Both Mangone and Maurin point out that though the Service Year Alliance has done much to raise awareness about the need for public service, they see themselves as a part of a larger movement. On April 15, popular political

satirist Jon Stewart threw his sup- port behind the idea of a service year. Calling for educational reform while interviewing Fareed Zakaria for The Daily Show, Stewart said, “How about this: Take college. Do you really need four years of col- lege? Make it three, and make it one year of public service.” Stewart is joined by former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of De- fense Robert Gates, and Barbara Pierce Bush, daughter of former President George W. Bush. During the Clinton Global Initia-

tives annual conference in New York in September 2014, Chelsea Clinton and former President Bill Clinton threw their support behind the alli- ance’s eff orts. This came just weeks after Bill Clinton met with President Barack Obama to announce new partnerships to expand the Ameri- Corps program. “If more young people partici- pated in full-time service programs like AmeriCorps, it would have a transformative impact on our coun- try,” Chelsea Clinton said. “We have proven time and again that we are stronger when we work together, and by giving more Americans the opportunity to come together in ser- vice, we make our nation stronger.”

Boundless opportunities The Clintons’ public support for the eff orts of the Service Year Alliance was coupled with news that Cisco and the Lumina Foundation would give multimillion-dollar grants to help the NCoC develop a digital platform for potential seekers of service-year opportunities to peruse

PHOTO: PEACE CORPS

positions across the country. According to NCoC Chief Service Offi cer Shirley Sagawa, the platform — called the Service Year Exchange — will launch in January 2016. “We’re try-

ing to create a one-stop shop for job-seekers and service-year partners with Yelp-like ratings, educational op- portunities, and an easy-to- use interface,” she says. The new platform should help potential ap- plicants by providing a single entry point for job seekers, whether they are recent college graduates, se- niors, or returning veterans. Yet searching for potential AmeriCorps opportunities isn’t the only way to help if you’ve ever served in the military. Maurin says veterans and retired military offi - cers have a unique way of expand- ing leadership opportunities in the U.S., whether it’s by donating money, contacting local congres- sional representatives, or spreading the word through traditional and social media. “What we need to see is a con- tinued unity of the civilian na- tional service and military service worlds,” Maurin says. “If members of the military community believe more Americans should serve here at home in a civilian capacity, they have a uniquely powerful voice in helping to make that happen, whether they are a four-star gen- eral or a former Marine.”

MO

— Bryan Doyle is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C. This is his fi rst article for Military Offi cer.

The Peace Corps has offered inter- national service op- portunities (shown above, a volunteer in the Gambia) for more than 50 years.

WAYS TO GET

INVOLVED Join the mailing list at www.youserve.org for updates on the Franklin Project, the Service Year Alliance, and the upcoming Ser- vice Year Exchange. Learn more about

AmeriCorps programs and other currently available service-year opportunities at www .nationalservice.gov. Pledge your support

to the Franklin Project at www.franklinproject.org /pledge. (MOAA already has; see page 24 of the April 2015 issue.)