Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

December 18, 2015

11:31 a.m. – 12:43 p.m., ET

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The CNCS Board of Directors convened in Washington, D.C. The following members of the 

board were present:

Shamina Singh, Chair 

Dean Reuter, Vice Chair

Victoria Hughes

Rick Christman

Mona Dixon

Chair’s Opening Remarks

Board Chair Shamina Singh called the meeting to order and thanked everyone in the room and 

those joining by phone. Ms. Singh introduced herself and said she was honored and delighted to 

serve as Chair of the CNCS Board of Directors, and that she was very excited to participate in 

the first public Board meeting for the new Board. She said that she is currently the Executive 

Director of the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth and has been for about three years. She 

noted that CNCS was somewhat unusual among federal agencies in having a bipartisan Board of 

Directors appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

Ms. Singh invited members of the Board to introduce themselves and tell a bit about their

backgrounds. 

Ms. Victoria Hughes introduced herself, stating that she is a native of Virginia and has a 

background in education. She started her career as a classroom teacher and has spent most of her 

professional life working in nonprofit organizations. Ms. Hughes stated that she was honored to 

be part of the CNCS Board and she looked forward to working with her fellow Board members.

Mr. Dean Reuter then introduced himself. He stated that he was currently working for the 

Federalist Society in Washington, D.C., although he also resides in Virginia. In his current 

capacity, he works with many volunteers and in the past he has worked at CNCS and also at 

another grant-making agency. This background has provided him with some familiarity with the 

issues that face CNCS. He has also been in private practice. He is pleased to join the Board of 

Directors and provide what help and insight he is able to.

Mr. Rick Christman introduced himself by stating that this is his second term on the Board. He 

has a background in the nonprofit field, where he currently is the CEO of a community-based 
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nonprofit organization in Lexington, Kentucky. His organization is broad-based, with a very 

broad mission. Among the activities operating within his organization is a career college, so he 

is very interested in working with young people in workforce development. One of his 

organization’s programs is a daycare program and another is an early childhood education 

program. His organization also does extensive amounts of work in assisting people with 

disabilities. He is delighted to be back on the Board.

Ms. Mona Dixon introduced herself and stated that she is currently a master’s degree student at 

Arizona State University studying communication with an emphasis in advocacy. She has 

worked extensively with nonprofits and the National Youth of the Year for Boys and Girls Clubs 

of America. In that capacity, she has been able to do a lot of national service. She is excited to 

be on the Board and to work with the CNCS programs.

At the conclusion of Board introductions, the Board Chair recognized the quality of the Board 

members and thanked them for their national service and the insight they are bringing to the 

Corporation. She also thanked the CNCS staff at headquarters and around the country for their 

commitment, hard work, and professionalism during what has been a very critical and busy time. 

Additionally, she thanked the dedicated staff members and volunteers that are part of the 

extended CNCS family – AmeriCorps, including NCCC and VISTA; Senior Corps, including 

Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and RSVP; and the Social Innovation Fund grantees,

and the partners in state service commissions. Ms. Singh recognized the important work they do 

on the ground to improve lives, expand opportunities, strengthen communities, and unite the 

nation. She stated that the whole Board is grateful for their service.

Chair Briefing Regarding the Retreat

Ms. Singh briefed the public on the activities that occurred at the Board retreat on the prior day. 

The Board attended 12 meetings on Capitol Hill and met with leadership from both sides of the 

aisle. The Board also met with the Inspector General, Deborah Jeffrey, and met with CNCS staff 

on a number of topics, including a strategic overview of operations, public engagement 

opportunities, and the partnerships and advancement strategy. The Board also had updates from 

the Chief of Program Operations and from the Program Directors. They also met with the union 

president.

Ms. Singh invited the public to comment on the business of the Board and requested anyone 

present and who wants to address the Board to sign up in advance so that the time may be 

managed efficiently.

Lastly, the Chair made some comments about things that she had observed since her tenure 

started in September 2015, and about some important news that CNCS received earlier. Ms.
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Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

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11:31 a.m. – 12:43 p.m., ET

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Singh noted the welcome news regarding the FY 2016 Omnibus Spending Bill. While it still had 

a few more steps to go, it looked very likely that CNCS will end up with a very strong budget 

that will support the vital work that CNCS does in communities across the country. In the

current fiscal environment, it would have been a great achievement to maintain level funding, but 

to actually receive an increase is something that CNCS should be very proud of. The increase is 

a testament to the impact of our programs and the key role that national service plays in the 

communities and the nation. The budget increase also shows that the work of national service 

programs is becoming better known and more supported by state and local elected officials 

around the country, and of course by the American people. Ms. Singh stated that she knew many 

people in the room and on the phone worked on the Mayors Day of Recognition for National 

Service last spring, when more than 2,780 mayors and county officials, representing 150 million 

Americans, united in support of national service. 

Ms. Singh also recognized that the public is taking notice. A national poll that came out in 

October, conducted by TargetPoint Consulting, found that 83 percent of voters would like to 

maintain or increase the level of spending and investment in national service. The budget is also 

the culmination of intensive efforts over a long period of time to demonstrate impact and explain

to key stakeholders why national service matters. No one has worked harder at that than “your 

very energetic and persuasive CEO, Wendy Spencer.” Since arriving three years ago, Ms. 

Spencer has made it a top priority to drive greater impact on community problems and to share 

that impact and tell the national service story. Her efforts have paid off, and Ms. Singh stated 

that she knows that Ms. Spencer will be working just as hard to ensure that the resources 

entrusted to CNCS by Congress will continue to be used in a smart, cost effective way to achieve 

positive and lasting impact for people and communities. She thanked the CEO for her 

commitment and for leading the way, whereupon she invited Ms. Spencer to report to the Board 

and to those attending.

Chief Executive Officer’s Report

Chief Executive Officer Wendy Spencer thanked Ms. Singh and welcomed everyone in the room 

and on the phone. She then reported to the Board and public as follows:

 She is thrilled to have the new Board members, as well as Rick Christman returning, and 

after being with the Board for the retreat, she is more confident than ever that CNCS has 

great leadership in each Board member. She is excited to work with the Board and is looking 

forward to many good things under the Board’s advisement. She wanted each Board 

member to be aware of the confirmation certificates that were in the room for each member. 

It was a great honor to be nominated by the President and to be confirmed by the United 
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States Senate, and to be confirmed unanimously. That really demonstrates the kind of quality 

that exists in the Board membership.

 She thanked the staff of CNCS all over the country, and remarked how committed, missiondriven, and passionate about their work. The new budget means that the Corporation will be 

looking at a $39.9 million increase, the second highest in the Corporation’s history. It shows 

that the work the Corporation has been doing around the country is paying off, because there 

is no way that Congress would entrust this kind of responsibility to us had we not proven that 

we’re having an impact and that we are changing lives and communities around this country. 

This is a testament not only to the headquarters staff but to our partners and grantees in the 

field. Our increased funding requires a special thank-you to CNCS’s Office of Government 

Relations, its Office of External Affairs, and to everyone who has worked so hard for this 

result. She also thanked the field and all voices for national service, including organizations 

like Service Nation and Be the Change, as well as the Association of State Services 

Commissions.

 She thanked the members of Congress for passing the budget for CNCS. She thanked the 

bipartisan leadership in Congress for supporting the CNCS funding. And she identified the 

Appropriations Committee leadership who made it possible: Chairman Thad Cochran of 

Mississippi and Vice Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, and Chairman Hal Rogers 

of Kentucky and Ranking Member Nita Lowey of New York. Ms. Spencer also thanked the 

Subcommitte leadership: Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, Ranking Member Patty Murray of

Washington, and Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro of

Connecticut. These leaders and many more took a great interest in CNCS, in national 

service, in our partnerships, and in our funding, and they made this budget increase happen. 

We are going to respond by making sure that every single dollar, not only the federal dollar, 

but every matched dollar, is used to the highest and best standards to meet the needs of the 

American people through national service and through grant programs.

 In order to perform the good work envisioned, Ms. Spencer stated that CNCS will use the 

priority model she calls “EDGE.” She introduced this word and vision soon after she arrived 

and as the agency collectively worked on national service. “E” stands for expanding 

economic opportunities, helping Americans get on and stay on the path of economic 

independence. “D” is for driving innovation and impact, finding new ways to solve old 

problems and make a bigger dent in problems we’re looking to solve. “G” is for growing 

national service and volunteering. “E” is for explaining why service matters, telling our story 

to all who will listen. This means not just the anecdotal stories, but the data behind it. It’s 

actually the data that tell us that we’re doing a good job, the data that tell us we’re making 

change. All of these priorities support the Serve America Act that was passed with bipartisan 
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support, and the Corporation’s Strategic Plan. The President often refers to giving ladders of 

opportunity to Americans to them achieve their financial independence. Sometimes they 

need just a step to help them thrive; we are very busy providing those steps in their lives. We 

also make service a pathway to education and employment for those we serve. One of our 

most effective tools to expand economic opportunities has been the AmeriCorps VISTA 

program, which has been on the front line of the war on poverty for the last 50 years. We 

have celebrated the 50th anniversary of VISTA throughout the entire year. There have been 

celebrations around the country. As an example, there is a program in Kentucky called 

“Shaping Our Appalachian Region” in which our VISTAs are helping unemployed coal 

miners in eastern Kentucky get training to find new jobs, including as computer coders. We 

call the initiative “Coal Miners to Coders.” There are four AmeriCorps VISTA videos on our 

website that cover different areas of the country and different areas of service. The videos 

are exciting and the work VISTAs are doing is amazing.

 The Social Innovation Fund is also expanding economic opportunities. As an example, there 

is the REDF program in Los Angeles. The program helps chronically homeless people find 

permanent jobs and gets then off the street. Ms. Spencer has met men in their 40s who have 

their first job and first permanent home. 

 National service provides benefits that help our members and volunteers pay for college. Not 

only are we serving communities, but those who serve in our programs receive direct benefits 

as well, and that opens pathways to employment. Our AmeriCorps members over the last 20 

years have earned $3 billion from the Segal AmeriCorps Education Scholarships. These 

scholarships can be used to pay student loans, to cut tuition costs, or to pursue an 

undergraduate education or further degrees. There are currently 152 colleges across the 

country that have agreed to match our education award. Next year we will induct the one 

millionth AmeriCorps member. 

 AmeriCorps members enjoy benefits beyond the opportunity to get help with college debt. 

They gain valuable skills and experience during their service, and they form relationships 

that can lead to future employment. Some even use their experience to become social 

entrepreneurs and create their own jobs. To help with their job search, we have continued to 

expand Employers of National Service. This is an initiative that the President launched at the 

White House during the AmeriCorps 20th anniversary celebration last year. Through this

initiative, CNCS continues to engage with and encourage employers in the business and 

nonprofit communities, and at all levels of government, to provide opportunities for national 

service participants to emphasize their valuable experiences and skills during the hiring 

process. Employers of National Service encourages employers to create recruitment and 

hiring opportunities for alumni of AmeriCorps and Peace Corps programs. Employers can, 
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for example, add language to job postings, or a checkbox to job applications so alumni can 

note and describe their national service experience. Many employers have told me that they 

are excited about this initiative and that they value those who have served their country 

through national service, in addition to veterans. The Peace Corps, AmeriCorps Alums, and 

the Franklin Project are also engaged in this effort. CNCS is working to recruit as many 

employers as possible to join this initiative. A number of large organizations have already 

signed up, including charter members such as Disney, Comcast, NBC Universal, CSX 

Railroad, the American Red Cross, and Habitat for Humanity.

 This initiative now has 290 participating employers from the public, private, and nonprofit 

sectors, and they represent 1.5 million employees. We request that organizations sign up and 

show that they want to recruit AmeriCorps alums and Peace Corps alums into their 

organizations. We can help organizations with ideas and ways to participate and to be 

aggressive in their recruitment of these alums, who’ll make fantastic employees. 

 Promoting economic opportunity continues with the spotlight on the 2016 Martin Luther 

King Jr. Day of Service on January 18. It’s what is called “a day on, not a day off.” We are 

supporting the President’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative to improve economic opportunities 

for young men who are struggling. These young men are often not connected in high school 

or college and often do not have a job. They are lost and we have to help them find a path to 

a successful life. We have to start that effort as soon as possible in each life. We are looking 

for ways to partner on this great initiative and reach out to these young men across the 

country. CNCS has placed language in the AmeriCorps Notice of Funding Opportunity and 

in our VISTA guidance to encourage grantees to address this issue in their programs. We 

believe that service can be a solution for opportunity youth. Our research shows that 69 

percent of opportunity youth want to make a difference in the lives of others, but only 3 

percent report that they are volunteering. If we can connect them through service then they 

will also be connected to opportunities to help their lives progress.

 CNCS partnered with the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention to launch Youth Opportunity AmeriCorps. The mission of the program is to 

enroll at-risk and formerly incarcerated youth in national service projects. Another program 

within CNCS, called Service Works, is a partnership of AmeriCorps, the Citi Foundation,

and Points of Light. The program uses volunteer service to help thousands of low income 

youth and young adults in 10 key cities across America develop leadership and work place 

skills they need to help them with their career and college.

 The D in EDGE is for driving innovation and impact. CNCS is committed to investing

resources with the highest level of accountability, to maximize use of taxpayer dollars. In the 

past year, we maintained an unmodified audit opinion for the 16th consecutive year. We are 
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committed to improving our internal controls, oversight, and monitoring. We have built an 

outstanding senior team with the vision and experience to lead the agency to higher levels of 

impact and accountability, and we have more work to do.

 We are proud of our solid relationship with the Office of the Inspector General. I thank our 

Inspector General for her advice, her guidance, and for keeping us in the right direction for 

our accountability and oversight. IG Jeffrey’s advice is welcome and we will be using it as 

we move forward in the coming year.

 Over the past several months, we have launched an initiative called Operation AmeriCorps. 

Nearly 400 AmeriCorps members are acting as the catalyst to transform 10 communities by 

addressing the most pressing local problems or focusing on improving post-secondary 

outcomes for students. 

 In another area of CNCS’s innovation and impact, we are committed to responding to 

disasters. We train and engage AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers, and 

volunteers in general, to respond to disasters. We recently responded to the flooding in 

South Carolina. Within three weeks, we had 400 national service participants moved into the 

area. Their work includes direct survivor assistance, participating in mass care activities 

through feeding and sheltering, and assisting survivors with the very tough work of mucking

out and gutting homes. We also announced a $100,000 grant to augment the Senior Corps 

RSVP of the Midlands to engage people 55 and older in the disaster preparedness response 

and recovery in South Carolina. Our national service teams have responded recently to 

floods in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Detroit, to wildfires in California and Idaho, and 

even to a typhoon in Saipan. We have trained rapid response teams totaling 2,700 members 

from 14 AmeriCorps programs and AmeriCorps NCCC programs. Our Senior RSVP 

volunteers are also a very valuable resource during disasters, and we’re looking for ways we 

can increase their engagement. In fact, this year we will host five regional disaster trainings 

focused on our Senior Corps RSVP program as a community response resource.

 Our Resilience AmeriCorps is another important initiative. We are helping communities 

prepare for disasters through our public-private partnerships called Resilience AmeriCorps. 

We are partnering with the Rockefeller Foundation and Cities of Service and have launched a

two-year pilot project to recruit, train, and embed AmeriCorps VISTA members in 10

communities across the country to increase civic engagement and a community resilience in 

low income areas. The initiative will fund about 200 AmeriCorps members to support local 

leaders as they work together to plan for and address the impact of extreme weather. It 

should be remembered that every time we train an AmeriCorps member, that person can turn 

around and recruit and manage hundreds of volunteers. Like the AmeriCorps members, 

those other volunteers will also be trained and engaged in disaster work and resilience work.
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 In 2016, CNCS has four regional training conferences planned to grow resources, build 

capacity, inspire the field, and to discuss oversight and accountability. Last year, we had five 

such conferences, and almost 2,000 AmeriCorps and Senior Corps professional staff were

trained at the conferences. Ms. Spencer plans to be at each of the conferences this year, and 

hopes the Board will put these dates on their calendar to attend, and be prepared to 

participate, learn, grow, and be ready to be great deliverers of national service programs, as 

well as being trainers.

 The Social Innovation Fund and Pay for Success is one of Ms. Spencer’s favorite topics. 

Five years after its launch, the Social Innovation Fund continues to grow and now supports 

311 organizations in 35 states. Those 311 organizations have leveraged the public funds by 

matching with private donations, which has meant $528 million in additional monies over the 

past five years. The independent Social Innovation Fund National Assessment, just released, 

concludes that the SIF is having a powerful impact on how grantees structure their 

organizations, carry out their work, and create transformational change. Pay for Success 

grants help the cities, states, and nonprofits develop Pay for Success projects where 

governments pay providers only when they are demonstrating results.

 In the coming months, all this important work will continue to grow. CNCS will continue to 

engage partners to expand service in local communities as part of Operation AmeriCorps. 

CNCS will deploy AmeriCorps members to communities across the nation to help them 

address a specific local challenge in one of two funding priorities. CNCS will focus on quick 

results and strong evaluation. Operation AmeriCorps will, for the first time, bring one, two,

or all three of the AmeriCorps programs into a single application in a pilot program. While 

each program will keep its traditional structure, CNCS will coordinate monitoring and 

oversight across all three programs to make this important initiative efficient. Local leaders 

representing U.S. cities, counties, towns, and school boards, among other entities, will be 

able to design a comprehensive project that engages AmeriCorps State and National 

programs and focuses on all three of the AmeriCorps programs. I look forward to seeing the 

applications; it is an initiative that shows wonderful promise.

 The G in EDGE stands for growing national service and volunteerism. We are always asking 

grantees to make sure that they are working on private-public partnerships – and placing the 

“private” first. Ms. Spencer sees the federal government investment as the seed that grows 

the local involvement. We have a great example in our partnerships with Foster 

Grandparents, including the Syracuse Public Schools, where they are growing into every first 

and second grade classroom, much beyond our Federal grant assistance using local resources. 

We are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Foster Grandparents program and Ms. Spencer
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wants to congratulate all the foster grandparents out there, as well as recognize the Senior 

Companions program and all who participate in that program.

 Another emphasis that at CNCS is our tribal grants. These grants go to some very hard hit 

communities. In fact, this past year we gave a record level of support to Native American 

communities, increasing tribal grants by 29 percent. AmeriCorps gave 17 grants to tribal 

organizations in 13 states with 255 AmeriCorps members serving in tribal communities. Our 

AmeriCorps State and National team also hosted the first tribal applicant training 

opportunity, which helped us expand the AmeriCorps tribal portfolio to its largest size in 15

years. 

 The CNCS partnership agenda is robust. It started with the President initiating the Taskforce 

on Expanding National Service. Ms. Spencer co-chairs the taskforce with Cecilia Munoz, the 

Domestic Policy Director for the President. Ms. Spencer is proud to state that these 

partnerships through the Taskforce have yielded $61 million leveraged from partners, even 

without including FEMA Corps. With FEMA Corps, the additional AmeriCorps positions 

have grown by 10,000. FEMA Corps represents a special partnership where 18-24 year-olds

join our AmeriCorps NCCC family to serve alongside FEMA professionals in recovery and 

response work. The Federal Emergency Management Agency hired 25 percent of the FEMA 

Corps graduates in the past year. That is very good news. Not only are the FEMA Corps 

members helping in response and recovery work, now these young AmeriCorps members are 

seeing it as a direct pathway to employment.

 Other partnerships include Youth Opportunity AmeriCorps and School Turnaround 

AmeriCorps with the U.S. Department of Education. This latter program has placed 650 

AmeriCorps members in low-performing schools around the country. Justice AmeriCorps, a 

partnership with the U. S. Department of Justice, has enrolled about 100 lawyers and 

paralegals as AmeriCorps members to provide legal services to children who need support. 

Affordable Housing AmeriCorps, a partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, ensures that affordable housing remains accessible to Americans experiencing 

poverty. CNCS is really thriving with the partnerships. We still have an outstanding offer 

for our partnership challenge for those organizations who are already providing a living 

stipend to those who are serving our country, but want to become AmeriCorps members or 

want to start a new program where we can provide the college scholarships and partner with 

them.

 The last letter of EDGE is E, explaining why all of this matters. We are in 60,000 locations 

and it’s important that we continue to demonstrate the power of telling our story and why 

national service matters. It’s important that we reach out to members of Congress, to local 
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leaders, and to governors, mayors, and community leaders across the spectrum so that we can 

tell our story and demonstrate our impact.

 For Mayors Day 2016, over 2,800 mayors will join our efforts. This Mayors Day will also 

include the National Association of County Administrators, who will co-sponsor the Mayors 

Day events, along with the National League of Cities, Cities of Service, and the U.S. 

Conference of Mayors.

 This past year, we introduced a brand new initiative to recognize the 27,000 veterans who are 

serving today in either Senior Corps or AmeriCorps. We call it National VetCorps. All the 

vets received a special lapel pin and an induction into the official National Veterans Corps on 

Veterans Day, and during that week, in every state in 200 events across the country. 

 Another way to share our impact is through social media. Our #AmeriDay event reached 2.8 

million Twitter users. A video clip of President Obama discussing AmeriCorps and national 

service reached nearly 500,000 users. These events are important not only for the members,

so that they will realize how important their service is as they start their year or they graduate 

and they go out to be a lifelong service and civic participant, but they are also opportunities 

for us to tell our story.

 Ms. Spencer concluded her report to the Board by commenting on the excellent work being 

done by the CNCS Office of Research and Evaluation. We had our first research summit this 

week and Board member Victoria Hughes attended the entire day. She gave a great report 

out. Ms. Spencer felt that the Summit was very effective. We were at capacity, with about 

300 grantees and partners from around the country in attendance. We received tremendous 

advice from excellent researchers about building evidence, collecting data, and about how we 

use our evaluation tools to drive our mission with purpose and direction.

Ms. Singh thanked Ms. Spencer for her report to the Board and introduced a guest speaker to

make a presentation about a terrific project for the upcoming Martin Luther King National Day 

of Service. The guest speaker, Marty Costello, is the Senior Director of national service 

programs at Rebuilding Together. He is a lawyer by trade, but has dedicated his career to service 

as an AmeriCorps fellow with Equal Justice Works, followed by Law Works in Philadelphia,

where he was a staff attorney. Mr. Costello spoke to the Board about Rebuilding Together’s

work and how they implement the King Day of Service. 

Mr. Costello told the Board and those in attendance that he wanted to speak about how 

Rebuilding Together incorporates the MLK Day of Service in their national AmeriCorps 

program. He said that together with their corporate and community partners, Rebuilding 

Together transforms the lives of low-income homeowners by improving the safety and health of 
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their homes and revitalizing their communities. Their local affiliates, with the help of about 

100,000 volunteers each year, complete about 10,000 Rebuild projects throughout the country. 

He noted that the Rebuilding Together MLK project is his favorite part of what they do. They 

host, with one of their Rebuilding Together affiliates, a week-long Rebuild project in an 

underserved community. This year they will be returning to Lafayette, Louisiana for a second 

year in a row to serve seven homeowners, along with a community center that needs some work. 

They will bring in their members who serve around the country, and partner with friends at the 

State AmeriCorps program at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. They will have about 100 

AmeriCorps members during the week, in addition to their AmeriCorps alumni and some skilled 

trade volunteers who will be helping with the project. 

In addition to the work during the MLK event, they will also feature a speaker after the first day 

of service to lead a reflection on MLK’s legacy and guide the members in a discussion about 

what this means in relation to AmeriCorps. The speakers talk about issues that have affected the 

community they are serving in, which makes the discussion of MLK a bit more real. The event 

is also a vital part of their programming as a national direct AmeriCorps program. Bringing

members who serve in about 20 states together mid-service year is a good idea, but coming 

together for the MLK legacy is even a better idea. Rebuilding Together starts the program year 

with an orientation that brings all the members together. The AmeriCorps orientation is 

primarily about how to serve, whereas the MLK program meeting is about why we serve. 

Rebuilding Together is fortunate that the MLK Day is right in the middle of the service year, 

which gives the members a reason to stay connected during the term of service, even though they 

are all over the country. It refreshes them for the home stretch of their service and for life after 

AmeriCorps. 

Finally, Mr. Costello remarked that the MLK Day event works as a real service delivery model. 

The MLK Day project leverages federal, national, and local resources, and put a spotlight on a 

community that otherwise wouldn’t have that attention. The MLK programming has been a 

critical part of Rebuilding Together’s AmeriCorps programming, alumni engagement, affiliate 

capacity building, and most importantly, serving homeowners in need. He thanked CNCS for its

continued support of Rebuilding Together and for all the AmeriCorps members around the 

country.

Ms. Singh thanked Mr. Costello for sharing the work his organization does to honor the life and 

legacy of Martin Luther King. She remarked that the leadership CNCS provides for the national 

day of service is critically important. 
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Ms. Singh concluded the board meeting by thanking the members of the board, the CNCS staff, 

and the members of the public who joined in person or by telephone. She noted that the Board 

had been involved in an important couple of days, and that it had been an important year of 

advancing the work of CNCS, to help the agency meet its mission and improve lives, strengthen 

communities and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. She adjourned the 

board meeting at 12:43 p.m.