Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

March 11, 2014

2:34 p.m. – 3:48 p.m., ET

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The Board of Directors convened in New York, N.Y. The following members of the Board were 

present:

Lisa Garcia Quiroz, Chair 

Jane Hartley 

Phyllis Segal

Matthew McCabe 

Chair’s Opening Remarks

Board Chair, Lisa Garcia Quiroz, opened the meeting and noted it was her first meeting as Chair. 

One member of the Board, Hyepin Im, was unable to be with the Board for the meeting. 

Marguerite Kondracke resigned from the board in January 2014 and Ms. Quiroz thanked her for 

her commitment to CNCS and national service. Ms. Kondrake is well known in the national 

service field and the Board is very sorry that she is no longer able to serve, but know that she 

will continue to be an advocate for national service. 

Ms. Quiroz invited members of the public who have joined the meeting to comment on the 

business of the Board, as the Board welcomes the feedback. Anyone wishing to address the 

Board should sign up so that the Board can accommodate everyone that time allows. 

Ms. Quiroz gave an overview of the agenda for the meeting. The Board will give a brief 

summary of the Board’s most recent work and share the highlights of the Board retreat that was 

held that morning and the day prior. Following that, the Board would approve the minutes from 

the last Board meeting in December 2013, and then the floor would be turned over to the CEO, 

Wendy Spencer, to provide her report to the Board. Because there were only four Board 

members present, the committees would report out as a group. Ms. Quiroz noted that they are 

anxious to get more members on the Board. Four potential members are awaiting confirmation –

Mark Gearan, Rick Chrisman (both of whom had previously served as Board members), Wes 

Moore, and Shamina Singh. Finally, at the end of the meeting Ms. Quiroz will open the floor to 

public comments. The Board is excited to hear comments and will take all of them into 

consideration and follow up with the CNCS team afterward as necessary.
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The Board began the retreat yesterday by meeting with the Inspector General, Deb Jeffrey. Next, 

Ms. Quiroz noted there have been some exciting staff updates and expressed the Board’s 

confidence in the incoming leadership. The CEO is particularly anxious to fill two open 

positions– Chief Operating Officer and Director of Research and Evaluation. 

Ms. Quiroz then spoke about the Task Force and noted that the state level engagement has been 

wonderful. There have been a network of task forces that are identifying key initiatives and 

working directly with state commissions. The Board is pleased with their input. Ms. Quiroz 

next discussed the continued work in programs like School Turnaround AmeriCorps, (which is in 

collaboration with ED), STEM AmeriCorps, and Financial Literacy AmeriCorps. 

With regard to the FY15 budget proposal, the President’s overall budget request was one billion, 

50 million for CNCS and which is slightly above the FY14 level. The Board believes this 

demonstrates the President’s continued commitment to national service. Ms. Quiroz 

acknowledged that many in attendance will likely have questions on the budget. She also noted 

that the budget is now in Congress’s hands to debate. Once they pass it, CNCS will begin the 

first step in the lengthy process of implementing it. Ms. Quiroz noted that many of those in 

attendance at the meeting know how lengthy that process is and that there is plenty of 

opportunity to give input and be heard. 

The Board also received program updates from all the AmeriCorps programs, from Senior 

Corps, and from the Social Innovation Fund. Ms. Quiroz concluded her introduction by 

mentioning the priorities for the coming year – the staff is very much focused on expanding 

national service, and so far, the CEO and staff have done an incredible job of thinking 

innovatively about how best to expand national service. There are exciting opportunities to 

expand AmeriCorps with the private sector, but Ms. Quiroz will let the CEO discuss those. 

Collaborations with the private sector and partnerships with other federal agencies are great 

examples of innovative thinking and Ms. Quiroz thanked the CEO and CNCS staff for this.

Ms. Quiroz next turned to the subject of branding, and the importance of growing the awareness 

of national service. Ms. Quiroz thinks it is imperative on CNCS’s part to communicate to all 

Americans the importance of national service and how we engage with the public to foster 

service. September 12th 2014 is coming up – the twentieth anniversary of AmeriCorps, and Ms.

Quiroz believes it provides a unique opportunity to highlight CNCS and all that CNCS does. 

Ms. Quiroz concluded her opening remarks, and she turned to consideration of the minutes of the 

board’s last meeting. 
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Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

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Consideration of Prior Meeting’s Minutes

The Board considered and approved by unanimous voice vote the minutes for the public Board 

meeting held December 17, 2013.

Chief Executive Officer’s Report

Chief Executive Officer Wendy Spencer thanked Ms. Quiroz and stated what a pleasure it was to 

serve in her position and welcomed all staff, friends, and partners in the room and on the phone. 

Ms. Spencer looks forward to giving the CEO report each Board meeting because it is an 

opportunity to share CNCS’s work both with and for the public, and it becomes a historical 

document showing the pathway of CNCS between each Board meeting. Ms. Spencer 

acknowledged how much she enjoys serving with the Board members as well. 

To start her report, Ms. Spencer noted what incredible service in action CNCS had to start the 

year on January 20, 2014, when CNCS hosted the Martin Luther King Junior Day of National 

Service. Hundreds of thousands of citizens took the day to give back to their local communities 

and help their neighbors in what was truly a day on, not a day off. What was especially exciting 

this year was that four Cabinet Secretaries – Secretaries Duncan, Pritzker, Lew, and Shinseki –

all served in different locations around D.C. Ms. Spencer did “speed service” and moved about 

D.C. serving with each of the Secretaries. It culminated with Ms. Spencer serving with President 

Obama and the rest of the First Family at the D.C. Central Kitchen. They had a wonderful day 

together. Ms. Spencer stated how it was great to see leadership out there leading and 

demonstrating how important service is on the historic day. Members of Congress and other 

elected officials also served. Members of the public served and Ms. Spencer thanked everyone 

for their service.

Ms. Spencer noted that she is honored to continue to serve as the co-chair of the President’s Task 

Force on Expanding National Service and to help innovatively provide and promote ladders of 

opportunity for individuals across America. The goals of the Task Force are central to CNCS’s 

efforts to build on the bipartisan Serve America Act. CNCS focuses on four priorities to meet 

the goals of the Serve America Act and the strategic plan. They are “E” for Expanding 

Economic Opportunities, “D” for Driving Innovation and Impact, “G” for Growing National 

Service, and “E” for Explaining Why Service Matters. Ms. Spencer is pleased to report that 

CNCS is making great progress on meeting each of these priorities. 

Starting with Expanding Economic Opportunities, on February 27, 2014, young men from Social 

Innovation Fund grantees (Becoming a Man - Youth Guidance, Latin America Youth Center, 

KIPP DC, and Communities in Schools) all joined President Obama to launch My Brothers 
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Keeper Initiative, which is a new effort aimed at empowering boys and young men of color. Ms. 

Spencer was pleased that CNCS’s grantees were highlighting these young men who stood with 

the President. The President asked Ms. Spencer to serve as a member of the new federal task 

force he formed for this effort, particularly because it recognizes the work CNCS has been doing 

in this area, both through its programs and grantees. CNCS has been working on this for twenty 

years, so it is great to lift up some of its examples and look for new ways to address these issues 

to support young men across America. 

One such example is the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, which serves opportunity 

youth through CNCS’s Foster Grandparents. Twenty-two foster grandparents serve 

approximately 320 children and young adults by mentoring them to help improve their selfesteem and behavior. This mentoring works. Connecting children with mentors is a priority of 

the First Lady’s. CNCS continues to work with organizations like Mentor, the national 

mentoring partnership, to help close the nation’s mentoring gap. Last year alone, more than 

837,000 children were mentored through CNCS programs, which included 300,000 

disadvantaged youth mentored through RSVP and Foster Grandparents. It also included 538,000 

children connected with mentors through AmeriCorps programs. 

Young, unconnected adults cost society $93 billion annually in lost wages, taxes, and social 

services. Every dollar invested in youth mentoring programs is estimated to yield a return of 

three dollars in benefits to society. Connecting young adults to mentors should therefore be a 

national priority. CNCS is connecting disadvantaged youth through AmeriCorps and NCCC. 

Last year, CNCS, along with its partner Corps Network, launched Opportunity Youth Service 

Initiative. This Initiative engages disadvantaged youth by enlisting them to help solve some of 

the nation’s most critical challenges, such as repairing low income families’ homes and 

retrofitting them to cut the nation’s carbon footprint. This helps to build a green-skilled careerready workforce, as the baby boomer generation enters retirement. 

CNCS is forming new partnerships with the private sector to create a service pipeline to that 

sector as well, as doing so can lead to opportunities, careers, and employment. AmeriCorps 

programs have both service and engagement opportunities. One example is PowerCorpsPHL

(PHL stands for Philadelphia). It is a bipartisan initiative created by Philadelphia Mayor 

Michael Nutter and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett to address the state’s environmental 

stewardship and the City of Philadelphia’s youth workforce development and violence 

prevention priorities. It annually enrolls one hundred individuals in a nine-month program – six 

months as AmeriCorps members followed by three months of intensive job placement support. 

Ms. Spencer met Bicell Walker, one of the young men whose life was turned around by the 
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program. Ms. Spencer then played a short video about Bicell’s story. Ms. Spencer noted that 

Bicell told her that AmeriCorps saved his life.

In the Driving Innovation and Impact category, Ms. Spencer noted that the work is made 

possible by the 2014 budget, which included $65.8 million for the Social Innovation Fund (SIF). 

Innovation, evidence, and scale are all central to SIF’s work. Recently the SIF Notice of 

Funding Opportunity was launched and applications were due April 22, 2014. SIF grants will be 

awarded in August with a range from a minimum of one million dollars up to ten million, and 

project periods from three to five years.

In February, CNCS announced $13 million in funding to support organizations for the RSVP 

competition. These organizations will leverage the experience and skills of RSVP volunteers. 

Over 73,000 senior volunteers will serve through 175 organizations in 41 states. 

AmeriCorps VISTA launched a new partnership with NeighborWorks America, and 

NeighborWorks AmeriCorps will develop pilot projects to help nonprofits expand their 

evaluation and data-driven management capacity. With that, Ms. Spencer extended a thank you 

and farewell to Mary Strasser, the AmeriCorps VISTA Director, who just retired. On her last 

day, Ms. Strasser brought Ms. Spencer a check written out to “Fifty for the Future,” a new 

foundation, that she wants to honor as part of the fiftieth anniversary of VISTA. Ms. Spencer is 

thrilled for Ms. Strasser, and knows she will be a great ambassador and a wonderful alumnae

staff member. The Acting VISTA Director will be Erin Dahlin, a very capable member of the 

team. Ms. Spencer welcomed Ms. Dahlin and congratulated Ms. Strasser. 

Ms. Spencer then noted that there hardly seems to be a Board meeting that goes by without talk 

of natural disasters and the work involved. Ms. Spencer is glad that CNCS is there to serve when 

they hit. This includes Colorado, where more than 682 national service participants served 

almost 93,500 hours to help families recover in the wake of extensive flooding. That’s an 

average of three weeks of service per participant. This includes 260 FEMA Corps members, 84 

NCCC members, 15 AmeriCorps state and national members, and 13 AmeriCorps National 

Preparedness and Response Corps members. Ms. Spencer visited Colorado and was amazed by 

the work done. For example, RSVP volunteers with a program called SHOP – Seniors Helping 

Other People – rebuilt a ramp that had not been set up properly. The rebuilt ramp will allow the 

homeowner to get in and out of her home. 

More than 290 RSVP volunteers did great work collecting items for emergency response kits, 

building ramps, transporting people living in affected areas to medical appointments, and helping 

with simple chores like grocery shopping. Nineteen AmeriCorps VISTA members mobilized 
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and trained volunteers, helped families locate housing, and supported 211 call centers. They 

served 800 seniors and people with disabilities and more than 1,200 clients in total. 

Ms. Spencer extended a big thank you to Kathie Ferguson (the area manager for that region), 

Dun Dunlap (the Colorado State Office Director), Lindsey Dulce (the State Commission 

Director), and everyone else who made the trip a success. Ms. Spencer also had the chance to 

meet with the Wyoming delegation, including Kira Weiss from the Wyoming State Office, 

Shelly McCalpin from the Commission, and Commission Chair Cody Friedlan, who all drove 

down to Colorado to talk about the work they are doing in national service. 

Ms. Spencer also traveled to New Orleans and visited nonprofits to find out about the difference 

that national service made in the Hurricane Katrina recovery. Over and over again, Ms. Spencer

heard that communities could not have pulled through without the sustained support of national 

service – both AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. Ms. Spencer met one particular “grandparent” at a 

Head Start Program that was part of a Foster Grandparent program – Grandma Leola Smith –

who told a story that stuck with Ms. Spencer. Grandma Leola met one boy, Caleb, who wasn’t 

speaking to anyone and had retreated into a shell. Grandma Leola worked with him and showed 

him special care and unconditional love. After weeks, she was able to break through and Caleb 

is now talking quite a bit. Ms. Spencer noted that this showcases the intergenerational 

connection between a foster grandparent and Caleb. Ms. Spencer again thanked Kathie Ferguson 

for this trip, and also Vickie Schenck, the acting State Director for Louisiana. 

In the Growing National Service and Volunteerism category, Ms. Spencer noted that while she 

was in New Orleans she met with CNCS partner Tulane University. Ms. Spencer noted that 

Tulane’s President Scott Cowen, a great national service advocate, will be retiring in June. Ms. 

Spencer wished his replacement best of luck and hopes that he or she will be as strong a national 

service advocate as President Cowen. They announced a new initiative between CNCS, Tulane, 

and the Aspen Institute’s Franklin Project – the Tulane AmeriCorps Fellows Program. It will 

begin this summer and support eight Fellows/AmeriCorps members serving full-time. It is a four 

plus one program – Tulane will give a scholarship for a four-year degree in exchange for the 

college graduate giving a year back to the New Orleans community in service as an AmeriCorps 

member. 

Another example in this category is a new task force led by the Iowa Commission on Volunteer 

Service in partnership with the Franklin Project. Governor Terry Branstad’s newly launched 

Governor’s Council on National Service in Iowa will engage leaders from state agencies, higher 

education, and the private sector to make recommendations on how to expand national service in 
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Iowa. The Council’s goals mirror those of President Obama’s Task Force on Expanding 

National Service. 

In California, Assembly Speaker John Perez introduced legislation to create a California Service 

Corps. CNCS is encouraged by this and working with the Assembly and other leaders, to 

include the Governor’s Commission led by Karen Baker, to provide guidance on the final bill. 

Ms. Spencer noted that it is exciting to see these creative ways to expand national service. 

In the final category of Explaining Why Service Matters, one of the biggest initiatives will be the 

second annual Mayor’s Day of Recognition for National Service. Last year, 832 mayors brought 

together and thanked national service participants and talked about the impact that they are 

having in their communities. CNCS is also working with tribal leaders and other executives to 

incorporate them. At this point, CNCS has commitments from mayors and tribal leaders in an 

amount that is on track to exceed 1,000. 

There is a great partnership with the National League of Cities and the leaders of the U.S. 

Conference of Mayors. Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa, Arizona is the head of the U.S. Conference 

of Mayors and Mayor Chris Coleman is the head of the National League of Cities and both have 

embraced this effort. Ms. Spencer recently met with 17 mayors at the U.S. Conference of 

Mayors in D.C. to talk about national service and how it can be a solution and strategy in their 

cities. In February, Ms. Spencer met with 20 governors and first spouses during the National 

Governors Association meeting at the White House Reception for Governors and developed 

those relationships and talked about the work everyone is doing. 

CNCS continues to build on the successful launch of the AmeriCorps 20th Anniversary. Ms. 

Spencer told everyone to mark their calendars for September 12, 2014 for a simultaneous 

swearing-in/induction ceremony for the newly enrolled 80,000 AmeriCorps members and 

swearing-in of the 830,000 AmeriCorps alumni from the past 20 years. September 12th marks 

the exact day 20 years ago when the first AmeriCorps member was inducted. CNCS is having 

themes throughout the year in celebration of the 20th Anniversary. Healthy Futures is March’s 

theme, Environmental Stewardship is April’s, Senior Service is May’s, and Disaster Services is 

August’s. These are opportunities for everyone to amplify the work in the theme areas. The 

External Affairs team has put together a great public service announcement video to help get the 

word out. CNCS will release that in the spring along with a digital toolkit. Ms. Spencer then 

played a 60-second Public Service Announcement (PSA).

After the video ended, Ms. Spencer thanked the External Affairs Department for putting 

together the PSA. The video not only showed the individuals, but what you can do and learn and 

a pathway for careers. Ms. Spencer noted that last week the President published the 
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Administration’s budget request for FY 2015, and it is now online and the full Congressional 

Budget Justification (CBJ) is on the CNCS website. CNCS has also posted FAQs relating to the 

budget request. She noted that while it’s a level-funded budget, it does propose big changes in 

Senior Corps programs. 

Ms. Spencer stated that every day five million Americans are touched by one of the 

CNCS grants, by partners, or by service. Almost every day is filled with fantastic stories like the 

Grandma Leola and Caleb story. However, CNCS also experiences tragedy, as happened this 

past Saturday evening, when a Denver campus-based NCCC member, Reid Huffman, was killed 

by a hit and run car accident. He was nineteen years old, from Gastonia, North Carolina, and 

was serving in his first year of NCCC. Ms. Spencer offered the prayers and thoughts of 

everyone to Reid, his parents, and also to the team members and staff at the NCCC campus. She 

asked everyone to join her in a moment of silence to send supportive thoughts to the family and 

friends of Reid Huffman.

Ms. Spencer concluded her report by stating she looked forward to working with the 

Board and the Agency, and with the grantees and partners, to advance CNCS’s mission and 

make national service central to meeting our nation’s challenges.

Ms. Spencer then introduced Gregory Dendy to the CNCS Board. Gregory is a 

graduating senior at the KIPP DC College Preparatory program and is a leader both in the 

classroom and in his community. This year Gregory was selected to be the student leader in the 

prestigious Capital Partners for Education Program. He is also the lead hospitality volunteer for 

the local homeless shelter. As the oldest of four children, he is a caregiver for his brother and 

two sisters.

Mr. Dendy then introduced himself to the Board and told the Board that he was seventeen 

years old and lived in Washington D.C.’s Ward 8. He grew up in D.C. public housing. He helps 

take care of his brother and sister, making sure they get to school on time and picking them up 

when school is over. In the evening he helps his siblings with homework and cooks dinner. He 

told the Board that he attended KIPP DC College Preparatory School (KIPP). KIPP turned his 

life around. KIPP pushed him in a way he had never been pushed before. KIPP not only helped 

him to see that he could have a successful future, but it helped him to believe in himself, to 

believe that with hard work, anything was possible. This fall Gregory will become the first in his 

family to attend college. Gregory wanted the Board to know that he was thankful for the Social 

Innovation Fund and that CNCS had invested in KIPP, so that KIPP could invest in him. He 

thanked the Board for the opportunity to share his story and for making sure that young people 

like him have every opportunity to succeed. 
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The Board Chair next introduced Mr. Gene Sofer from the National Association of RSVP 

Directors (NARSVP). Mr. Sofer stated that he was before the Board to read the statement of Ms. 

Betty Ruth, the President of NARSVP. NARSVP members are shocked and dismayed at the 

budget proposal and the Administration proposal to eliminate RSVP and Foster Grandparents 

and Senior Companions. These proposals represent a sneak attack on seniors. The 

Administration did not present the proposal for public discussion, did not reach out to the three 

senior associations to work collaboratively to address its concern, did not seek input from 

stakeholders who work with RSVP, and did not ask Congress to consider these proposals in the 

context of a reauthorization. This proposal breaks faith with the provisions of the Kennedy 

Serve America Act. The proposal can’t support an aggregate number of volunteer service years, 

it can’t maintain similar program distribution, and no effort is made to minimize the disruption to 

volunteers. 

Mr. Sofer also noted the proposal would cut RSVP funds by two-thirds, eliminate some four 

hundred programs and 200,000 volunteers, but would somehow engage more seniors in service. 

He characterized this thinking as a miracle. He stated that the budget proposes to fill the $50 

million grant program with 300,000 volunteers serving in 35,000 community organizations, into 

a four million dollar program who’s history to date is making small grants to state commissions, 

which, according to the CBJ, has shown promising early results. Mr. Sofer asked the Board to 

compare those early results against RSVP’s 40 years of community involvement. Mr. Sofer 

asked how many fewer veterans will be served, how many fewer children will be mentored, how 

many fewer seniors will live independently, or how many fewer caregivers will get respite from 

the work they do?

Mr. Sofer stated that the guiding principle of national service is to create opportunities for all 

Americans to serve and to be sensitive that people need different types of service depending on 

their age and health. Mr. Sofer stated that this proposal does neither of those things. It cuts the 

number of seniors serving and forces others into a model that will not work for many of them. A 

more thoughtful approach would have been to ask how to expand senior volunteer service to take 

advantage of the talents and experiences of the 10,000 baby boomers that are retiring today and 

will retire every day for the next twenty years. Mr. Sofer felt that this proposal was short-sighted 

and had no vision. He would urge the Administration to withdraw this proposal. 

The Board Chair then introduced Mr. Alan Lopatin, a Washington representative of the National 

Senior Corps Association (NSCA). Mr. Lopatin stated that it was with sadness that he appeared 

on behalf of the NSCA and the more than 300,000 older Americans who serve in organized 

Senior Corps programs. Mr. Lopatin wanted to express his disappointment over the 

Administration’s proposal to first cut, and then eliminate, RSVP, the Senior Companion Program 
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(SCP) and the Foster Grandparent program (FGP). Efficiency has been the watch word of 

Senior Corps. NSCA strongly opposes the removal of RSVP funds to the volunteer generation 

fund and elimination of sixty-six percent of that line item. Millions of Americans will lose 

services and nonprofits will be left without viable resources to sustain services to the nation’s 

neediest populations if this proposal is enacted by Congress.

Mr. Lopatin noted that in 2012 there were 296,000 RSVP volunteers, a decrease of over 100,000 

from the 2010 level of engagement when RSVP was reduced by twenty percent overnight. By 

cutting another sixty-six percent, RSVP will lose another 195,000 volunteers currently serving. 

Forty and one-half million hours of service will no longer be delivered to the 65,000 community 

organizations that collaborate with RSVP. Mr. Lopatin also noted that NSCA strongly opposes 

the transfer of FGP and SCP to the AmeriCorps management and funding system.

The Board Chair next called upon Ms. Jessica Molesworth from the National Association of 

Foster Grandparents’ Directors (NAFGPD), to present. Ms. Molesworth stated that she spoke on 

behalf of the National Association of Foster Grandparent Program Directors. She said that in 

reaching out to children who need them, Foster Grandparents have a legacy of influence, of 

turning out caring adults that benefit future generations. She believes that CNCS does not seem 

to comprehend this winning formula, this jewel in its crown. If CNCS truly understood FGP, it 

wouldn’t have recommended the changes contained in the President’s FY15 budget request. She 

asked where is the evidence that the Senior Corps programs will become more effective under 

the AmeriCorps model. What rigorous evaluation has been done to justify the policy decision? 

Ms. Molesworth noted that there has been no stakeholder input into this proposal.

She stated that FGP has thousands of supporting organizations and communities across the 

country. FGP has never been accused of mismanagement or waste. It has garnered respect from 

both Democrats and Republicans. The NAFGPD strongly opposes any budget proposal which 

would result in fewer hours of service given to children who desperately need help – those who 

have special needs or who are at an academic, social or financial disadvantage. Ms. Molesworth 

concluded by stating that NAFGPD thinks this budget is a bad idea.

The Board Chair next recognized Mr. Jason Patnosh, representing the Community Health Corps 

and Voices for National Service. Mr. Patnosh first thanked the Board members for their service. 

He told the Board members that as a grantee he could report that the CNCS team was working 

every day to ensure the federal dollars were being well managed and that the programs were 

making a meaningful impact in communities across the country. Mr. Patnosh also said he was 

aware that the President was committed to national service and had recently demonstrated that 

with the Interagency Task Force. He stated he was here today as the National Director for the 
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Community Health Corps, which last year impacted over 540,000 community residents in 

eighteen states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, to help residents improve their health and well-being. He 

was also before the Board as the Co-Chair for Voices for National Service.

Mr. Patnosh stated that the Board and CNCS’s leadership must protect, strengthen, and expand 

on the promises in the Serve America Act. AmeriCorps is a federal model that works and 

without it, there would be no Community Health Corps, no Public Allies, no City Year, no Teach 

for America, no Minnesota Reading Corps – none of the programs currently funded. Mr. 

Patnosh said that while we all needed to be thankful for the level funding, we all needed to get 

back to the principles – to grow AmeriCorps, especially full time service. Growth, he stated, is 

not rolling other CNCS programs in or reducing the number of volunteers in service. When 

President Obama was running for office in 2008 he promised to expand volunteer programs 

aimed at keeping seniors active in their communities. When the Serve America Act became a 

reality, the age for Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions went from sixty to fifty-five, and 

the hourly stipend increased from $2.45 to $3.00. It also created a transferrable Ed award, so 

that seniors can give to future generations. What seniors have given to us is a legacy of service –

through the military, through VISTA, the Peace Corps and through RSVP.

Mr. Patnosh told the Board that there are 200,000 RSVP volunteers that we cannot lose and that 

we must build upon to make it a better society. If we don’t build upon the current structure it 

will mean kids will be left behind and will end up dropping out of school. It will put Veterans 

with disabilities in the dark as they navigate a civilian world. It will mean nearly a million 

seniors annually who will become less independent and have to depend on hospice care. All of 

this means an increased cost to society for generations to come. Mr. Patnosh concluded by 

saying that he and others stood with their brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents in 

service to ensure that the legacy and the promise of strengthened service is expanded, it is 

preserved, and it is strengthened along the way.

The Board Chair next introduced Ms. Nancy Berry, Miss Senior DC, representing Family 

Matters. Ms. Berry stated that she was an ambassador and a representative of seniors in the 

District of Columbia. Through Family Matters, Ms. Berry has had the opportunity to get to 

know a lot of seniors and the issues seniors are concerned about. She participates in lunch 

programs and parades. Seniors respond positively to her title and those who have earned the title 

continue their work with seniors after the title is passed on. 

Ms. Sheila Poole from Family Matters RSVP presented next. Ms. Poole stated that she was Miss 

Senior DC in 2010. She has volunteered as a trainer for the iPad class that was a pilot program 

under RSVP at Family Matters. By using the iPad, Ms. Poole was able to share with seniors how 
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to keep in contact, how to gain knowledge, how to send information, and how to search and get 

better services for themselves and their families. Ms. Poole also stated that she volunteered in 

the school system. She reads to children and she sings with them. The school choir that she 

helped develop sings outside the school and has done very well. She helps the children visit 

nursing homes, and she has worked as an ambassador and a coach with the Live Well Program, 

whereby she encouraged seniors to share their talents and to broaden their spectrum. Ms. Poole 

told the Board that learning to use the iPad really was beneficial for seniors. She provided an 

example of how she won a trip for two, all expenses paid, to Las Vegas, Nevada, to the 2013 

Neighborhood Awards last August because she used the iPad. Seniors thought that they were too 

old to learn anything new, and now you can’t take the iPad from them. She believed that RSVP 

was doing great work.

The Board Chair next introduced Ms. Kelly Daly, the President of the CNCS Employee’s Union. 

Ms. Daly cited statistics to show that CNCS has gradually been improving in rankings as one of 

the best places to work in the federal government. Despite several years without an across the 

board salary increase or bonuses, CNCS employees continue to be motivated at work, because of 

the Agency’s mission to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement 

through service and volunteering. Ms. Daly stated that it was the mission that counts because the 

employees were certainly not motivated by money. She believed that the 2015 budget proposal 

would be a seismic change in CNCS programs and to the Agency mission. She felt that it was a 

serious miscalculation that already has had negative repercussions on employee morale and 

focus. Ms. Daly thought that many of the CNCS grantees will be forced to focus on survival 

instead of service. Ms. Daly concluded by stating that as employees, we only want our 

workplace to get better and that as soon as we can re-focus on the mission, we need to talk about 

money.

Ms. Spencer thanked Ms. Daly for her leadership and the voice that she represents for the Union. 

The Board Chair then recognized the last speaker before the Board, Mr. Matt Walker, Vice 

President for Policy at Teach for America. Mr. Walker began by thanking the Board for their 

service and for the almost twenty year collaboration between Teach for America and 

AmeriCorps. There have been some amazing outcomes that have emerged from that partnership. 

Two of those outcomes are the student successes that have been achieved and secondly, the 

racial and income diversity that Teach for America brings to the teaching profession. Mr. Walker 

stated that Teach for America was concerned that the elimination of program funding for the 

professional Corps could harm efforts to continue to build upon the student outcomes and the 

diversity of the Corps. Mr. Walker said that his organization invests a lot in achieving diversity 

and the elimination of program dollars could have a harmful effect on the organization’s 

progress.
Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

March 11, 2014

2:34 p.m. – 3:48 p.m., ET

13

In concluding the Board meeting, the Chair noted that the answers to FAQs are online as is the 

CBJ. She emphasized that Congress is reviewing the budget and that the process still has quite a 

few months to go before any budget becomes effective, whereupon she adjourned the Board 

meeting at 3:48 p.m.