ServiceNation is the name of an organization campaign to increase support for expanding national service programs like the Peace Corps

Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...

, Americorps

AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps 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...

, Senior Corps

Senior Corps

Senior Corps is a United States government agency under the authority of the Corporation For National and Community Service. Its stated mission is to provide aid to senior citizens in communities while promoting a sense of community...

, and through service-learning experiences in schools and colleges. It is supported by many charitable organizations across the nation including the American Red Cross

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...

, Habitat for Humanity, and Boys and Girls Clubs.

The ServiceNation campaign is the product of Be the Change, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Cambridge, MA established to promote bringing national service programs. National service programs like Americorps

AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps 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...

 pay a living stipend and reward volunteers who have completed service with a monetary education award.

According to their web site, "ServiceNation is a campaign for a new America. An America where citizens unite and take responsibility for the nation’s future. An America that restores the great tradition of citizen service, and honors the profound sacrifices made by so many Americans who have passed before, from the small band of Founders to the millions who have fought for equality and justice at home, and defended our freedom abroad. ServiceNation is about an America that is ruggedly idealistic, compassionate, and above all committed to the idea of shared sacrifice in pursuit of America’s boldest promise: liberty and justice for all." http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/about_us/vision

A major objective of ServiceNation is to encourage volunteers to commit to regular service by signing a 'Declaration of Service' http://www.bethechangeaction.org/pledge/sign. This represents a promise by the participant to spend at least 50 hours per year serving either with local non-profit organizations, nationwide service programs, or with the US military.

ServiceNation was a strong advocate for the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which sanctions a significant increase in federal funding for nationwide service programs such as AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps 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...

. This legislation was passed with bipartisan support by the Senate and House on March 30, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/us/politics/27cong.htmlhttp://www.foxbusiness.com/story/pelosi-statement-ted-kennedy-serve-america-act/.

On Saturday, September 27, 2008, ServiceNation organized a National Day of Action featuring over 900 events nationwide, to showcase and celebrate the work that national service and other volunteer programs donate to the greater community at large.

Service Nation has been criticized by libertarians http://volokh.com/posts/1216794178.shtml http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w37.html, National Review Editor Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Jacob Goldberg is an American conservative syndicated columnist and author. Goldberg is known for his contributions on politics and culture to , of which he is editor-at-large...

 http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmYwMzAwNTQ3ZTYyMGJiNmU2ZWVlZmEyMzllZGFmOWU=&w=MA

, and the John Birch Society

John Birch Society

The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....

 http://www.jbs.org/index.php/family-and-freedom-blog/2301-servicenation-wants-youth.

Candidates Presidential Forum
Source: http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/about_us/sponsors

Participating sponsors

• Case Foundation
  Case Foundation
  Founded in 1997 by AOL co-founder Steve Case and his wife Jean Case, the Case Foundation invests in individuals, nonprofits, and social enterprises aiming to connect people, increase giving, and catalyze civic action....
  
  
• Illumination Fund
• Bank of America
  Bank of America
  Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
  
  
• Charina Endowment Fund

Organizers

• Be the Change,Inc.
• City Year
  City Year
  City Year is an education-focused nonprofit organization that partners with public schools to provide full-time targeted intervention keeping students in school and on track to graduate...
  
  
• Civic Enterprise, LLC
• Points of Light Institute
  Points of Light Institute
  The Points of Light Institute is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization in the United States of America dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems...
  
  

Prominent members of the Leadership Council
http://www.bethechangeinc.org/servicenation/summit/leadership

Co-chairs

• Vartan Gregorian
  Vartan Gregorian
  Vartan Gregorian is an Armenian-American academic, serving as the president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. He is an ethnic Armenian, born in Iran....
  
  , President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Caroline Kennedy
  Caroline Kennedy
  Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is an American author and attorney. She is a member of the influential Kennedy family and the only surviving child of U.S. President John F...
  
  , Vice-Chair, New York City Fund For Public Schools
• Bill Novelli
  Bill Novelli
  Bill Novelli is an American businessman. He is the Chief Executive Officer of AARP and co-founder of the Divided We Fail campaign. He is a powerful influence in American politics. He was a featured speaker at the town hall screening of I.O.U.S.A.....
  
  , CEO, AARP
• Alma Powell
  Alma Powell
  Alma Vivian Powell is an African American audiologist and the wife of military and political figure Colin Powell, whom she married on August 25, 1962. She is a graduate of Fisk University....
  
  , Chair, America's Promise Alliance
• Rick Stengel, Managing Editor, TIME Magazine

Council

• Andi Bernstein
• Tom A. Bernstein, President and Co-founder, Chelsea Piers
• Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor, New York, NY; Chairman, National September 11 Memorial and Museum
• Cory Booker
  Cory Booker
  Cory Anthony Booker is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Booker is a former Newark City Councilman...
  
  , Mayor, Newark, NJ
• Richard H. Brodhead
  Richard H. Brodhead
  Richard Halleck Brodhead Marquis Who's Who on the Web currently serves as the ninth president of Duke University and is a scholar of 19th-century American literature.-Early life and education:...
  
  , President, Duke University
• Neil Bush
  Neil Bush
  Neil Mallon Bush is the fourth of six children of former President George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Bush . His five siblings are George Walker Bush, the former President of the United States; Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida; Robin Bush, who died of leukemia in 1953 at the age of...
  
  , CEO, Global XS
• Geoffrey Canada
  Geoffrey Canada
  Geoffrey Canada is an African American social activist and educator. Since 1990, Canada has been president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone in Harlem, New York, an organization which states its goal is to increase high school and college graduation rates among students in Harlem...
  
  , President and CEO, Harlem Children's Zone
• Mortimer Caplin
  Mortimer Caplin
  Mortimer Maxwell Caplin is an American lawyer and educator and the founding member of Caplin & Drysdale . Born in New York City, he holds B.S...
  
  , Former Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service
• Vice Admiral Richard Carmona
  Richard Carmona
  Richard Henry Carmona is an American physician, public health administrator, and politician. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the seventeenth Surgeon General of the United States. Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002, Carmona left office...
  
  , Former U.S. Surgeon General
• Jean Case
  Jean Case
  Jean N. Case is CEO of the Case Foundation, which she and her husband, AOL co-founder Steve Case, created in 1997. In June 2006 she was appointed by President Bush to chair the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation....
  
  , CEO, The Case Foundation
• Richard Celeste, President, Colorado College
• Ray Chambers
  Ray Chambers
  Raymond G. Chambers currently serves as United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria. He was appointed to this position by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in February 2008...
  
  , Amelior Foundation
• Richard Cizik
  Richard Cizik
  Richard Cizik was the Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of the most prominent Evangelical lobbyists in the United States. In his position with the NAE, Cizik's primary responsibilities were setting the organization's policy on issues and...
  
  , Vice President, National Association of Evangelicals
• Henry Cisneros
  Henry Cisneros
  Henry Gabriel Cisneros is a politician and businessman. A Democrat, Cisneros served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997...
  
  , Chairman, CityView; Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Glenn Close
  Glenn Close
  Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
  
  , Actress
• William Cohen
  William Cohen
  William Sebastian Cohen is an author and American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as Secretary of Defense under Democratic President Bill Clinton.-Early life and education:...
  
  , Former Secretary of Defense; Former U.S. Senator
• Janet Langhart Cohen, Author; Founder, Citizen Patriot Organization
• Scott Cowen
  Scott Cowen
  Scott S. Cowen is 14th president of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he is also Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor in the A.B. Freeman School of Business and professor of economics in Tulane's School of Liberal Arts. He has written more than a hundred peer-reviewed journal...
  
  , President, Tulane University
• Tom Daschle
  Tom Daschle
  Thomas Andrew "Tom" Daschle is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
  
  , Former U.S. Senator
• John J. DeGioia
  John J. DeGioia
  John J. "Jack" DeGioia became the 48th and current President of Georgetown University on July 1, 2001. Since graduating from the university in 1979, he has served both as a senior administrator and as a faculty member...
  
  , President, Georgetown University
• Manny Diaz
  Manny Diaz
  Manuel "Manny" Alberto Diaz is a Cuban American politician who served as the mayor of Miami, Florida from 2001–2009....
  
  , Mayor, Miami, FL
• John Dilulio, Former Director, Office of Faith*Based and Community Initiatives; Author, The Godly Republic
• Melinda Doolittle
  Melinda Doolittle
  Melinda Marie Doolittle is an American singer who finished as the third place finalist on the sixth season of American Idol...
  
  , Recording Artist
• Paul Fireman, Founder, Reebok
• Al From
  Al From
  Al From is the founder and former CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council. His ideas and political strategies during the past quarter century played a central role in the resurgence of the modern Democratic Party....
  
  , Founder and CEO, Democratic Leadership Council
• Susan Fuhrman
  Susan Fuhrman
  Susan Fuhrman is the tenth president of Teachers College, Columbia University. Fuhrman earned her doctorate in political economy from Teachers College. She became very engaged in issues of educational equity, and became an authority on school reform...
  
  , President, Teachers College, Columbia University
• Mark Gearan
  Mark Gearan
  Mark Daniel Gearan is a politician, lawyer and communications expert. Gearan is the current president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.-Early life and education:...
  
  , President, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• David Gergen
  David Gergen
  David Richmond Gergen is an American political consultant and former presidential advisor who served during the administrations of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. He is currently Director of the Center for Public Leadership and a professor of public service at Harvard Kennedy School. Gergen is...
  
  , Professor of Public Service and Director, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard University
• Michael Gerson
  Michael Gerson
  Michael John Gerson is an op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, a Policy Fellow with the ONE Campaign, and a former senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as President George W...
  
  , Columnist, The Washington Post
• Stephen Goldsmith
  Stephen Goldsmith
  Stephen "Steve" Goldsmith is the former mayor of Indianapolis and most recently served as the Deputy Mayor of New York City for Operations, stepping down effective August 4, 2011 after a domestic violence arrest. He is also the Daniel Paul Professor of Government at the John F...
  
  , Former Mayor, Indianapolis, IN
• Jennifer Granholm
  Jennifer Granholm
  Jennifer Mulhern Granholm is a Canadian-born American politician, educator, and author who served as Attorney General and 47th Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Granholm became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor...
  
  , Governor, Michigan
• Rabbi Irving Greenberg
  Irving Greenberg
  Irving Greenberg, also known as Yitz Greenberg, is a Modern Orthodox rabbi, Jewish-American scholar and author. He is known as a strong supporter of Israel and a promoter of greater understanding between Judaism and Christianity....
  
  , Theologian; Author, The Jewish Way; Founding President, Jewish Life Network
• Amy Gutmann
  Amy Gutmann
  Amy Gutmann is the eighth President of the University of Pennsylvania and the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Communications, and Philosophy...
  
  , President, University of Pennsylvania
• Lee H. Hamilton
  Lee H. Hamilton
  Lee Herbert Hamilton is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and currently a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of the Democratic Party, Hamilton represented the 9th congressional district of Indiana from 1965 to 1999...
  
  , Former Congressman; Former Co-chair, 9/11 Commission and Iraq Study Group
• Jenny Chin Hansen, President, AARP
• Gary Hart
  Gary Hart
  Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
  
  , Former U.S. Senator
• Mellody Hobson
  Mellody Hobson
  Mellody Hobson is the president of Ariel Investments, LLC, a Chicago investment firm managing over $3 billion in assets. It is also one of the largest African American-owned money management and mutual fund companies in the United States. She is also the Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of...
  
  , President, Ariel Investments
• Admiral James R. Hogg
  James R. Hogg
  James Robert Hogg is a retired United States Navy four star admiral who served as U.S. Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee from 1988 to 1991....
  
  , USN (Ret), Director, Strategic Studies Group
  Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group
  The Chief of Naval 0perations Strategic Studies Group was established by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas B. Hayward in 1981. The Group is co-located at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, but receives its direction and makes its reports only to the Chief of...
  
  , Naval War College
• James J. Jensen
• Martin Luther King, III, Chairman, Realizing the Dream
• Joel Klein
  Joel Klein
  Joel Irwin Klein was Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States, serving more than 1.1 million students in more than 1,600 schools...
  
  , Chancellor, New York City Public Schools
• Sherry Lansing
  Sherry Lansing
  Sherry Lansing is a former actress and American film studio executive. She is former CEO of Paramount Pictures, and when president of production at 20th Century Fox was the first woman to head a Hollywood studio In 1996, she became the first woman named Pioneer of the Year by the Foundation of...
  
  , Founder, The Sherry Lansing Foundation
• Jim Leach
  Jim Leach
  James Albert Smith "Jim" Leach is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa. In August 2009, he became Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities ....
  
  , Former Congressman; John L. Weinberg Professor of Public and International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
• Anthony Marx
  Anthony Marx
  Anthony W. Marx is the current president and CEO of the New York Public Library in July 2011, succeeding Paul LeClerc. Marx is the former president of Amherst College, in Amherst, Massachusetts....
  
  , President, Amherst College
• Bonnie McElveen-Hunter
  Bonnie McElveen-Hunter
  Bonnie McElveen-Hunter is an American businesswoman who is the first female Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross. She is currently serving her second three-year term, the first of which began in June, 2004, when she was appointed to the post by U.S. President George W....
  
  , Chairman, American Red Cross
• Sam Nunn
  Sam Nunn
  Samuel Augustus Nunn, Jr. is an American lawyer and politician. Currently the co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative , a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Nunn served for 24 years as a...
  
  , Former U.S. Senator
• Michael Nutter, Mayor, Philadelphia, PA
• Martin O'Malley
  Martin O'Malley
  Martin Joseph O'Malley is an American Democratic politician who is currently serving as the 61st Governor of Maryland. Previously, he served as the mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. He is currently the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.-Early life, education and career:O'Malley...
  
  , Governor, Maryland
• Bette Midler
  Bette Midler
  Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
  
  , Founder, New York Restoration Project; Performance Artist
• Lt. General Dave Richard Palmer
  Dave Richard Palmer
  David Richard Palmer is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General, former Superintendent of the West Point , military historian and author, and former President of Walden University...
  
  , USA (Ret), Former Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Author
• David Paterson
  David Paterson
  David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...
  
  , Governor, New York
• Kal Penn
  Kal Penn
  Kalpen Suresh Modi , best known by his stage name Kal Penn, is an American film and television actor, producer, and civil servant....
  
  , Actor
• Gregg Petersmeyer, Former Assistant to the President; Director, Office of National Service under George H.W. Bush
• Peter G. Peterson, Chairman, Peter G. Peterson Foundation; Co-founder, Blackstone Group Management
• Rob Portman
  Rob Portman
  Robert Jones "Rob" Portman is the junior United States Senator from Ohio. He is a member of the Republican Party. He succeeded retiring Senator George Voinovich....
  
  , Former Congressman; Former Director, Office of Management and Budget
• Samantha Power
  Samantha Power
  Samantha Power is an Irish American academic, governmental official and writer. She is currently a Special Assistant to President Barack Obama and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights as Senior Director of Multilateral Affairs on the Staff of the National Security Council...
  
  , Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, Harvard University; Author
• Marc Racicot
  Marc Racicot
  Marc F. Racicot is a U.S. politician and lobbyist and member of the Republican Party. He was the governor of Montana from 1993 until 2001. After leaving office, Racicot worked as a lobbyist for the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani. His notable clients included Enron, Burlington Northern Santa Fe,...
  
  , Former Governor, Montana
• Susan Rice, Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama for America
• Bill Richardson, Governor, New Mexico
• David Shaw
  David Shaw
  David or Davie Shaw is the name of:* David E. Shaw , American entrepreneur; is the founder of D. E. Shaw & Co.* David Evans Shaw, American entrepreneur; managing partner of Black Point Group; spouse of actress Glenn Close...
  
  , Managing Partner, Black Point Group
• Rodney Slater
  Rodney Slater
  Rodney Slater may refer to:*Rodney E. Slater , former United States Secretary of Transportation*Rodney Slater , member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band...
  
  , Former Secretary of Transportation; Chair, United Way of America
• Laurie M. Tisch, President, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
• Paul Vallas
  Paul Vallas
  Paul Gust Vallas is the superintendent of the Recovery School District of Louisiana, and former CEO of Chicago Public Schools and the School District of Philadelphia....
  
  , Superintendent, New Orleans Recovery School District
• David Walker
  David Walker
  -Musicians:* Dave Walker , British musician, member of the band Fleetwood Mac* David Walker , American opera singer* David Walker , American singer of Southern Gospel music...
  
  , President and CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
• Silda Wall, Founder, Children For Children
• Rick Warren
  Rick Warren
  Richard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American evangelical Christian minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States...
  
  , Senior Pastor, Saddleback Church; Author, A Purpose Driven Life
• Harris Wofford
  Harris Wofford
  Harris Llewellyn Wofford served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1995 and as the fifth president of Bryn Mawr College, and is a noted advocate of national service and volunteering...
  
  , Former U.S. Senator; Former CEO, Corporation for National & Community Service

External links

• Service Nation
• ServiceNation Presidential Candidates Forum (transcript video)