by Katrina Mathis

Webchats to Help Prepare for AmeriCorps Week 2009

AmeriCorps Week organizers invite the AmeriCorps community to participate in a series of webinars to answer your questions and give you the tools to make AmeriCorps Week 2009 successful.

Participation is free, but you must register separately for each conversation and download the WebEx application (for free) in order to participate.

Each with its own theme, five “web chats” — conference calls that also involve following an online presentation — will take place at the following dates and times.

Continue reading →

04.05.09

by Amy Potthast

ProInspire Helps Business Professionals Transition to Nonprofit Careers

New fellowship program places business sector emigres in critical roles in nonprofits in the Washington, DC, area.

Launched during the worst economic climate in generations, ProInspire eases the path of business professionals to find careers that are more meaningful to them — while helping nonprofits recruit people with the hard financial and other skills crucial for their long-term sustainability.

With the application deadline just days away (April 8th) for its first group of Fellows, ProInspire hopes to infuse the nonprofit sector with people who are trained with financial and project-management skills common in the for-profit sector. And any influx of staff may help in the long run. The nonprofit sector is projected to need to recruit 640,000 executives in the coming years as the baby boomer generation begins to retire. Continue reading →

04.03.09

by Katrina Mathis

Your Service Networks Really Can Help with Your Career Transition

A story about how networking during Peace Corps reaped rewards after my service term ended.

I’d been back in Atlanta for six months, living off of my $5,075 Peace Corps readjustment allowance—at my parent’s house, of course—and also the pocket change I made working at an amphitheatre during the 1996 Olympics, and a very unpleasant week as a temp (who knew you needed office skills to work in an office?), before I scored my first job interview. It was for a Program Assistant position at an education non-profit in Atlanta.

I had never worked for a non-profit before and I would never have looked in that direction had it not been for connections I’d made while in Guinea.

I’d met Charles soon after arriving in Guinea two years earlier. He worked for USAID and lived in Conakry, Guinea’s capital city. A former Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV), he understood the travails of volunteer life, so he let PCVs house sit whenever his work took him elsewhere.

For two years, I’d lived in a small village roughly seven hours north of Conakry. Although my house was only 15 kilometers off the main road, it took an hour — via bush taxi or on my Trek mountain bike (that road was so bad, the mode of transportation Continue reading →

04.02.09

by Sarah Kaplan, National Service Inclusion Project

Autism and Inclusive Interviewing for All

Ways that national service programs can make the interview process less chaotic for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day and April is National Autism Awareness Month. Given that national service programs have members with non-apparent disabilities, including members with all forms of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), information and tips for including members with autism are provided below:

What are Autism Spectrum Disorders?

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disabilities defined by significant [limitations] in social interaction and communication and the presence of unusual behaviors and interests. The thinking and learning abilities of people with ASDs can vary. ASDs include autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder–not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS, including atypical autism), and Asperger syndrome.

Learn more about autism spectrum disorders.

These conditions all have some of the same symptoms, but they differ in terms of when the symptoms start, how severe they Continue reading →

04.02.09

by Amy Potthast

AmeriCorps Week 2009: May 9 to 16

If you are involved with AmeriCorps service — as a program director, current member, or alum — this is a great year to step out into your community to spotlight national service during AmeriCorps Week.

With so much national attention focused on AmeriCorps in the past year, people of all ages have heard of AmeriCorps programs and are eager to get involved. Hearing about your experiences, and getting to ask questions of you, may be the tipping point for jumping in and applying.

To help them map a path to national service, you can play a pivotal role in educating your community about the value of service.

AmeriCorps Week, coming up in mid-May, is a great time to make a presentation at a local school, chat with your faith community’s social groups, staff a table on-campus, host an event, or bring up the notion of AmeriCorps with peers during your regular volunteer projects. Remember, people of all ages participate in national service!

Other ideas for getting involved in AmeriCorps Week are on the program’s website.

You can also order the (free) AmeriCorps Presentation Kit for:

Tips on speaking to groups
Stickers, bookmarks, and posters
Facts and figures on AmeriCorps
A DVD with a PowerPoint slideshow on AmeriCorps and a video of AmeriCorps members in action

Also you can take part in an AmeriCorps Week Web Chats to help with your project planning.