AmeriCorps and Experience Corps: they work for children
President Obama named an Oregonian, Maria Eitel, Vice President of Nike and President of it’s Foundation to serve as CEO of his newly funded ($5.7 billion) Corporation for National and Community Service
Early in her career, she was a reporter and producer in commercial and public broadcasting. She holds degrees from McGill University (BS) and Georgetown University (MSFS), and Stanford University (SEP). She serves on a variety of boards, committees and advisory councils both nationally and in the Northwest.
The president praised Ms. Eitel as the perfect person to guide the new corporation, because he said she “. . is a smart and innovative thinker, and a leader who shares my belief in the power of service.”
Her appointment ushers to the foreground a robust tradition of volunteerism in the City of Portland, where 36% of Portlanders (and 30% of Oregonians) donate their time to others in a burgeoning array of nonprofits.
Among other programs recently capturing the attention of Washington policy makers and highlighting the power of volunteer efforts among students, consider Experience Corps, a program for Americans 55+ years or older nationwide and in Portland. Fifty-four Portland 55+ year old volunteers served approximately 1,335 students in 2007-2008 in Experience Corps which is administered by Metropolitan Family Service of Portland along with an array of volunteer programs for citizens older adults.
In past surveys and in a more recent study completed at Washington University in St. Louis, researchers found ” . . that the EC program had statistically significant and substantively important effects on reading outcomes.” A helpful summary online highlights the efficacy of the findings.
Click here for a recent “Nightly News” blurb on Experience Corps on MSNBC or at the top of this blog’s video podcast list.
