James Kielsmeier
Encyclopedia
Dr. James "Jim" Kielsmeier is founder and President/CEO of the National Youth Leadership Council
, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. He also founded the Center for Experiential Education and Service-Learning at the University of Minnesota
, where he is also an Adjunct Professor. Kielsmeier helped initiate the nonprofit African Reconciliation and Development Corps International and led their first project in Somalia (1993-94) during the civil war.
. This practice has benefited countless young people who haven’t responded to traditional educational models and have not been recognized as contributors, including many from under-resourced communities.
Jim’s work is rooted in his time as a youth worker in Harlem, and then as a U.S. Army Infantry platoon leader and community relations officer in Korea during the 1960s, where he saw firsthand that the potential for life and learning were not equal for all. In Korea, he developed a program placing GIs as tutors in schools, an approach that not only had educational benefits but also improved relationships between GIs and the communities in which they were stationed. This experience fed his ongoing passion for combining community service and education.
A former middle and high school teacher and Outward Bound instructor, Jim founded the National Youth Leadership Council
in 1983, initially based at the University of Minnesota
. Having developed a network of youth leadership training camps, he recognized that the enthusiasm of the students as they left the programs was not equaled in their home schools, teachers, and communities. So he expanded the organization and conceptual model to reach a wider education audience, defining for the first time service-learning as a program model shared by National Service, youth development, and education reform.
Today NYLC provides valuable program development, research, curriculum, and professional development resources to educators, youth, administrators and policy-makers, culminating in an annual conference attended by more than 2,500 adults and youth from every state and many countries. Jim also plays a key role in convening national and international research groups seeking to better understand and quantify the beneficial impact service-learning has on academic achievement, youth development, and civic engagement. And NYLC continues to develop model youth programs, expanding into new areas such as HIV/AIDS prevention, peer-led teen driver safety initiatives, and strategies for addressing the achievement gap.
A perennial advocate for positive youth development — beyond the scope of specific programs — Jim has also been engaged in the design and implementation of comprehensive state and federal youth service and service-learning models. He has advised three Minnesota governors, helped U.S. Senators Dave Durenberger and the late Paul Wellstone
write the 1990 and 1993 National and Community Service Act, advised the Clinton and Obama Administrations’ transition teams, and testified before the Minnesota House and Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Jim also helped initiate the nonprofit African Reconciliation and Development Corps International, and led its first project to build schools in Somalia during the civil war in 1993.
A widely traveled speaker and author, he is interested in the international applications of service-learning, and has spoken recently in Qatar, Sarajevo, and London. As a member of the Board for the newly organized Bilingual Christian University of Congo, he is working with faculty on grounding the school in service-learning. He continues to explore service-learning’s potential as a “cultural commons” bridging historic racial, ethnic, and political divides — a concept that has been well-received by both the Peace Corps and Amnesty International, who now use service-learning as an instructional strategy.
Currently, Jim is an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota
. He earned a Ph.D. in education from the University of Colorado
, a master’s in international relations from American University
in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College
. In 2008 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Concordia University
in Saint Paul. He is married to Rev. Deborah Eng Kielsmeier and is the father of three grown daughters.
National Youth Leadership Council
The National Youth Leadership Council, or NYLC, is a national nonprofit organization located in Saint Paul, Minnesota that promotes service-learning in schools and communities across the United States. Founded in 1983 by Dr. James Kielsmeier, NYLC is the host of the annual National Service-Learning...
, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. He also founded the Center for Experiential Education and Service-Learning at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, where he is also an Adjunct Professor. Kielsmeier helped initiate the nonprofit African Reconciliation and Development Corps International and led their first project in Somalia (1993-94) during the civil war.
Biography
Jim Kielsmeier has committed his life to transforming the roles of young people in society — building youth-adult partnerships that help young people move from recipients of information to valuable, contributing members of a democratic society. In the process, he has interwoven concepts of national service, experiential learning and asset-based youth development to pioneer the educational approach known as service-learningService-learning
Service-learning is a method of teaching, learning and reflecting, frequently youth service, throughout the community. As a teaching method, it falls under the philosophy of experiential education...
. This practice has benefited countless young people who haven’t responded to traditional educational models and have not been recognized as contributors, including many from under-resourced communities.
Jim’s work is rooted in his time as a youth worker in Harlem, and then as a U.S. Army Infantry platoon leader and community relations officer in Korea during the 1960s, where he saw firsthand that the potential for life and learning were not equal for all. In Korea, he developed a program placing GIs as tutors in schools, an approach that not only had educational benefits but also improved relationships between GIs and the communities in which they were stationed. This experience fed his ongoing passion for combining community service and education.
A former middle and high school teacher and Outward Bound instructor, Jim founded the National Youth Leadership Council
National Youth Leadership Council
The National Youth Leadership Council, or NYLC, is a national nonprofit organization located in Saint Paul, Minnesota that promotes service-learning in schools and communities across the United States. Founded in 1983 by Dr. James Kielsmeier, NYLC is the host of the annual National Service-Learning...
in 1983, initially based at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. Having developed a network of youth leadership training camps, he recognized that the enthusiasm of the students as they left the programs was not equaled in their home schools, teachers, and communities. So he expanded the organization and conceptual model to reach a wider education audience, defining for the first time service-learning as a program model shared by National Service, youth development, and education reform.
Today NYLC provides valuable program development, research, curriculum, and professional development resources to educators, youth, administrators and policy-makers, culminating in an annual conference attended by more than 2,500 adults and youth from every state and many countries. Jim also plays a key role in convening national and international research groups seeking to better understand and quantify the beneficial impact service-learning has on academic achievement, youth development, and civic engagement. And NYLC continues to develop model youth programs, expanding into new areas such as HIV/AIDS prevention, peer-led teen driver safety initiatives, and strategies for addressing the achievement gap.
A perennial advocate for positive youth development — beyond the scope of specific programs — Jim has also been engaged in the design and implementation of comprehensive state and federal youth service and service-learning models. He has advised three Minnesota governors, helped U.S. Senators Dave Durenberger and the late Paul Wellstone
Paul Wellstone
Paul David Wellstone was a two-term U.S. Senator from the state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College...
write the 1990 and 1993 National and Community Service Act, advised the Clinton and Obama Administrations’ transition teams, and testified before the Minnesota House and Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Jim also helped initiate the nonprofit African Reconciliation and Development Corps International, and led its first project to build schools in Somalia during the civil war in 1993.
A widely traveled speaker and author, he is interested in the international applications of service-learning, and has spoken recently in Qatar, Sarajevo, and London. As a member of the Board for the newly organized Bilingual Christian University of Congo, he is working with faculty on grounding the school in service-learning. He continues to explore service-learning’s potential as a “cultural commons” bridging historic racial, ethnic, and political divides — a concept that has been well-received by both the Peace Corps and Amnesty International, who now use service-learning as an instructional strategy.
Currently, Jim is an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. He earned a Ph.D. in education from the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
, a master’s in international relations from American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College
Wheaton College
Wheaton College may refer to:* Wheaton College , private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois* Wheaton College , private, coeducational, liberal arts college in Norton, Massachusetts...
. In 2008 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Concordia University
Concordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
in Saint Paul. He is married to Rev. Deborah Eng Kielsmeier and is the father of three grown daughters.
Recognition
- Kurt HahnKurt HahnKurt Martin Hahn was a German educator whose philosophies are considered internationally influential.-Biography:...
Award of the Association for Experiential EducationAssociation for Experiential Education-Association for Experiential Education:The Association for Experiential Education, or AEE, is a nonprofit, professional membership association that promotes experiential education... - Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Indian Youth Leadership Project
- Rotary Club's Paul Harris Award
- George Norlin Award, the highest alumni recognition of the University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado at BoulderThe University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
See also
- National Youth Leadership CouncilNational Youth Leadership CouncilThe National Youth Leadership Council, or NYLC, is a national nonprofit organization located in Saint Paul, Minnesota that promotes service-learning in schools and communities across the United States. Founded in 1983 by Dr. James Kielsmeier, NYLC is the host of the annual National Service-Learning...
- National Service Learning ConferenceNational Service Learning ConferenceThe National Service-Learning Conference was first held in 1988 to serve as "the largest gathering of youth and practitioners from the service-learning movement" of the United States. The conference is a program of the National Youth Leadership Council, and is co-hosted annually by partner...
- Service-learningService-learningService-learning is a method of teaching, learning and reflecting, frequently youth service, throughout the community. As a teaching method, it falls under the philosophy of experiential education...
- Youth serviceYouth serviceYouth service refers to non-military, intensive engagement of young people in organized activity that contributes to the local, national, or world community. Youth service is widely recognized and valued by society, with minimal or no compensation to the server. Youth service also provides...
- AmeriCorpsAmeriCorpsAmeriCorps is a U.S. federal government program that was created under President Bill Clinton by the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and later expanded by 50 percent under President George W. Bush...
- National serviceNational serviceNational service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
- Youth Service AmericaYouth Service AmericaYouth Service America, or YSA, is a resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people, ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally." YSA has a reputation for supporting and promoting...