Friends,
The 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, which just ended, came at a critical time of need for our nation. As .
Young people have already demonstrated their leadership and their power was never more evident that at the Monday morning, where Lauren Bush talked to 150 girls about her efforts to feed the hungry through social enterprise, and where three girls each won $3,000 grants from WE tv to fund their change-agent projects.
At our opening at Radio City Music Hall, we heard from Cabinet Secretaries, social innovators, andCEOs. as he and Al Roker celebrated Cities of Service. The voices and passion of the and the gracious presence of Her Holiness Shinso Ito were highlights for many.
That evening, at our Inspiration gala, remarkable people, ranging from seven years old to 80-plus, were honored for their extraordinary achievements. Our host John Oliver of the Daily Show gave us humor intermixed with inspiration from Broadway acts. The courageous Ruby Dee, who was recognized for a lifetime of fighting for social justice, said, “Many of us today are keepers of the flame in the torch that burns in the hand of the Statue of Liberty, the spirit of activism and service. A person not only can, but MUST make a difference”.
We learned how corporations are contributing to the service movement with such CEOs as Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase. We asked innovators such as Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, and Craig Newmark of craigslist to help us create a civic revolution through technology.
This year’s Conference featured 175 sessions divided into more than 25 focus areas, 18 forums on topics ranging from childhood obesity to corporate volunteering, and two micro-plenaries, one on how service can drive educational reform, and one on innovative approaches to improving communities. At the education micro-plenary Wednesday morning, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke of the fierce urgency of ensuring that every child has access to a quality education. “Education is a prerequisite for success”, he said. It’s been 50 years since education reform began, “and we cannot wait any longer. ”
It was such a huge gathering with so many more pieces, so let me just give you a few more of the highlights:
- NYC Serves engaged the NY Mets, Mayor Bloomberg and more than 1,000 volunteers in 14 projects around the state leading up to the Conference.
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The Target party on the final night – a true party with a purpose- where attendees packaged 150,000 meals and had a great time doing it alongside such stars as American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee, who sang for us; singer-songwriter Lori Michaels, who helped pack boxes, and celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, who spoke about volunteering.
- And the opportunity to think together with leading members of President Obama’s administration such as Shaun Donovan, Arne Duncan, and Melody Barnes – who are joining hands with us to create alignment and re-imagine service and its impact on the critical priorities of our nation.
- The Service World announcement about a platform that will increase international civic engagement.
- Mayor Bloomberg announced the winners of the second round of Cities of Service two-year $200,000 Leadership grants. The money will create a Chief Service Officer position in each city to develop and implement citywide plans to mobilize volunteers to address pressing needs. These cities are Atlanta; Austin, TX; Baltimore; Baton Rouge, LA; Chula Vista, CA; Houston; Little Rock; Orlando; Pittsburgh, and Richmond, VA.
I want to extend a special thank you to Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, our co-convener. This was Patrick’s inaugural conference, and I believe I speak for the entire service community when I say how excited we are to have him at the helm.
There were many great investors in the Conference headlined by our Title Sponsor Target. O
ther major sponsors included People. Power. Change. Sponsor Shinnyo-en Foundation, Official Business Track Sponsor JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Official Service Leader Sponsor University of Phoenix. Presenting Sponsors were Bloomberg and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; Gold Sponsors were UPS, Bank of America, Delta Air Lines and Pfizer. Dozens of additional supporters made the Conference possible.
Ruby Dee summed it up eloquently,
“We have a duty to engage in service to transform the world. We owe it to ourselves and to the generations that will follow us.”
The Conference was a step in inspiring us and equipping us to do so. We look forward to creating a Service March through the Gulf and on to the 2011 conference in New Orleans – there is no better place to demonstrate the power of service — and to a year of impact across the nation.
In Service,
Michelle Nunn
CEO, Points of Light Institute and Co-Founder, HandsOn Network
Links to opening plenary session videos:
“Our volunteer network has such deep-seated ties to New Orleans and the entire region from our Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, we all feel passionately about helping to rejuvenate the communities of the Gulf Coast,” said Nunn. “Bringing the conference to New Orleans is the perfect way to spotlight residents’ needs and how volunteers can help address them.”
the power of community service and the value of voluntourism to a community,” said Mayor Landrieu. “Our city, indeed our entire region, would not be as far along in our post-Katrina recovery without the time, talent and treasure of all those who were so generous in helping us in our time of great need. It is a distinct privilege to welcome this gathering to our city, where we have created a new roadmap for community service, and where the good work continues to this day, and will continue well into the future.”
By Michelle Nunn, CEO, 
Global volunteerism is pulled towards entrepreneurial and innovative efforts as the number of volunteers and local organizations around the world increases;
Do the hard work of freedom. And that will define the state of our Union… What government can do alone is limited, but the potential of the American people knows no limits.”
by Jared Paul, Founder, 
Upon hearing about the conference, I started thinking about creative “Goods Ideas” that AGI could host that would shake things up a bit in NYC.
So you’re all prepped to be a social media rock star at the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, right?
by Michelle Nunn, CEO, 
While he was in college as a student at the University of Illinois, he created a student-run mobile health clinic that provides free medical screening services to the under-served and uninsured residents of Champaign County.
For example, earlier this year, 
Another partner, 
A final example, In this challenging economy, where the national unemployment rate still hovers around 10 percent, 
In the after math of Hurricane Katrina, Hands On sent a young AmeriCorps Alum, Kelly Bentz, to aid in the cleanup in New Orleans, intending for her to only stay for a few weeks.
