Harris School of Public Policy Celebrates Americorps Week

The AmeriCorps Pledge: “I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier. I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities. Faced with apathy, I will take action. Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground. Faced with adversity, I will persevere. I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond. I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.”

I took the AmeriCorps pledge in the summer of 2009, as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago. Nearly a decade after my year of Service, I can honestly say I’ve lived the motto, and my career has been greatly influenced by my year of Service. I’ve had the pleasure of completing an AmeriCorps Service year, directing an AmeriCorps program, and currently serve as a Commissioner on the Serve Illinois Commission, which oversees all aspects of program administration and training for the AmeriCorps program in Illinois.

Successful careers are built on solid personal and interpersonal skills. Like many of my fellow AmeriCorps alumni, the service year provided me with the opportunities to gain and strengthen the marketable skills you don’t find on a resume. AmeriCorps members are dedicated to making a social impact. Through service, young people who are mission-oriented and work well on diverse teams, learn to persevere through challenges and how to take initiative, making them adaptable and resourceful.

This year, the Harris Public Policy is home to 30 alumni of National Service. These students have served in various AmeriCorps programs: VISTA, State, and National, and Teach For America. They all bring the foundation of their service year(s) to their studies. At Harris, our faculty help students turn their passion for doing good into proven social impact. They develop the skills needed to ask the hard questions, follow the evidence to the answers, and make a real and lasting impact. AmeriCorps alumni are able to combine a rigorous education at a world-class institution with their hands-on experience gained through national service. Harris graduates are able to take their applied academic skills and combine them with the critical-thinking skills gained through national service for practical use in the workplace.

Today, there are more than 500 Employers of National Service, an initiative launched by President Obama in 2014. Employers include companies like Accenture, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Morningstar, Save the Children, The Aspen Institute, and many more across all sectors. In Harris Public Policy’s 2016 Career Outcomes report, 97 percent of reporting Harris students secured employment after six months. These students were employed at many of the organizations signed up for the Employers of National Service initiative. As Director of Career Development at Harris, I’m proud to be able to guide my fellow AmeriCorps alums to a career path that values their service experience, rigorous education, and passion.