, at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service. But that doesn’t mean we lack for interesting news from all over the land.

1) Let’s start with our ServiceNation ambassador, Cameron Diaz, who has been out doing good work again–this time, supporting vets. It’s a great story about how one encounter can change lives.

CHAMP: Cameron Diaz advocates for veterans alongside such IAVA toppers as Ed Vick, left, and Paul Rieckhoff. (Photo: Variety)

2) Dept. Of News You Probably Already Knew: Michelle Obama will keynote tonight at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service.

(Getty/istockphoto.com)

3) Following a grassroots campaign, and a rally on Boston Common last week, the Massachusetts legislature restores funding for the Mass Service Alliance (which distributes AmeriCorps funds to Mass service orgs) to the state budget. Phew.

4) The firing of Corporation For National and Community Service Inspector General continues to generate heat. The WSJ weighs in. WashPost also. New York Times. And the Washington Times, too. Plus, Congress has questions.

5) AmeriCorps Snapshot: 500 West Virginians take AmeriCorps service pledge, and get ready to teach literacy and nutrition. And the Houston Chronicle, um, chronicles the effect of the recession on public service.

And before you go, here is another AmeriCorps video contest finalist. Cast your vote and help decide the winner:

Yesterday, our fantastic new summer intern, Courteney Smith, was on Boston Common. Here’s her report on why she was there and what she saw:

In an effort to cut down on earmarks, the Massachusetts State Senate cut the funding for one of its most valuable organizations: the Massachusetts Service Alliance (MSA) – the organization responsible for distributing millions of dollars in federal funding for AmeriCorps programs like City Year, Citizen Schools, and Jumpstart. Without funding for the MSA, Massachusetts will lose that money. Yesterday, a coalition of 22 groups joined together with ServiceNation to rally on the Boston Common in front of the State House to demand that the Senate put those funds back into the 2010 budget. The air was electric as supporters held signs and cheered the demands for continued support of community service, and old friends reunited as they met to rally to save service in Massachusetts. The rally attracted hundreds of supporters from all age groups and was enhanced by bilingual performances from ROCA, speakers from the sponsor organizations, and an appearance from Governor Deval Patrick. We heard so many great stories of service, we can only hope that the state representatives will listen and give the MSA the funds it needs to continue to support community service and change for the better.

Here’s a newspaper report on the rally.

And here’s a video compilation of all the great energy and speechifying.

There has been a lot of buzz about the White House’s plans for a “Summer of Service” (and I say White House, because the First Lady is as intimately involved as the President). The initiative gets its formal announcement next week at the “National Conference on Volunteering and Service,” but today the President posted a video message on Serve.gov explaining the vision for a campaign called “United We Serve.” Here is what it’s all about:

United We Serve

“United We Serve” is a nationwide service initiative that will help meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn. With the knowledge that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when given the proper tools, President Obama is asking us to come together to help lay a new foundation for growth. This initiative aims to both expand the impact of existing organizations by engaging new volunteers in their work and encourage volunteers to develop their own “do-it-yourself” projects. “United We Serve” is an initial 81 days of service but will grow into a sustained, collaborative and focused effort to promote service as a way of life for all Americans.

What can you do?

• Create Your Own Project
• Register Your Project / Recruit Volunteers
• Find a Volunteer Opportunity
• Share Your Story

Here is what the Corporation For National And Community Service would like all service organizations and groups to do:

In addition, we encourage you to spread the word about United We Serve by:

·        Sending a message about United We Serve, including a link to the President’s video , to your distribution lists
·        Putting a link on your homepage to Serve.gov – banners and logos are available here
·        Issuing a press release about your participation in United We Serve – a sample release is available here
·        Sharing stories about how your volunteers are making a difference this summer here - we will highlight examples of exemplary service

And last, but not least, here is the President:

It’s always interesting, and motivating, to see how idealists found their inspiration and transformed it into concrete action. When you see successful organizations and their leaders it’s sometimes hard to imagine that it’s possible to take an idea that you might have to a level that affects people lives and changes the status quo. But every major campaign or organization started with a single person and a dream. In the interests of encouraging anyone with a dream to take action to bring it to furition, here is the story of Martin von Hildebrand, the director of Fundación Gaia Amazonas, which I came across on Social Edge’s “Global X” blog. Gaia Amazonas is doing extraordinary work, campaigning to protect 100 million hectares of Amazon forest, and the indiginous peoples who live there.

Here’s what Global X says about Martin’s background:

Martin von Hildebrand, the director of Fundación Gaia Amazonas, describes himself as a dreamer.

His father was in the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Germany, and his mother fought against the British for the independence of Ireland. That’s how he realized that dreams could become realities. The first time he went to the Amazon, he dreamt that “Indians could have their own land and their autonomy –and that’s what we have achieved!”

Listen to Martin von Hildebrand as he shares with Global X his moment of epiphany. He went to the Amazon forest for the first time in 1970, spending four months on a canoe. He met Indians that were exploited by rubber barons, almost enslaved: “One fellow was in debt for buying a pedal-sewing machine for his wife… He had been working for 35 years to pay back the loan!“

His advice: “Don’t go in with the answers. Answers need to be built with the people, even if they are not the answers you expected, and even if it’s not the best one.”

That’s great advice, and here is Martin explaining his vision and philosophy:

Here’s some inspiration from KarmaTube to help get you psyched up to make a difference this week. The backstory:

	Visit Jorge’s website and learn how you can help!
	Practice empathy: Spend 24 hours imagining what it would be like to be in the shoes of those you interact with. Write about the lessons you learn.
	Challenge yourself to go out of your way to help a friend or stranger in need for at least 7 days - give car rides, food, books, anything!

The video:

What’s happening in the world of AmeriCorps (sorry, you have to provide your own coffee):

1) The WSJ notes that an increasing number of AmeriCorps volunteers are arriving with significant business and legal experience. Here’s a snippet (incl. an appearance by our friend Sandy Scott, over at CNCS):

Nonprofits say they are putting a premium on applicants with business backgrounds. The Peace Corps is trumpeting a fellowship program that helps volunteers pay for an M.B.A. after their service. The agency hired Shari Hubert, a former recruiter for General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc., to overhaul its recruiting processes. One of her tasks is to meet a growing world-wide demand for people with expertise in microfinance and small-business development…

Business-savvy volunteers are particularly good at helping nonprofits do more with less, says Sandy Scott, director of public affairs at AmeriCorps, a partially government-funded organization that places volunteers at numerous nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity and the Red Cross. “These people are setting up credit unions, writing grants, managing resources — it’s called indirect service,” Mr. Scott says.

AmeriCorps plans to place 88,000 workers this year for 10-to-12-month terms, 17% more than in 2008. Participants receive small living allowances and help paying for higher education. The competition is fierce: In the first five months of this year, the organization received more than triple the number of applications as in the same period in 2008.

2) President Obama removes the AmeriCorps Inspector General (who investigated Mayor Kevin Johnson). AP story from the SacBee. Fuller background and analysis from Talking Points Memo. Still more (from another perspective) from Byron York in the Washington Examiner.

3)   Service supporter and online superstar Arianna Huffington, with an excellent post about a new super-charged volunteer aggregator, called All For Good,  that just launched.

4) Annals Of AmeriCorps in Action: AmeriCorps Vista volunteer Chad Bedgero leads the building of a community garden in hard-hit Lansing, Michigan. Great story, that includes a nice photo slide show with Chad’s commentary.

Chad Badgero, a community organizer with the Old Town Commercial Association through Americorps Vista, laughs with volunteer Amanda Hightree of Lansing as they finish the first planting of the Old Town community garden in Lansing. Badgero, who is attempting to the get the garden project going for the first time, said because the food they grow is not owned by anyone specific, he is hoping what they grow can be sold at the area farmer’s market for a discount price to locals. (Photo Credit: Katie Rausch The State News)