Jody Olsen – The New Service

Professor Mike Hardy, Photo by Kate Anderson

Amy Potthast first wrote about the British Council’s event and because I live in the nation’s capital, where the event was held, I had the good fortune of attending.

Admittedly, I was still reeling from Michelle Obama’s visit to CNCS — so the British Council event was yet another highlight on my calendar which made that week unforgettable, to say the least.

An impressive crowd gathered—approximately 50 attendants—at the Rayburn House Office Building for what was absolutely a lovely affair. Lovely is not a word I usually use to describe a professional engagement, but I think this word comes to mind because of my British, or as I say, Bree-teesh, bias. Yes, I’m a sap for their accents and covet their seemingly inborn urbane manner.

Prior to the event, I was only loosely familiar with the work of the British Council—the United Kingdom’s international Continue reading →

Jody Olsen, Acting Peace Corps Director Photo by Kate Anderson

The British Council will host an event in Washington, D.C., tonight that convenes advocates of citizen service.

Tonight’s event celebrates volunteerism and global citizenship. It will features speakers Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) — lead sponsor of the Peace Corps Expansion Act of 2009 which is now in the House Foreign Relations Committee. (Read more.) Other featured speakers include Acting Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen, and Professor Mike Hardy, the British Council’s Head of Intercultural Dialogue Programming.

The British Council, which also partners to run Global Xchange, has recently launched the U.S. publication of its book Volunteering: Global Citizenship in Action by Aurelie Brockerhoff and Nick Wadham-Smith which was inspired by the
volunteers’ experiences.

The goal of the event is to bring together pre-eminent U.S. volunteerism and service advocates and to expand the conversation about global action and citizenship.

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Read more about the British Council.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::