By Wendy Spencer
Initiative raises profile of AmeriCorps, Peace Corps alumni during hiring process
More than 150 companies, nonprofits, and public agencies have recognized the value of adding AmeriCorps and Peace Corps alumni to their teams and signed on to become
. Now the Commonwealth of Virginia is the first state in the nation to join that list.
I am excited that Gov. Terry McAuliffe is asking state agencies to take a closer look at national service alumni during the hiring process. Everything I know about these AmeriCorps members and Peace Corps volunteers makes me certain that they have the right kind of skills that would benefit an agency – or any other employer, for that matter – that wants to build an exceptional workforce of tested-and-proven employees.
Gov. McAuliffe has shared with me that he recognizes the reality that many of the state’s best workers are approaching retirement age. And filling the openings they leave behind will not be an easy task.
The more than 1.1 million AmeriCorps and Peace Corps alumni know how to get things done and make the places they serve better places to live. As the first state in the nation to become an Employer of National Service, Virginia is making a smart move to attract these motivated, flexible, and innovative leaders.
Through their service in AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, national service participants develop skills as teachers, disaster responders, economic development experts, health care workers, environmental sustainability consultants, and dedicated public servants that they can bring to the workplace. This is truly a talented group of ready-and-willing, civic-minded professionals.
Currently, more than 700 AmeriCorps members are serving in Virginia. Since 1994, more than 15,000 Virginians have served over 23 million hours in AmeriCorps and earned more than $47.7 million in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards to pay off student loans or other education expenses. The Commonwealth also has 260 residents serving around the world in Peace Corps, joining the 7,388 state residents who have served in the program since 1961.
Since President Obama launched Employers of National Service at the White House last September, the list of companies, nonprofits, and public agencies that have signed on continues to grow and includes Disney, Comcast, CSX, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and the cities of Nashville and Philadelphia. And now we can add the Old Dominion to the list of Virginia-based Employers of National Service that includes United Way Worldwide, Homeward, and the McChrystal Group.
We look forward to working with more states and governors that follow the Commonwealth’s and Gov. McAuliffe’s lead to become Employers of National Service.
Wendy Spencer is the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Corporation for National and Community Service leads the Employers of National Service program along with Peace Corps, AmeriCorps Alums, and the Franklin Project. Visit our web site to learn more about how your state, public agency, company, or nonprofit group can become an Employer of National Service.
Read the guidance memo from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office