People of ServiceNation

Although Thursday night’s Presidential Forum was tough to top, Day 2 of the ServiceNation Summit at the Hilton in New York City was jam-packed with some of the biggest names in politics, service, education and entertainment.

The morning session of the “service pep-rally” featured New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who in his remarks called upon the nation to “enlarge the spirit of service in America.”  He highlighted and recognized many of the initiatives that the City of New York is undertaking, specifically GreenNYC, and recognized the work of young New Yorker Avery Houston, who created Green Light NY which works with kids and after school groups to make New York City Schools more energy efficient. 

President Bush also spoke via video conference thanking all those in attendance for the great work they have already accomplished on behalf of our nation.  He also spoke of his confidence in our country’s ability to rise to the calling for increased service saying, “The true source of our nation’s strength is the love, compassion and decency of the American people.”

First Lady Laura Bush then took the stage and celebrated the increasing levels of service by all Americans and noted two emerging trends: a greater commitment to serve by the aging and a stronger interest and desire to volunteer by the young.

With all the well-known dignitaries taking the stage, it was nice to have some moments where ordinary Americans took the stage to tell their service stories.  One of those stories came from Leon McClain, a man who after being a victim of gun violence in the streets of Philadelphia decided to turn his life around and chose a path of service to help him make that change.  He served for two years as part of City Year, in inner-city Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

To conclude the morning program, Senator Orrin Hatch and Caroline Kennedy took the stage to announce the Serve America Act, co-sponsored by Senator Hatch and Senator Ted Kennedy.  The legislation will expand volunteer opportunities for Americans of all ages, and create the Education Corps, the Healthy Futures Corps, the Clean Energy Service Corps, the Opportunity Corps, and the Reserve Corps, among other initiatives.

Other speakers in the morning and lunch sessions included: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen USN, Alicia Keys, Usher Raymond, Laurie Tisch, Alan Khazei and Duke University President Richard H. Brodhead.

Six panels were offered in the first breakout session.  The panel on education included Alma Powell of America’s Promise Alliance, Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, Michael Brown, founder of City Year, and Joel Klein, Chancellor of New York City Public Schools.  This esteemed panel discussed the current state of education in our country and what real solutions are available to fix the problems.  All agreed that awareness surrounding the problems of subpar education and dropout rates needs to be heightened so that all Americans can stop making it a problem for “those people” to deal with and make it a problem that all people must address.  They also discussed the need for improved recruitment and retention of quality teachers.  The audience included a number of people, myself included, who were alums of service programs such as AmeriCorps, City Year & Teach for America, as well as young people recognized by ServiceNation for their excellence in community service including Miss Central Virginia Madison VanDuyne.  After the panel, I was able to meet and introduce FLiP to Caroline Kennedy, Mike Brown, Wendy Kopp as well as young leaders VanDuyne and Marisol Conde-Hernandez.

During the afternoon sessions I was able to meet with Chris Myers Asch, Executive Director of the United States Public Service Academy.  I briefly met Senators Chris Dodd and Hillary Clinton as well as actress Glenn Close.

The closing ceremony for the ServiceNation was a star-studded event.  After an excitement-filled day of dialogue and discourse, the 500-plus participants in the summit gathered for the much-anticipated closing ceremony which included the Declaration of Service, which was introduced and signed by over 100 young people in positions of civic and social leadership.  Lloyd Blankfien of Goldman Sachs spoke to the audience about his hope for corporations to better integrate their social engagement platforms into their corporate cultures and operaitons.  He discussed some of Goldman’s initiatives including 10,000 Women.  10,000 women works to expand the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in developing and emerging economies - especially among women - and is one of the most important means to reducing inequality and ensuring more shared economic growth.

Rick Stengel of TIME Magazine thanked those in attendance for their participation but called upon all present to dig deeper and give even more, explaining “We all have to do our part, it is our time!”

Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke to a very supportive crowd, telling them how the times of the day demand our service.  “We are all called to serve in a way that suits our talents, time and interest,” Clinton said, “and we must make sure that the American table of service is big enough for everyone to have a place.”

Those in attendance who were hoping to see as many stars and celebrities as possible got what they wanted (dead or alive) when rocker turned Arena Football team owner/philanthropist Jon Bon Jovi took the stage.  He challenged the nation to “reboot and update their idea of service,” explaining that you do not need to be famous or rich to make a difference.  He revealed his theory in the “Power of We,” which he explained is the simple strength that comes about when a few concerned neighbors or citizens come together to make a difference and impart some social change.  Bon Jovi shared the story of how he founded the Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation, which exists to combat issues that force families and individuals into economic despair. He shared his vision of making volunteerism “hip” and challenged us all to bring that same energy to our communities. 

The ServiceNation Summit ended as a grand success with the organization primed to take the excitement from the two-day summit and implement it into good works on September 27 for the Service Nation Day of Action.

Comments

[Millennial Public Servant]

The U.S. Public Service Academy is a great initiative that will strengthen and revamp our public service sector. Thanks to campaigns like ServiceNation, the Academy may soon be a reality. I urge everyone who believes in public service to get behind the U.S. Public Service Academy and the other organizations of ServiceNation. Only then can we change the face of public service in this nation of ours.