Category Archives: Opportunities

02.19.09
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Service symposium

This blog goes out to reader all over the country (and way beyond borders) so I don’t usually post items that are local. But I would like to take a moment to showcase a contest and event coming up in Portland, OR this May. It’s open to national service participants from Oregon and Washington although it draws interest nationally.

It’s called the Northwest National Service Symposium, and the idea is to encourage service participants to reflect on their experiences and create literary, visual, and/or performing arts from them. Projects are first submitted in a contest setting, and then gathered and shared at the event in May. First-year national service alums are also encouraged to participate.

This year, more that ever, we are diving into Web 2.0 resources to get the word out. These include:

  • A symposium blog
  • A Youtube channel
  • A Facebook group
  • And of course, an official page with contest rules

    • Amy wrote one of the winning papers a few years back, and I submitted a project to the first symposium back in 1996 and have been on the coordinating team since 2002.

    If you have any questions or thoughts on the symposium, drop me a line. There are any number of ways to reach me, including through The New Service blog, but you can always try servicesymposium at gmail dot com.

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    01.27.09
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    Find Your Global Volunteer Gig!

    picture-1Global do-gooders meet international volunteer organizations through Idealist.org’s Global Volunteering Fairs during the week of Feb. 1st.

    So we agree: overseas service is more valuable now than ever before — to lend a hand where asked. To show a different face of the United States than what people can see in films and newspapers. To change yourself in permanent ways, to learn another language/life. Citizen diplomacy at its best.

    However: finding a reliable global volunteer experience can be a challenge — a volunteer org you can trust, where you know what will happen when that plane touches down, overseas.

    Challenges come from lack of access to organizations, headquartered in distant cities. Or from knowing that pretty websites can make any organization seem legitimate.

    How can you know for sure what you are getting yourself into?

    Next week, you can meet dozens of international volunteer organizations at once. Meet representatives face-to-face who coordinate a range of volunteer projects overseas in a variety of communities.

    Idealist’s Erin Barnhart will launch the second season of Idealist.org Global Volunteering Fairs in the following cities:

    The fairs will offer panel discussions and workshops on International  Volunteerism 101 and Affordable Volunteering Abroad.

    If you are like me and you don’t live in Washington, New York, or Boston, please take advantage of Idealist’s international volunteerism resources online:

    • Resource center — which helps answer questions like, should you go it alone or with a group? and how do pay for it? and how do you translate your experience when you get home?
    • Discussion forum — where you can ask questions and find out about programs you hadn’t heard of
    • Opportunity search — local or international, for an hour or for a year

    Next week The New Service will introduce a different international service corps each day in honor of the fairs, so check back for more.

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    01.23.09
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    Community Fellows at Lehigh U.

    This came to my attention and I thought I would pass it on.

    Lehigh University is offering a a one-year Masters that is ideal for AmeriCorps alumni and others interested in combining service with graduate study. It’s also unique in that rather than provide Fellows a scholarship directly, much of the tuition is covered by the school and the community agency where the student serves.

    * * * * *

    Lehigh University Community Fellows is a one year MA program in Sociology or Political Science. Fellows are placed with a non-profit partner agency, working on a significant project in the agency for fifteen hours per week as part of their academic work, while taking classes toward their Masters degree. Fellows focus on completing projects identified and designed by the agencies. All of the Fellows’ projects include work toward systems change, and giving a greater voice to ordinary citizens.

    Community Fellows’ tuition is funded in a three-way partnership between the agency, the university and the Fellow, with Fellows paying for only 6 of the 30 credit hours required. This unusual funding partnership assures each partner that the Community Fellow will participate in a quality academically-linked experience in non-profit work, overseen both by the agency and the Community Fellows Program director.

    For more information on the structure of the program, please see http://www.lehigh.edu/communityfellows and/or contact
    Prof. Kim Carrell-Smith
    Director
    Community Fellows Program
    Room 320 Maginnes Hall
    Lehigh University

    Bethlehem, PA 18015
    kwc2[at]lehigh.edu

    01.13.09
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    Obama Video Contest for MLK Day

    President-Elect Obama’s Renew America Together campaign partners with Youtube to invite you to create a three-minute video about how you plan to volunteer for MLK Day.

    Here are the guidelines and instructions from the contest webpage:

    The goal: For individuals and organizations to create a three-minute or less YouTube video designed to tell the story of what they plan to do on MLK Day. The videos could be dramatic, heartfelt, comical, or narrative — whatever best captures the spirit of the Renew America Together campaign.

    All submissions should be posted to the Presidential Inaugural Committee YouTube channel no later than 11:59pm EST January 15th, 2009. Three winners will be selected. The winning videos will be posted on www.USAService.org, and the creator of the single best video will get a personal phone call from First Lady Michelle Obama.

    For more information and to upload your reply-video, please visit us at www.YouTube.com/Inauguration.
    Here’s how to enter:

    1. Watch Kal Penn’s invitation video. (It’s the one to the right.)
    2. Create your own video answering these questions:
      What does service mean to you and why is it important?
      What will you do on January 19th to serve your community?
      Upload it as a reply to Kal.

    After you’ve uploaded your reply video, you can also submit the information about it here. You do not need to take this extra step, but it provides a second way for us to find it. Email

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    11.26.08
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    In NYC? Find a Child from Every Country to be Photographed

    A nonprofit in New York City is looking to photograph kids from every country. So far, photographer Danny Goldfield has snapped photos of kids from 156 countries. Kids must live in New York City now.

    See the remaining countries and how to volunteer — check out the New York City Children website, or email dannygoldfield [at] nychildren.org.

    Check out the video introducion of the project from GOOD Magazine.