Event set in LR on AmeriCorps
Clinton, leaders to join forum
Former President Bill Clinton will convene a group of national leaders at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock on Oct. 26 to discuss the future of national service, the Clinton Foundation announced Wednesday.
The event, “AmeriCorps: 30 Years Forward,” will coincide with the 30th anniversary of Clinton signing the National and Community Trust Act of 1993. The law established the Corporation for National and Community Service and created AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism.
The schedule of participants includes Rye Barcott, co-founder and CEO, With Honor; AnnMaura Connolly, president, Voices for National Service; Kaira Esgate, CEO, America’s Service Commissions; Mark Gearan, president, Hobart and William Smith Colleges; Julie Gehrki, vice president, philanthropy, Walmart; Fagan Harris, chief of staff, office of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore; Alan Khazei, co-chair, More Perfect, and co-founder, City Year; Kyle Kimball, vice president of government relations and community engagement, New York University; former Education Secretary John King, chancellor, State University of New York; Alice Kwan, principal, Deloitte Consulting; and Leroy “J.R.” La Plante, associate vice president, Wokini Initiative, South Dakota State University.
Also participating are Rebecca Lange, U.S. Air Force veteran; Domingo Morales, founder, Compost Power; Mayor Derrick Rainey, city of Wrightsville; Flor Romero, associate director of Career Pathway Connections, L.A. Promise Fund; Shirley Sagawa, board member, AmeriCorps; Michael D. Smith, CEO, AmeriCorps; Victoria DeFrancesco Soto, dean, Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas; Amy Sovocool, CEO, Conservation Legacy; Stefanie Vestal, AmeriCorps alumna and Clinton School of Public Service student; Nyjeer Wesley, program liaison, Federal Emergency Management Agency; and Jada Zuniga, AmeriCorps alumna.
Sessions will include:
■ “Leveraging AmeriCorps as a Diverse and Mission-Oriented Talent Pipeline.” Business and industry leaders and AmeriCorps alumni discuss strategies to build more intentional talent pipelines from national service to careers.
■ “The AmeriCorps Experience and Higher Education: A Leap Year, not a Gap Year,” a conversation with higher education leaders from across the country discussing the value AmeriCorps alumni bring to postsecondary education and ways their institutions can encourage more Americans to serve.
■ “AmeriCorps as a Community Asset.” Government and philanthropic leaders will talk about the role of AmeriCorps in supporting communities as they respond to urgent needs in education, climate, disaster response, and meeting the needs of veterans, among others.
The meeting will be streamed live, and registration is available at www.clintonfoundation.org/americorps30.
The day after the meeting, the Clinton Presidential Center and Engage Arkansas will call on attendees and volunteers for a Day of Action in Little Rock’s 12th Street corridor.