Tag Archive for: Corpsmember of the Year

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National Council of Young Leaders

Members of the National Council of Young Leaders at the 2012 Opportunity Nation Summit

From YouthBuild USA

The National Council of Young Leaders is a 14-member body comprised of diverse young men and women from across the United States. These Council Members, who range in age from 18 to 34, provide information and insight to elected officials and policymakers on the issues that affect low-income and disconnected youth from their communities.

Because of their very different backgrounds, each Council Member offers a different and unique take on what services and policies are needed to improve opportunities for disconnected youth. The Council’s Recommendations to Increase Opportunity and Decrease Poverty in America include policy prescriptions in the areas of education, criminal justice, community development and family. 

The Council was formed in July 2012 in response to a recommendation from the White House Council on Community Solutions, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Open Society Foundations. The founding partners of the National Council of Young Leaders are:

  • Jobs for the Future
  • Opportunity Nation
  • Public Allies
  • The Corps Network
  • Year Up
  • Youth Leadership Institute 
  • YouthBuild USA

Click here to read bios for each of the Council Members and get more information on the Council’s founding partners.

The Corps Network is proud to be represented on the Council by 2012 Corpsmembers of the Year Ladine “JR” Daniels and Philandrian Tree.  

Click the links below to read more Corps Network stories on The National Council of Young Leaders: 

 

  

Philan Tree (left) and Ladine “JR” Daniels (right) – 2012 Corpsmembers of the Year and members of the National Council of Young Leaders. Pictured at the 2012 Opportunity Nation Summit.

The 2011 Friends of National Service Reception

 

Actor Brandon Routh (third from left), was excited to meet the Corpsmembers of the Year. His best known role to date was as Superman in 2006’s Superman Returns. Corpsmember De’Andre Alexander spoke powerfully at the reception and is on the far right.

The 2011 Friends of National Service Reception was held in the East Hall of Union Station and took on the form of a pep rally as National Service leaders rallied the crowd in opposition to proposed federal budget cuts. 

Numerous speakers voiced their support for Service including Senator Barbara Mikulski, AnnMaura Connolly, President of Voices for National Service, actor Brandon Routh, and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour.

According to the Washington-based publication known as The Hill, “the most moving speech of the evening was given by De’Andre Alexander, The Corps Network’s Corps Member of the Year, who recounted his journey from the penal system to a life of service.”

Corpsmembers of The Year Represent The Corps Network on New National Council of Young Leaders

 

The Corps Network is pleased to announce that 2012 Corpsmembers of the Year, Philan Tree of Coconino Rural Environment Corps and Ladine Daniels of Energy Conservation Corps/The Sustainability Institute have been appointed to the National Council of Young Leaders. This new Council made up of representatives from national youth-serving organizations is intended to be a permanent body that will advise the White House, Congress, philanthropists, business leaders, and other policymakers on issues affecting disadvantaged or “opportunity youth” and their communities. The next event for the Council will be participation in the Opportunity Nation Summit in Washington DC on September 19, 2012, where they will be leaders for young people from around the country (including several additional Corpsmembers).
More information about the Summit can be found here.

Dorothy Stoneman, founder and CEO of YouthBuild USA, Inc. (one of our partners in the National Council of Young Leaders) speaks to the role of youth-serving organizations in addressing challenges faced by Opportunity Youth in a recently published article on the Huffington Post called “Solutions are Obvious for a National Emergency”.

Additional efforts are being worked on to advance the voice of young people. Read more in this posting by SparkAction.
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2005 Corpsmember of the Year: Jessica Martinez

 

Jessica Martinez was paroled out of the Youth Authority system a month before applying to the Los Angeles Conservation Corps.  Her primary goal in the Corps was to obtain her high school diploma, and most importantly not to make the same mistakes that she did in the past.  A year later, Jessica has received her diploma, graduated with high honors and has earned a specialist position as a Recruitment and Training Assistant with LACC.  Through her time with the Corps she has made great strides, including receiving a college scholarship and being elected by her peers to the Leadership Team, over which she now presides as president. 

–“I didn’t realize, until I came to the Corps, that I have choices, which have consequences, and if I make positive choices I can make a better life for myself despite the actions of others.”

(written in 2005)

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2005 Corpsmember of the Year: Jennifer Mack

 

Jennifer Mack came to American YouthWorks’ Environmental Corps in Austin via Vermont in the middle of major life decisions and changes. Nonetheless, it was immediately visible to her crew leader that Jennifer was motivated by personal growth, community service and learning.  In overcoming her addictions, Jen constantly challenges herself and seeks new experiences and learning opportunities.  She has cultivated relationships for AYW with local nonprofits and a national park. She has served as a Policy Council Representative, and has become her crew’s amateur botanist.  After completing her term with E-Corps, Jennifer will attend Texas State University for a degree in Biology. 

–“Thanks to AmeriCorps, specifically the Environmental Corps program, I now have a better idea of what aspects I want to include in my education… My term of service has given me the confidence and direction that I needed to go back to school.”

(written in 2005)

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2005 Corpsmember of the Year: Lasharee Jones

 

Two years ago, Lasharee Jones didn’t have much hope.  A high school dropout and a single mother, she was struggling to make ends meet.  Then she came to the West Seneca Service Action Corps (now The Service Collaborative of WNY, Inc.).  While serving as an AmeriCorps member for two consecutive terms, Lasharee is achieving her dream.  Making deliveries for the Buffalo Food Bank, building homes through YouthBuild and beautifying local parks, Lasharee is making a difference to those around her.  Now she is about to receive her GED, a feat she had not imagined possible two years ago. Lasharee cannot wait to go to college and build her future. 

–“I don’t just want to feed people and clean a lot, I want to inspire.  I want to teach people through my actions.  I want people to get this message of service and do it too.  There is no point sitting around blaming others for not succeeding.  I’ve been given a gift, inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King I want to walk in his footsteps inspiring others.”

(written in 2005)

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2005 Corpsmember of the Year: Erik Hurd

 

Erik Hurd enrolled in the EOC/Fresno Local Conservation Corps (LCC) in October, 2003 and has served on most crews operating at the LCC.  He has established himself as a leader in this Corps and in the wider Corps community.  In August, 2004, Erik was elected to the Board of Directors of the Conservation Corps Institute, and in November Erik was elected by his peers to be Vice President of the Fresno LCC Corpsmember Council.  Erik is married and he and his wife are expecting their first child in July 2005.  He will continue his education at Fresno City College, concurrent to enrollment at LCC. Erik’s major is in Business Administration.  

— “I’ve learned to set my goals much higher than I might have without this experience.  I’ve realized that I am talented, that I can make a good living to support my family, but I’ve also learned the value and importance of community service.”

(written in 2005) 

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2005 Corpsmember of the Year: Diony Gamoso

***Update! Click here to find out what Diony has been up to since accepting his award.***

Diony Gamoso started at Marin Conservation Corps (now Conservation Corps North Bay) as a Crew Leader on the Natural Resources Crew. He came to MCC with a variety of technical skills and was looking for opportunities to expand his abilities to include education skills.  He immediately demonstrated a thirst for learning, interest in the projects, compassion for the corpsmembers, and a genuine interest in contributing to MCC.  As the supervisor of a Project Regeneration Crew, Diony led high school aged students in conservation projects.  Recently, he was promoted to the position of Education Department Assistant where he has supported the Education Program by planning and facilitating place-based field education lessons and has been helping his fellow corpsmembers make progress towards earning their high school diplomas.  Diony has also taken on a variety of new tasks and projects which have been very beneficial to MCC. 

— “The Marin Conservation Corps has given me so much opportunity to grow personally and professionally.  I have been given a chance right here and now, to explore what I thought were only far-off, future, career dreams.”

(written in 2005)

2005 Corpsmember of the Year: Germain Castellanos

***Update! Click here to find out what Germain has been up to since he won his award.***

(Written in 2005)

Before Germain Castellanos made the decision to change his life, he was involved with a local gang and participated in various gang activities including drugs and violence.  This path caused him to get kicked out of school and convicted of a misdemeanor by age 16.  The birth of his daughter served as a wake up call. That’s when Germain joined the Youth Conservation Corps’ NASCC (National Association of Service and Conservation Corps – the former name of The Corps Network) AmeriCorps RuralResponse Program.  Now, after supervising kids who were in the same situation he was once in and volunteering for a wide variety of community, faith-based and political organizations, Germain has received his GED, completed one and half years at DeVry University and started courses at College of Lake County in Illinois.  Germain is on his way to reaching his goals of becoming an attorney and starting a nonprofit program that works with at risk youth. 

— “This experience has shown me that the world is in dire need of help from people who love to help others.  The YCC AmeriCorps program has helped me come to the realization that I am one of those people.”

(written in 2005)

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2005 Corpsmember of the Year: Kayje Booker

***Update! Click here to find out what Kayje’s been up to since accepting her award.***

Joining the Washington Service Corps’ AmeriCorps program changed Kayje Booker’s life.  In the year before, she was working a variety of jobs, mostly in the food industry, and feeling generally dissatisfied and directionless in her work life.  In her first year of AmeriCorps, Kayje had the task of co-creating an after-school program for academically challenged kindergarten through sixth graders, in which she facilitated a civic engagement course.  The following year she implemented a civic engagement curriculum with 500 AmeriCorps members across the state of Washington and assisted Abt Associates with their evaluation of Washington Service Corps.  Underway this year is a complicated project she is developing which includes the creation of a ‘Homes for Service’ initiative in Washington. 

— “Serving others is now and will forever be a non-negotiable part of my life.  However I spend my days, I must be able to come home at the end and know that my hours accomplished something that made the world a little better for someone else.”  

(written in 2005)