FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Tara Maller
The Franklin Project
The Aspen Institute
202-736-3513 | Tara.Maller@aspeninstitute.org
National Service Summit at Gettysburg announces action items from Inspirational Lineup of Speakers
Millions of dollars pledged for national service and new service corps announced
Gettysburg, PA, June 9, 2014 — The Franklin Project at the Aspen Institute concluded its 2014 Summit at Gettysburg: Our Unfinished Work on national service on Friday, June 6. The Franklin Project, together with the National Conference on Citizenship, ServiceNation, and Voices for National Service, convened leaders from across our country’s public, private, and civic institutions for this invitation-only event that awakened a new citizenship in the country, grounded in a “service year” as a rite of passage for all 18 to 28 year olds. The summit brought together on historic ground 300 outstanding participants from the private sector, higher education, government, the military, faith communities, philanthropy, and nonprofit organizations to be active participants in the action-forcing event.
During the Summit, millions of dollars were pledged toward or committed to creating and supporting new service programs, three new service corps were announced, and plans moved forward to combine service with higher education. Please see below for details on the special announcements and commitments that were made related to national service.
Summit speakers included: General McChrystal, Chelsea Clinton, Walter Isaacson, Barbara Bush, Wendy Kopp, Cecilia Muñoz, David Gergen, Alan Khazei, John Bridgeland, Wendy Spencer and many more.
“Our vision is simple: A country where a year of fulltime national service is a cultural expectation, common opportunity, and civic rite of passage for every young American. Our goal is straightforward: Create one million service year positions by 2023. We’re here to think about exactly how to get that done, and to begin the long and hard, but worthwhile process of changing what it means to be an American. To harness the energy of every young American, regardless of his or her background. And just as in generations past, to direct that energy into solving some of our country’s toughest challenges. This is the unfinished work of our time,” said General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal from the Gettysburg Battlefield. “Everyone needs to talk about a service year as an essential issue. It can’t be issue number 14 or 15 on the collective agenda—we need to create a movement where it’s viewed as the legacy our generation leaves,” said Franklin Project Director Jay Mangone in his opening remarks to describe the mission of the Franklin Project.
The official program from the Summit can be found here.
Additional information about the Summit can be found here. Videos of the summit panels will be posted in the coming week: http://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/2014/06/04/summit-gettysburg-our-unfinished-work.
Media coverage of the event included: The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Politico, USA Today, Yahoo! News, CNN, NationSwell and Democracy Journal.
SPONSORS: Sponsors of the Franklin Project and the Gettysburg Summit include: Cisco Systems, Lynda & Stewart Resnick, The Bezos Family, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Laura & Gary Lauder, Leonard Lauder, Bank of America, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Julie and Peter Cummings, Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine, Christy and John Mack, Mike Gridley, The Case Foundation, The Hauptman Family Foundation, Orin McCluskey, The MCJ Amelior Foundation, Sheri Sobrato, State Farm, Target, Jack M. Enoch, Jr., The Gettysburg Foundation and Monitor Deliotte.
The Franklin Project is a new venture by the Aspen Institute, which envisions a future where a year of fulltime national service—a service year—is a cultural expectation, a common opportunity, and a civic rite of passage for every young American. A young person would discharge his or her national service obligation by either serving in the military or as a civilian by completing a fulltime service year through programs such as Teach for America, AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps. A service year would be voluntary, but expected. For a service year, a small living allowance is provided, so that all young Americans have opportunities to serve. The service year would be completed at some point between the ages of 18-28.
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
Franklin Project Summit at Gettysburg: Special Announcements
Cisco: Cisco announced a $3 million matching challenge grant at the Summit to generate funding to build and launch the national service year technology platform. The Franklin Project is working in partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) to create an online technology platform where young people, organizations, and funders can get matched with one another. TheYouServe.Org site is currently in its earliest version and offers the opportunity for those interested to sign up for further announcements.
Corporation for National and Community Service: The Corporation for National and Community Service is dedicating up to $30 million in education scholarships to support new AmeriCorps service opportunities to meet critical national and local needs. Through the AmeriCorps Partnerships Challenge, CNCS is looking to partner with private sector, nonprofits, philanthropies, and public agencies to support up to 8,000 new national service positions. For more information, click here.
On Friday, the White House, the Department of Justice and the Corporation for National and Community Service announced justice AmeriCorps. This program will engage 100 lawyers and paralegals in a year of national service as AmeriCorps members to provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children and to improve the effective and efficient adjudication of immigration removal proceedings involving those children. The Justice Department is contributing $2 million and CNCS will support the education scholarships for these AmeriCorps members. For more information, visit http://go.usa.gov/8HzY.
Bipartisan Policy Center: Secretary Dan Glickman, co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on Political Reform, gave a preview of the commission’s recommendations that align with the goals of the Franklin Project, including expanding service year opportunities for 18 to 28 year olds and the development of a technology platform that enables crowd-funding.
HOPE Crews: Delaware North Companies, a global leader in hospitality management & food service management, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, announced $3 Million to expand “Hands On Preservation Experience,” or “HOPE Crew” programs. This expanded partnership will engage conservation corps crew members with preservationists through the National Trust.
Adventure Forward: Adventure Forward, a Boulder-based nonprofit that fosters academic and personal success among under-served youth through exposure to adventure, will launch its pilot program on June 9 in four Denver public schools. The Adventure Forward model places a corps of young leaders directly into classrooms to provide academic support integrated with exposure to outdoor adventure. Adventure Forward is one of the first new service corps to emerge from the Franklin Project.
The Curtis Institute of Music: The Curtis Institute of Music— together with the Franklin Project— is launching ArtistYear, an arts-based service corps that brings arts access and education to underserved communities. Inspired by the Franklin Project’s challenge to America to create 1 million service year positions by 2023, Curtis will pilot the ArtistYear Fellowship Program in Philadelphia during the 2014-15 academic year.
The Partnership for the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps announced a list of “100 Projects to Restore America,” that will engage youth, young adults and veterans this year in service on public lands, with activities ranging from improving hiking trails in the iconic Grand Canyon National Park, to preparing for and restoring landscapes impacted by disasters in New York and on the Gulf Coast, to helping make a $1 million restoration of San Diego’s historic Chicano Park. More than 20,000 young people are expected to be enrolled in 21CSC programs this year, with a goal of 100,000 serving annually in the near future.
Veterans Pledge: The Franklin Project at the Aspen Institute, in partnership with the Air Force Association, The American Legion Auxiliary, The Association of the United States Army, The Code of Support Foundation, Got Your 6, The Military Child Education Coalition, Student Veterans of America, The Mission Continues, and Team Red, White & Blue have cosponsored a pledge entitled “Enlisting America: A Call to National Service from Those Who Have Served.” The pledge has been signed by 200 retired Flag and General Officers and 60 retired Sergeants Major who collectively have devoted 6,500 years of service to the country. Unveiled on June 5 by Lieutenant General (Retired) John D. Gardner at the Franklin Project’s Summit at Gettysburg, the pledge will be opened to signatures from the entire military, veterans, and family community.
Roll Global/Franklin Project Millennials & National Service Survey: The Franklin Project in partnership with Roll Global released the results of a survey on millennials and national service. The infographic with key findings was released at the Gettysburg summit and showcased the millennials’ desire to serve and the specific areas of national service that millennials find most interesting.
###