This blog features several types of advice, such as careers and grad school.
In an address to a joint session Congress tonight, Feb. 24th, President Obama urged lawmakers to pass the 
Kennedy-Hatch Serve America Act which would expand funding for national service.
The Serve America Act, co-authored by Senator Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator Hatch (R-UT), was introduced in the Senate January 16 and would:
- Engage more Americans in a term of national service to solve critical challenges in local communities by increasing AmeriCorps from 75,000 to 250,000 Continue reading
This week is Peace Corps Week!
This week, Feb. 23-March 3, is Peace Corps Week. A time to reflect on 48 years of international service by almost 200,000 U.S. Volunteers, and for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers to speak about their experiences in the corps with schools and community groups across the United States.
Check out Peace Corps Week events going on in your region. Also find out how the National Peace Corps Association — the independent group of RPCVS — is celebrating. Read what the national service Resource Center has on tap for Peace Corps Week, too.
I’ll be in Boston tomorrow and Washington Friday, talking about service at the Idealist.org Nonprofit Career Fairs. If you ask nicely, I’ll tell you all about my time in Peace Corps China. Also check out these Idealist podcast shows on Peace Corps: with Bonnie Thie, China Country Director; and Eileen Conoboy, former Director of the Office of University Programs.
For information about joining the Peace Corps, call 1-800-424-8580 (press 1) to speak to a local recruiter. To learn more about Peace Corps Week, call 1-800-424-8580 (press 2, then ext. 1961) or email pcweek [at] peacecorps.gov or visit the Peace Corps website.
I listened to an open conference call hosted by Corporation for National and Community Service Chief of Program Operations Kristin McSwain. I am not going to post the more technical aspects of the call, but here are a few points I found interesting.
“Stimulus” members will serve alongside traditional members in existing programs (VISTA might be an exception). Stimulus members will address mostly these areas (though everything is still up in the air) :
1. Winterizing homes, housing access, keeping people in homes
2. Access to health care and providing health care
3. Nonprofit capacity building
4. Youth corps/development
Keep in mind, this is still separate from the Kennedy-Hatch “Serve America Act.”
Here’s the link to the page that will document the changes to national service through the Recovery Act. At the web site, you call a toll-free number to listen to a recording of the call.
The 2009 season of Idealist.org Nonprofit Career Fairs launches next Tuesday in Boston.
Looking for a job? An internship, full-time service opportunity, or part-time volunteer gig?
Check out this spring’s Nonprofit Career Fairs taking place in cities across the United States:
In addition to the nonprofit organization representatives (and even some grad school admissions staff) that you’ll meet, you can participate in workshops that run concurrently with the event. Workshops usually touch on topics of career transitions into the nonprofit sector.
At next week’s events in Boston and Washington, DC, I’ll be offering workshops on questions to ask if you’re considering full-time national or international service.
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Service is the topic on a call-in show today, on American University radio station WAMU 88.5 FM.
Today, starting at 1:06 EST, Kojo Nnamdi will spend an hour speaking with guests about national service and volunteerism.
Guests will include:
Learn more details of the show.
Kojo Nnamdi show takes calls and e-mails from listeners. To join the show: call 1-800-433-8850 or e-mail kojo[at]wamu.org.
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The New Service 