Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

June 24, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 11:07 a.m., ET

1

The Board of Directors for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)

convened in Washington, DC. The following members of the Board were present:

Shamina Singh, Chair 

Dean Reuter, Vice Chair

Rick Christman (by telephone)

Mona Dixon (by telephone)

Victoria Hughes

Chair’s Opening Remarks

Board Chair Shamina Singh called the meeting to order and welcomed attendees and her fellow 

board members, and noted that although Eric Liu was absent, he had participated in the Board 

retreat the previous day. 

Ms. Singh briefed the public on the activities of the Board the prior day during a site visit to the 

Whitman Walker Health Clinic, which provides critical health and legal services in Washington, 

D.C. The Clinic receives support both through the Social Innovation Fund and multiple

AmeriCorps grant programs. The Board heard personal stories from AmeriCorps members and 

alumni and from the Clinic’s staff about how much they value the support CNCS gives them to 

advance their mission.

Ms. Singh said that after the Board came back from that visit, the members received a number of 

updates on the agency. They received a thorough report from CEO Wendy Spencer; a briefing 

from Dana Bourne, the Chief Grants Officer; and another from Lori Giblin, the Chief Risk 

Officer. The Board had also received an update from Deborah Jeffrey, the Inspector General. 

The Board discussed government relations, partnerships, and engagement with Kim Allman, the 

Director of Government Relations; John Kelly, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of 

Partnerships; and with Ted Miller, Chief of External Affairs. The AmeriCorps State and 

National Director Bill Basl and AmeriCorps VISTA Director Max Finberg also made 

presentations to the Board. 

Ms. Singh stated that a big focus of the retreat was accountability and oversight and that over the 

years, CNCS has built a culture of accountability and strong systems for monitoring and 

oversight, and those systems are working. In an enterprise as large and decentralized as national 
Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

June 24, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 11:07 a.m., ET

2

service, with thousands of grantees and service sites, accountability is a shared responsibility. 

Everyone needs to do their part. Compliance and following the rules is a must.

Ms. Singh then called upon the CEO, Ms. Wendy Spencer, to present to the Board.

Chief Executive Officer’s Report

Ms. Spencer reported to the Board and public as follows:

 The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2017 bill that funds CNCS. The 

bill provided $1.03 billion for CNCS, an amount that fulfilled CNCS’s request for 

AmeriCorps and Senior Corps and provided a $1 million increase for State Commission 

support. Unfortunately, the bill cut $50 million from the Social Innovation Fund, which 

would essentially eliminate the program. During the last six years, the SIF program has 

proven itself to be a tremendous model for funding evidence-based solutions to many of 

the country’s most pressing challenges and raised almost twice as much in non-federal 

matching commitments as was appropriated. Ms. Spencer noted that CNCS will continue 

to advocate for full funding for SIF and the innovative solutions that the program enables.

 The winners of the second Social Innovation Fund Pay for Success grant competition 

were announced in May. The $6.1 million in grants will advance and evaluate emerging 

models that align payment for social services with verified outcomes. The new SIF Pay 

for Success grantees include the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab, 

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and the Sorenson Impact Center at the 

University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, in partnership with Social 

Finance, Inc. Within the next few months, all of the Pay for Success grantees will hold 

open competitions to select communities in need of services, focusing on challenges 

within SIF’s focus areas of economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth 

development. Combined with SIF’s investment of $12 million to 8 current PFS grantees 

working on feasibility and transaction structuring, this new investment of $6.1 million 

has the potential to catalyze nearly 100 Pay for Success models across the country.

 In May, we saw the fifth anniversary of the tornado that devastated Joplin, Missouri. 

National service has been an amazing success story in response to an enormous tragedy. 

CNCS service in Joplin began within hours of the tornado’s touchdown, even before 

sunrise, when the first team from AmeriCorps St. Louis Emergency Response Team 

arrived—and continues to provide service today. Over the last five years, 425 

AmeriCorps members and disaster services team members have served in Joplin. 

National service saved the city $17.7 million in what was required for the city’s federal 

disaster relief matching contributions in the first year alone. During that time, 

AmeriCorps members helped more than 3,000 households and coordinated many of the 

more than 150,000 volunteers who came to Joplin to provide over 1 million hours of 

service. We are honored to be part of Joplin’s recovery. Joplin also made CNCS better 
Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

June 24, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 11:07 a.m., ET

3

at providing support to communities struck by disasters, and we continue to support 

communities across the country. 

 In fact, it has been a tough spring, with extensive flooding in the South. So far, 537 

AmeriCorps members have deployed to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas and are really 

making a huge difference on the ground supporting families struck by the flooding. 

 AmeriCorps members continue to serve in Flint, Michigan to help that community deal 

with its lead-polluted water. Some 200 national service participants have been deployed 

or cross-trained or refocused to help that community, including all three lines of 

AmeriCorps service including VISTA and NCCC, Senior Corps RSVP programs, and 

Operation AmeriCorps grantees. The national service participants are working very 

closely on the ground with our grantees and local organizations like the United Way of 

Genesee County, the Mayor’s Office, Boys and Girls Clubs, Mission for Hope, the 

Michigan Red Cross, Food Corps, and many other organizations. This major national 

service push has delivered results. Members have distributed 5,100 cases of water and 

4,000 water filters. Members have canvassed over 6,000 homes, talking face-to-face with 

individuals and families about water safety and what families can do deal with the crisis. 

Ms. Spencer said that the agency’s hearts and prayers are with Flint, as well as our 

service.

 CNCS continues to launch new initiatives and expand existing partnerships to more 

communities. The pilot Summer Opportunity AmeriCorps program is underway as we 

work to introduce more young people to the benefits of service. CNCS is committing up 

to $15 million in college scholarships over the next three years to youth between the ages 

of 14 and 17 who serve over the summer break. We have 80 Summer Opportunity 

AmeriCorps members serving with West Virginia’s Energy Express program to support 

summer reading and nutrition initiatives in rural areas. The Corps Network will engage 

659 members in 14 states on a number of environmental stewardship projects, including 

building and maintaining trails and campgrounds, removing invasive species, and 

improving community green space. The National Summer Learning Association will 

have nearly 200 members across Chicago, Dallas, and New York City to work on

educational and mentoring projects, focus on environmental stewardship, and organize 

some 6,700 additional volunteers in those communities.

 In early May, CNCS announced the expansion of the Resilience AmeriCorps program to 

18 new cities through partnerships with Catholic Charities USA, Enterprise Community 

partners, Lutheran Services in America, and New York State’s Governor’s Office of 

Storm Recovery. This will build on the work being done in the initial 10 Resilience 

AmeriCorps cities, which was implemented by Cities of Service. Resilience AmeriCorps 

is a unique federal public-private partnership that helps communities plan and implement 

efforts to become more resilient to shocks and stresses, including extreme weather and 

other impacts of climate change. 
Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

June 24, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 11:07 a.m., ET

4

 During the United State of Women summit in Washington, DC, CNCS announced our 

newest partnership with the Department of Justice – the Elder Justice AmeriCorps. This 

$2 million grant initiative will provide legal assistance and support services to victims of 

elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, the majority of whom are women. Our grantee, 

Equal Justice Works, will use this grant to support 300 AmeriCorps members in 15 states 

and the District of Columbia to connect these vulnerable older adults with highly skilled 

AmeriCorps members. The members will provide legal services to ensure our seniors 

have the care and support they need and deserve.

 Ms. Spencer recounted that she had the honor of representing the Obama Administration 

in San Diego during the third and final round of the Promise Zone announcements earlier 

in June. This initiative is led by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 

and combines the resources of CNCS and other federal partners with local leaders and 

resources to address local priorities in high-poverty communities. AmeriCorps VISTAs 

will support each of the Promise Zones.

 Ms. Spencer also announced that after a search to find the most cost-effective option for a 

new AmeriCorps NCCC campus, the Denver metro area will continue to host a facility

that trains young leaders. The new location in Aurora, Colorado will employ 24 people 

and host approximately 320 AmeriCorps NCCC members annually.

 CNCS recently completed the last of four regional training conferences. Almost 2,000 

leaders from our national service programs and state commissions, and many CNCS staff, 

gathered to share best practices and attend valuable training sessions to learn how to 

better manage programs. The training conferences are great opportunities to reiterate 

important messages to the state commissions and the grantees. As the Board Chair said 

in her opening remarks, Congress has entrusted CNCS with increased funding this year 

and that trust requires us to be careful stewards of taxpayer funds. Our jobs include 

vigilant monitoring and oversight to ensure that we know the rules related to that funding 

and follow them to the letter. 

 During the first week of May, Ms. Spencer traveled to Alaska to get a firsthand look at 

the national service programs in the nation’s largest state. She had the opportunity to 

meet some of the 630 Senior Corps and AmeriCorps members serving at 150 locations 

around the state. During her visit, CNCS announced eight new grants and projects 

comprising a federal investment of $1.5 million that will leverage another $512,000 in 

local resources to support the new initiatives in the state. One of the many highlights of 

the trip was a press conference with Anchorage Mayor Berkowitz, who made the 

announcement that his city has joined the Employers of National Service. Mayor 

Berkowitz is a big supporter of AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps because he understands 

the great benefits of hiring program alumni, who possess many skills and offer great 

leadership for future job openings in the city. 
Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

June 24, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 11:07 a.m., ET

5

 Finally, Employers of National Service continues to grow; it now has 380 employers 

representing nearly 1.9 million jobs. This week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors is 

meeting in Indianapolis, and on the Conference’s agenda is a resolution calling on all 

mayors from America’s largest cities to join Employers of National Service. [The 

resolution passed unanimously.] President Obama launched the Employers of National 

Service initiative during the AmeriCorps 20th anniversary celebration at the White House. 

The initiative recruits employers in the federal, private, and nonprofit sectors and asks 

them to recognize the qualities that AmeriCorps and Peace Corps members can bring to 

their workplace. Ms. Spencer thanked Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Phoenix Mayor 

Greg Stanton for being champions for national service and making this resolution a 

reality.

Ms. Spencer closed by noting that this recognition by the Conference of Mayors is a strong 

endorsement of the work that our AmeriCorps members and Senior Corps volunteers are doing 

in this country. We are focused on the challenges our nation faces and we are proud of how 

national service works as a solution to those challenges. Ms. Spencer noted that service is not 

only central to how we solve our nation’s problems, it is also how we expand opportunity and is 

a powerful way to bring Americans together. She closed by thanking all of those engaged in and 

supporting national service, including the Governor’s State Service Commissions, for their hard 

work and important contributions. 

Chair’s Remarks

The Board Chair thanked Ms. Spencer and introduced those who were going to make the first 

presentation after the CEO. Ms. Singh stated that one of the priorities of CNCS is to maximize 

the return on public investment by funding what works and using evidence in its grantmaking. 

The first presentation was on the results of a recent study about Diplomas Now, a school 

transformation model for high-need schools. The program engages City Year AmeriCorps 

members in identifying students who were off-track in attendance, behavior, and course 

performance and providing them with intensive academic, social, and emotional support as well 

as case management to get them back on track. The three presenters for the first presentation 

were Michael Brown, the CEO and co-founder of City Year; Jim Balfanz, a City Year 

AmeriCorps alumnus and the current President of City Year; and his brother, Dr. Robert Balfanz, 

a professor at the Center for the Social Organization of Schools at John Hopkins University’s

School of Education. Robert Balfanz is the leader and co-founder of Diplomas Now, and has 

published widely on secondary school reform.

Guest Speakers for the First Presentation (via telephone) [referring to these slides]

Mr. Brown noted that City Year is a proud member of the AmeriCorps National Service 

Network. Everything that City Year does is powered by AmeriCorps. More than 3,000 City 

Year AmeriCorps members are serving in more than 300 of the highest-need urban schools in 28 

cities nationwide, and they’re reaching 200,000 students every day with critically needed 
Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

June 24, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 11:07 a.m., ET

6

academic and social and emotional support. In many of the schools across the country, they 

work as part of the Diplomas Now collaborative. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education 

awarded an Innovation Validation grant to expand Diplomas Now to reach across the country. 

This multi-year grant supports one of the largest randomized control studies ever conducted of a 

secondary school model. The study was led by MDRC, a nonpartisan nonprofit education and 

social policy research organization. Mr. Brown concluded by noting how national service is 

versatile in its ability to help communities, and, increasingly, demonstrates using evidence-based 

practices and metrics that AmeriCorps members are able to achieve transformational outcomes in 

those communities. 

Mr. Jim Balfanz explained that the Diplomas Now program is anchored in the early warning 

indicators – poor attendance, sustained poor behavior, and course failure in English and Math –

can predict whether a student is on or off-track to graduation as early as sixth grade. Absent 

intervention, a student with an early warning indicator has a 25 percent chance of graduating on 

time versus a 75 percent chance of graduating on time for students without early warning 

indicators. Diplomas Now was designed specifically to address and eliminate these early 

warning indicators. 

Mr. Balfanz provided a quick background on the model and the context of the study, which will

last seven years and produce five reports, and involves thousands of AmeriCorps members 

across the country involved in the Diplomas Now program. The study focused on four critical

research questions: (1) can the program be implemented and sustained in high-need schools 

across the country; (2) does Diplomas Now increase the percentage of students without early 

warning indicators; (3) does the program help improve entire schools; and (4) does the program

lead to better outcomes for the most vulnerable children? The initial results of the research 

suggest the answer to all of the questions is yes.

Dr. Robert Balfanz explained that, with the highest level of evidence, Diplomas Now reduces 

early warning indicators. In the Diplomas Now schools, there was a positive and statistically 

significant increase in the percentage of sixth and ninth graders with no early warning indicators.

This is exactly the outcome that Diplomas Now is designed to achieve. And that the program’s 

ability – now documented with rigorous evidence – to get these kids through middle school 

without early warning indicators dramatically increases the chances that they will graduate from 

high school. 

This evidence is the first large-scale experimental data that shows that Diploma Now (or any 

program) can consistently reverse students’ trajectory from the path towards dropping out to the 

path towards high school graduation. They have shown conclusively that this is consistently 

possible even in the toughest environment – which means they really have to scale those 

strategies up, because they can no longer say they don’t know what to do. The study also 

validates that Diploma Now reduces chronic absenteeism in the highest-need schools. Finally, 

the study validates AmeriCorps as a solution to the high school dropout crisis, as AmeriCorps 

members power Diplomas Now.
Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

June 24, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 11:07 a.m., ET

7

Remarks by the Chair and Board member Dean Reuter for the Second Presentation

Ms. Singh next stated that she was thrilled to continue a tradition that the Board started at the last 

Board meeting of recognizing young and very smart people who are making a difference through 

service. She turned the introduction over to Vice Chair Dean Reuter.

Mr. Reuter spoke of the Stars of Service Award that recognizes young people who have 

demonstrated outstanding examples of volunteering and service. Recipients are selected in 

coordination with the Governor-appointed State Service Commissions. The award highlights the 

power of service and helps create a pipeline of young leaders who will continue to give back 

throughout their lives. 

Mr. Reuter announced that the Board of Directors is pleased to recognize Ms. Jessica Waters 

from Beavercreek, Ohio, as a Star of Service. The reasons that Jessica is so deserving of this 

award begin with the fact that she is passionate about raising awareness of epilepsy, a condition 

she has battled since she was 11 years old. In 2010, she founded Cupcakes for Camp, an 

organization that raises money to send children with epilepsy to summer camps. By selling 

cupcakes and other baked goods, she’s raised more than $10,000 to help numerous children with 

epilepsy attend a summer camp. Jessica has also been an active volunteer with the Epilepsy 

Foundation of Western Ohio, volunteering more than 2,100 hours. She has just completed her 

freshman year at the University of Kentucky, and she’s continuing her volunteer service as the 

Assistant Philanthropic Chair of her sorority. Additionally, she’s raising funds for Kentucky’s 

Children’s Hospital, and has logged more than 4,300 volunteer hours.

Presentation of the President’s Volunteer Service Award

Ms. Singh presented the President’s Volunteer Service Award to Ms. Jessica Waters.

Ms. Waters thanked the Board for her award and the recognition. She stated that she would 

never stop serving because she has noticed first-hand that the impact of service multiplies, and 

that what you do for one person they do for others, and it never stops. It’s that ripple effect that 

she loves so much about AmeriCorps. Making a difference has touched her a lot. She is now on 

the Board of Directors for Cupcakes for Camp, and in other states there are now teenagers who 

are hoping that their own Cupcakes for Camp initiatives in their communities are successful. 

Ms. Waters said that she sees that wanting to do more only inspires other people to do more, and 

that’s how good things happen.

The Board and CEO Spencer commended Ms. Waters for being a shining light for volunteerism 

in so many ways and for being such an amazing leader.

Conclusion of the Meeting

Ms. Singh concluded the Board meeting by thanking the members of the Board, the CNCS staff, 

and the members of the public for joining. She noted that this meeting covered very important 
Corporation for National and Community Service

Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting

June 24, 2016

10:00 a.m. – 11:07 a.m., ET

8

topics about how national service is a solution for America, from disasters in Flint or Joplin to 

evidence-based proof that we’re solving the high school dropout crisis, and how volunteerism 

embodied in amazing people like Jessica Waters is so inspiring. She adjourned the Board

meeting at 11:07 a.m.