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    Newsroom

              AmeriCorps CEO Tours National Service Projects in California
      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Jul 01, 2022
  

                    *Michael D. Smith announced new Public Health AmeriCorps investments, honored Bay Area volunteers and NCCC Pacific Region team and toured AmeriCorps sites*

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Michael D. Smith, AmeriCorps CEO, visited California on June 27 through June 30 to meet with local leaders, present the**President’s Volunteer Service Lifetime Achievement Awards**, speak at the**Commonwealth Club** and honor an AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region team who recently completed its service year.

On Tuesday, June 28, Smith met with AmeriCorps members serving through the VISTA program with Safe Passages in Oakland for a member roundtable and site tour. Smith, joined by Oakland Unified School District Elementary Network superintendent Leroy Gaines,**Safe Passages**CEO Josefina Alvarado Mena and Safe Passages board chair Colin Lacon, gave remarks at an event hosted by AmeriCorps to announce a **nearly $300,000****Public Health AmeriCorps****grant** for Safe Passages. This program grant is**one of the many ways** AmeriCorps is investing in health education and support for organizations across California.

Smith then joined**Impact Justice**’svice president Aishatu Yusuf and regional manager Mel Flanagan for a roundtable discussion. Impact Justice is a national innovation and research center advancing new ideas and solutions for justice reform. During the roundtable, AmeriCorps members and Impact Justice staff shared their personal experiences with reintegration after incarceration and discussed the organization’s justice reform mission.

AmeriCorps and the**Giants Community****Fund**, the official nonprofit organization of the San Francisco Giants, hosted a philanthropy roundtable and awarded the**President’s Volunteer Service Lifetime Achievement Awards**to three area women who have served thousands of hours with Safe Passages during a home plate ceremony before the Giants and Detroit Tigers MLB game.

On Wednesday, June 29, Smith spoke with program directors and staff from several AmeriCorps national and VISTA sponsors, including**Playworks**,**Reading Partners**, and**Public Health Institute**. Leaders from each organization and AmeriCorps program each shared recruitment and COVID-19 response models that have been effective for their programs.

In the evening, Smith and Josh Fryday, chief service officer for**California Volunteers,**led a discussion about how national service can evolve to help build a more just and equitable future at an event hosted by**Commonwealth Club of California**in San Francisco.

On Thursday, June 30, Smith, Congressman Ami Bera (CA-07), Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-06),**Bureau of Land Management** branch chief Karen Montgomery, and AmeriCorps NCCC director Ken Goodson gave remarks about the achievements of NCCC class 28A in a**graduation ceremony** at the AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region campus in McClellan Park, Calif. During the graduation ceremony, Smith and Montgomery also renewed the Memorandum of Understanding between AmeriCorps and the California Bureau of Land Management.

Smith then met with the CEO and staff from**Improve Your Tomorrow**, an organization that helps increase the number of young men of color attending and graduating from colleges and universities. Smith and Improve your Tomorrow leaders listened to AmeriCorps members’ experiences and stories of working with students in historically underserved communities.

Smith concluded his trip with a site visit to**The Child Abuse Prevention Center**,a national advocacy and resource center dedicated to protecting children and building healthy families. Smith, President and CEO Sheila Boxley, as well as other organization leaders also hosted a roundtable with AmeriCorps members who support family care through home visitation, nurturing parenting, family resource centers, academic enrichment and foster youth mentoring initiatives.

Follow AmeriCorps on**Facebook**,**Twitter**,**Instagram** and**LinkedIn** for additional highlights from Smith’s trip.
                  AmeriCorps CEO visits Child Abuse Prevention Center
  AmeriCorps CEO visits Safe Passages
  AmeriCorps CEO signs MOU
  AmeriCorps CEO speaks at Commonwealth Club of CA
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              AmeriCorps, the federal agency for volunteerism and national service, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency invests more than $800 million in grants for local nonprofit, community, tribal, and state organizations; places more than 250,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov. Back to main content Sign up to hear about our latest news, events, and opportunities.
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