President and CEO of The Corps Network Mary Ellen Sprenkel to Receive Stoneman Brown National Service Advocate of the Year Award
Awarded by Voices for National Service, this distinction recognizes individuals for their efforts to build support for national service programs among our nation’s leaders.
WASHINGTON, DC – Mary Ellen Sprenkel, President & CEO of The Corps Network, has been named the 2024 Stoneman Brown National Service Advocate of the Year by Voices for National Service, a coalition that works to build bipartisan support for national service programs. The award will be presented at the 2024 Friends of National Service Awards ceremony, happening May 7 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
“On behalf of the entire team at The Corps Network, I extend sincere appreciation to Mary Ellen for her tireless work to champion the more than 150 member organizations of The Corps Network and the broader national service community,” said Marie Walker, COO of The Corps Network. “Under Mary Ellen’s leadership, The Corps Network has grown in several ways: we have more member organizations that serve a wider range of communities; we have diverse private and public funding sources; we have new partnerships to support young people serving in Corps. In particular, I commend Mary Ellen for her work to promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Corps community and ensure that the newly-launched American Climate Corps centers equity in recruitment and projects. Thank you, Mary Ellen – congratulations on this well-deserved recognition.”
Mary Ellen Sprenkel’s career has focused on helping youth and young adults access quality education and training. After spending 10 years working for congressional offices on Capitol Hill, including two years handling postsecondary education and training matters for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Mary Ellen came to The Corps Network in 2008 as Director of Government Relations. She was named President and CEO in 2012.
For over a decade, Mary Ellen has been at the forefront of conversations about expanding Service and Conservation Corps to engage more young people in meaningful environmental service and career training. Starting in 2011, she served on the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Federal Advisory Committee, a group that developed recommendations for how to implement a modern Civilian Conservation Corps. She has worked with U.S. House and Senate offices on both sides of the aisle for years to advance legislation to support and expand Corps programs. Across three Presidential Administrations, she has worked with career staff and appointees at AmeriCorps and the highest levels of the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and other federal agencies to advance Service and Conservation Corps and the best interests of the young people serving in Corps.
In recent years, Mary Ellen has led The Corps Network’s membership of 150+ Corps programs in advocating for policies and programs to ensure a national Climate Corps is developed in a way that centers equity and the institutional knowledge of service programs that have engaged in conservation work for decades. Mary Ellen has harnessed the experience of America’s Service and Conservation Corps to provide the federal government with guidance on how to fund the American Climate Corps, structure the initiative, and provide Corpsmembers with career pathways. The federal interagency taskforce implementing the American Climate Corps released a memorandum of understanding in late 2023 that includes recommendations directly from The Corps Network. This includes calls to ensure ACC members are compensated justly, have access to comprehensive workforce training, and reflect the diversity of America.
Mary Ellen has worked to build relationships with labor unions, industry groups, and employers, with the goal of ensuring all ACC members can receive credentials and a path to a rewarding career. She has also been a strong advocate for a federal budget line item for Service and Conservation Corps. This would help provide Corps the resources to continue making an impact in communities and in the lives of thousands of young adults every year.
Under Mary Ellen’s leadership, Service and Conservation Corps have made a major impact in the national service field. Between fiscal year 2017 and 2023, The Corps Network’s national direct AmeriCorps grants helped dozens of national service programs engage more than 20,000 young people in AmeriCorps, who collectively had the opportunity to earn approximately $50 million in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards.
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The Corps Network
Established in 1985, The Corps Network is the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps. The Corps Network’s membership of more than 150 Corps across the United States annually provides more than 22,000 young adults and veterans the opportunity to develop job skills while serving our country through projects on public lands and in communities. The Corps Network supports Corps through advocacy, providing access to funding and project opportunities, and offering expert guidance in Corps operations and programming.
Media Contact
Hannah Traverse
Director of Communications, The Corps Network
htraverse@corpsnetwork.org
202-737-6272 x 119