. >> coming up tonight on c-span2 retired general stanley mcchrystal talks about national service and citizenship. next annual citizenship features business and educational leaders on activism and corporate social responsibility. retired general stanley mcchrystal receives the award award for national service. he speaks about volunteer, at the university school in washington this is about 35

minutes. >> now ladies and gentlemen please rise for the national anthem sung by diane from enzi oc. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen please

welcome citizenship chairman michael reiser. ♪ [applause] ♪ >> diane ty you should know is not only a talented performer and artist, she is also a very talented fund-raiser and her connection to the national conference on citizenship is working with our service year project. you may have heard the term the franklin project. it's all a line so we appreciate your efforts on our behalf and we appreciate you bringing her talents to our state once again. [applause]

i am significantly less talented. [laughter] and coc is honored to partner with users conference with all of the eagles in the room please stand up? people from american university please stand up. [applause] yes. thank you for being here. this is a fall break for aau and faculty and most of the administration is at a retreat. they are students and campus in a number have joined us and we appreciate their participation and deeply appreciate the partnership of american university which like the

national conference on citizenship is a congressionally chartered organization. through the center for community engagement and service the university helps over 2000 undergraduate students volunteer every year. we learn by doing. we learn by doing. the freshman class alone provides more than 7000 hours through the freshman service experience. i assume also for midterms but that's just a guess on my part. many programs connect students with the diverse communities of the metro area strengthening both in the process. please join me in thanking aau for hosting this conference. [applause] i also want to thank our conference title sponsors, cisco and the lumina foundation. the generous support allows us to host this engaging event and develop world-class programming through the year.

in addition i'd like to recognize kpmg apologist group, sprint the ge foundation, ida sl and pacom who have all contributed to the success of this conference. please join me in thanking all of our sponsors. [applause] ncoc is called by our congressional charter to convene the civic engagement field, create programs and advanced citizenship and facilitate action by our partners around the country. we hold this conference as a mandate of our charter once a year. this is the seventh conference that i have been honored to chair. for nearly 70 years we have been convening it and it has played an important role in shaping our country's civic ethos. governors, supreme court justices, presidents have all

shared their views on important issues including desegregation and the role of government. this year we will shine a the light on the subject of economic equality. if you haven't already i encourage you during lunch to walk through ncoc's history. there is a series of posters on display in the long hallway leading to these rooms and does a really interesting job of telling the history of ncoc and explores the history of civic engagement in the united states since 1946. i want to thank jeannie harris and kendall for bringing our civic legacy to light. they were our summer interns this year. this year's conference aims to live up to that legacy. the themes connect, power. our hope is that you will former strengthening connections with this conference and you will share ideas and lessons learned

that empower each of us to take action that leads to greater civic engagement. the processes of engaging one another, the process of taking what we have learned in this room into our daily lives and have a meaningful impact on the quality of citizenship in the country. this is every year an important meeting. i would like to just take a moment to recognize my partners in this effort. my fellow directors at the national conference on citizenship to who give of their time and their resources and other good hearts with ncoc directors here this morning. please stand and be recognized. [applause] i have one main partner and in the course of cheering ncoc i've

been fortunate to work with excellent executive directors. now under leadership ncoc's contribution to the civic health of our nation has broadened and deepened. it's actually pronounced sherpa so you got it from the source. the work on service year our revolutionary approach to creating national service efforts has led ncoc in the citizenship field into new territory. when you have a partner like a liter each day you getting charged in your own work. i get a fall or a fax or an e-mail something that reminds me that the future is they are and it inspires me. the passion for civic work in our communities is inspiring. please welcome our director. [applause]

[applause] >> thank you so much michael for that introduction. kenny and join me in thanking michael for his commitment and leadership to ncoc. [applause] i also want to thank michael and his wife julie as well as tom, gail and phil duncan for their sponsorship of this conference. this year we invited a number of our partners to design and lead to learning some is happening this afternoon try want to assess people to stand and be recognized and thanks. [applause] don't be shy if you are in the audience. ncoc's mission is to strengthen civic life in america. it is very good to be with all of you today to figure out the ways and means by which we do

that together. claude debussy once said that music is the space between the notes and i think that community like music is the space between people. the question is how do we fill that space? >> wait till it trust? to refill with support? do we reach across the divide to work on common problems together? do we volunteer? do we vote? do we engage with the governme government? the answers to these questions are critical to our country because we know that when people are engaged families are stronger. individuals tend to be more -- schools are better and governments are more responsive and of course critical needs are met when all these things happened. and it's the sort of activity that we define as civic life so

when we talk about strengthening civic life this is what we are talking about great increasing that engagement and making the space between people vibrant and alive and when that happens we have strong civic health. over the past eight years, we have led a movement to call attention to the civic health of the country. with many of you in the audience we have issued over 30 reports around the country basically telling the story of how well our communities are doing or in some cases not doing and the knot is also important. those reports have been catalysts for action across the united states. the census bureau collects the data that is the essential ingredient of those reports together with cmts. we put out that data every year as part of something called volunteering in civic life and wendy will be out here in a

little bit to talk a little bit about that. but that's an important note. a number of years ago we also help to create the civic program together with our partners points of life in bloomberg. now the civic 50 calls attention to the top 50 community minded companies in the united states. these are companies that are doing great work in their communities but also getting something in return strengthening their brand, they are increasing their capacity to recruit employees and to retain them. those two things are critically important because a lot of companies are learning that more and more people especially young people want to work for an employer who cares about the community and does something to match that caring. we are thrilled that ncoc that bloomberg and points of light are continuing this program and i want to give them a round of applause for doing that. [applause]

ncoc has also taken the lead in the service year movement precisely because we want to have an impact in our communities. service year is a initiative of the national service alliance and we are proud member of the lines. i want to recognize our lights partners. the franklin project, voices for national service and service nation. thanks to all of them for being here in being members of the alliance. the goal of the alliance and the service year is really fairly simple in its twofold. one is it has dramatically increased the service opportunities for young people in america. a lot more people want to serve in their positions we need to change that but the second thing is to foster the type of active engaged citizenship that bn coc -- ncoc charter calls for. we know from the data and from our research that when people

are engaged in any way they tend to be more engaged in other ways so if you volunteer you can devote more and vice versa. national service is a real multiplier. people who serve community for eight-year tend to be very active and tend to volunteer at higher rates, get that higher rates and also going to the nonprofit sector. of course we need lots of folks to serve communities that way as well. so we are proud member of the national service alliance. of course all of our work would be easier if schools were to embrace their civic mission. after all that was the idea of public education. so we have been proud partners of the campaign initiative in schools and we are proud with them a number of years ago to support their sum of report called guardian of democracy which shouldn't be confused with guardians of the galaxy. that's a whole different thing. but later today we are going to

have so much into all four of these areas where we are going to ask you with our captains to really talk about the work you are doing, to share lessons learned, to challenge us and each other to think about how we should do our work differently, to connect, to help us empower each other so that we can act when we leave this conference and we can be stronger for it. so that is our mission today and i'm thrilled that all of you are here to be a part of that. at this time i want to introduce marcy campos. she is the director of community engagement and service here at american university. in addition to teaching american studies and government classes she is critical in fulfilling the commitment to community-based learning. she is a strong advocate for engaging students in services in coordinating departments across the campus, to support increased

service opportunities. please join me in welcoming marcy campos. [applause] ♪ >> good morning. it's great to have you all on our campus. on behalf of au i want to welcome you and just congratulate the group that organized this. the conference agenda looks excellent and very much aligned with the importance that au places on student engagement in civic and community issues. au has a strategic plan that puts great emphasis on its work stating that one of our goals is to act on our values and social responsibility and service and we have a vigorous commitment to the city and the people of

washington d.c.. last year the university decided to go further. we concluded that we needed some campuswide learning outcomes to define what students should be able to do by the time they graduate. so among the 10 learning outcomes agreed upon one is actually civic engagement. that's up on graduate will demonstrate knowledge of and respect for society and the environment. they will demonstrate an appreciation of the importance of the role of the individual. they will act with a sense of responsibility and service to the public interest and to social justice. au's history is very much rooted in a commitment to civic engagement and we maintain that commitment. as i think was stated earlier university was chartered by an act of congress in 1893 and it was established actually train and support public service.

au is number three among medium-size universities with 43 of our alumni currently serving as peace corps volunteers. this past year au had 19 presidential management fellows and that was students pursuing federal service careers and au students are among the most politically active in the country according to princeton review. so my office the center for community engagement service has the privilege and the opportunity to be a campus hub for organizing and monitoring different forms of service and civic engagement. we manage innovative programs to extend student learning beyond the classroom and into the city enabling our students to apply their learning to real-life situations that are being tackled every day by our enormous nonprofit sector and we are very lucky in washington because we have both a

community-based organizaons, we have a national organizations and international and the support public offices. so among our signature programs are freshman service experience which just celebrated its 25th year anniversary and what we do is we invite students to begin their college experience by going out into the city and going out into 50 different sites throughout the city's two full days of community service and learn about the place they were the living for the coming years. we think that's a great way to start your education to learn about where you are going to live and what are the pressing issues. each year anywhere from 500 to 700 students participate in a program. we also have a very unique alternative program which operates over winter spring and summer breaks and it's really an alternative to the typical cancan type spring break.

our students played a key leadership roles in this program because they design plan and actually implement a social justice oriented trip either domestic or international. they write a proposal and have to be approved and selected. in the coming year we have 13 trips planned and just as the sampling one group will be going to the u.s.-mexico border to learn about immigration and how the legal system is addressing the arrival of thousands of unaccompanied minors in central america. another group will go to san francisco to look at the intersection of homelessness and gop to you. another group will focus on healing and community development in rwanda. however the program that is growing most rapidly on our campus this community-based learning which is commonly called service learning. a lot of high schools have requirements that some colleges actually required we do not. this is an academic pedagogy

that extends classroom-based learning through meaningful involvement with the community agency or nonprofit or a school. through a planned collaboration between the professor and community partners all stakeholder benefit both by meeting course objectives and addressing community identified goals. this is really important that reciprocity. this first semester we have 47 different courses in which students are linking the core structures in the discussions to an issue faced by residents in the city. classes as varied as public health, third world cities, visual literacy, marketing for change and the american constitution are linking to over 100 organizations developing partnerships so both sides benefit from this collaboration. you are seeing today the impact

of income inequality on participation in our society is central to what our students are exploring. so why are these new approaches to learning growing come and they are around the country. why is this so important right now? millennial students want to be actively engaged in their learning. they learn much more from hans on experience that connects to people's lives not just what they read about in the abstract. it's a big buzzword in higher education and several studies have shown us that there is a correlation between involvement and community-based learning and practicum and completing college so that's critical for all those who are paying tuition somewhere. students exposure to the nonprofit sector opens their eyes to the great opportunities that these places offer when they graduate and are looking for jobs. they get both a hands-on experience and a whole world of

where you can work. we have many students now working in public schools including -- who is one of our presenters and in the agencies with which they have collaborated as undergraduates. for me personally this is very gratifying. my own professional history lies with schools in d.c., maryland and with the nonprofit sector where i've worked for 25 years. we believe that nonprofit agencies, public offices and schools should all see the university as collaborators in the search for the solution to problems faced in areas like education, health, housing, immigration employment and the environment and that's just to name a few. we can be co-educators and problem solvers together. on behalf of the university i

welcome you and look forward to hearing how this conference helps us all connect, and power and an act. thank you so much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen for first civic highlight please welcome diane from the seattle city club. [applause] ♪ >> good morning everyone. the collection and analysis and interpretation of the dissemination of data on our american civic life is one of the most important and impactful things that ncoc does in this afternoon we are going to look at why that matters, how it matters, how it's done, how all of us can be involved in how we can bring it back to her states and communities. we are going to look at actually collection of civic data that are happening right now and if you have come to this conference

to get involved to get above that the way you can get involved immediately because we'll have to rally to make sure that it's a coherent and supportive part of our vision and then we get to help shape that and talk to the great ncoc staff about how to continue in the future and talk about enlarging our cohort of stakeholders. and that in the second half of the section we will turn to our communities, how it's meaningful in shaping states and localities and we will look at the partnerships and support an impact that it has in local communities and share best practices with each other. if you are someone who has worked on civic health for your state or locality we hope you will come and share your wisdom. if you are someone who is planning on writing a civil report for your community you can find a place to get more

practical tips on how to make the best record in the nation and if you are someone who was just curious about what this all means and how this data impacts our sub civic life and shapes it but we hope you will come and bring your questions to the session. thanks so much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen please welcome back -- ♪ >> we are going to call diane spencer out here but before we do that i want to say a few words about her. her career spans 30 years and includes leadership roles across sectors in government, non-profits and private sector. she has served democratic and

republican demonstrations. prior to coming to washington d.c. she served as the ceo of the florida governor's commission on volunteerism where she coordinates major volunteer efforts in response to disasters including a record-breaking storms from 2004 to 2005, quite an achievement. she is also health health professionals in many organizations including united way, the chamber of commerce and the bank and insurance industries. we know her as our primary cheerleader and i know her as my system service wendy spencer. [applause] ♪ >> thanks a layer and he is my brother and service so we love to share that. hello everyone. it's so great to be at the national conference on citizenship where we are all

rallying around civic participation, civic life, volunteerism. i feel like this is an american choir volunteerism and civic life. are you ready for a great conference? absolutely. this is great and i'm really pleased to be here on behalf of the corporation for national community service. so a little bit about our agency. we are really doing our part to engage americans in service. across the nation today 75,000 members are serving. around 300,000 seniors are serving in our senior programs rotc senior companion and foster grandparents. we also have about 4.6 million volunteers who are either serving alongside those members and volunteers or they will participate in one of our days of service like dr. martin

luther king day service or 9/11 service and remembrance. the volunteers are about 5 million americans in service to all of our programs in 60,000 locations across america. that's every school, every health care center, every park, every habitat home that's being built all engaging in service doing many great things, tutoring and mentoring in reaching out to the elderly helping shelter those that are homeless, providing food to those who need food security. serving our veterans and their family members who need our support and is well serving in environment and unfortunately all throughout disasters and we are currently doing that in detroit and aftermath of hurricane sandy and in oklahoma many of our tornadoes. they are serving right now.

collectively i'm very pleased that we feel that so many americans are committed to service and are demonstrating a strong sense of desire to help one another. in fact are volunteering in civic life in america study we asked the question do you help your neighbor's? i'm pleased to say that about two-thirds of americans, roughly around 880 million say yes to that question. they do help their neighbors and they volunteer, helping their neighbors, helping transport them and supporting their efforts, finding ways to be a good neighbor. about two-thirds, so i have some interesting news that pertains to volunteers through an organization, more of that formal connection, really connected through an organization. this year study which we will release in a couple of months

and i will give you a snake preview today, we have some exciting news that pertains to the commitment of volunteers among young americans. we have known for quite a while that the defining characteristics of millennials is that this generation which spanned from 18 to 33 and have an impulse toward service. amman that group the college aged millennials, 18 to 24, so that's the youngest sector of that group of millennials has a particularly strong service impulse. recent studies have shared with us that they volunteer rate among the 18 to 24-year-olds attending college and that keyword, attending college, with 25.9% last year.

on average volunteering rate for adults overall was held steady at just over 25%. it's significantly higher than volunteering of 18 to 24 yields were not enrolled in college and that's 13.8%. we have some good days and we have an opportunity there. the good news, when you consider the number of americans in this age group is larger than that was a decade ago and the percentage of 18 to 24-year-olds in college have increased dramatically there is a lot of hope because they are serving in volunteering and we are connected with that. the opportunity there as you heard talk about those no girls in college that rate is 12% less among that age group 18 to 24 so that gives us an opportunity that i think we need to address. so there are couple of ways to approach that. one is to reveal that helping

your community is important. please try to find a cause that you are passionate about and support that cause. if that isn't enough to lure that group of 18 to 24 yields and to volunteering is persuade them like a very specific benefit. volunteering as a pathway to employment that was released this report released last year has given us some very good news, that if you are unemployed and you are looking for work and you volunteered you increase the likelihood of getting a job by 27%. now if you don't have a high school diploma and you are looking for work in your volunteer that likelihood raises up to 61%. if you live in a rural community and you are looking for work in a rural community if you volunteer you increase the likelihood to 55%.

so because many for young people are in the age group of 18 to 24 are looking for work and they are in a bracket that has the highest unemployment rate of any age group we need to find ways to get them connected to a job. i think that with this case study now that luring them and threw volunteering is a really good way to do so because it's going to help them, but it's also going to help the communities they serve. people with more hands and hearts to help those who serve. if that's the case then how do we do it? a present task force on expanding national service that president obama issued over a year ago asked konyndyk cochair that with the domestic policy adviser to this president asked us to find a partnership to grow opportunities for americans to serve. so we set out to work with other

federal agencies from the private sector, nonprofit, faith community and then please report report that with our new partnership we have been able to enroll over 4000 new americorps members here this year and in the coming year and $33 million committed to them. that is through these partnerships and we are looking for more. so if that's not enough we said well another way to help engage young people is to find resources. we were able to identify up to $30 million in a partnership to call america are -- americorps partnered challenge. in this for everyone that will help us take up on it will engage more than 8000 americorps members in service over the next year or two. so this is college scholarships

that we will be offering. we are looking for organizations who are willing to underwrite the honest living stipend for americorps members so bring us your ideas. if you've got an idea and you were willing as an organization to underwrite some of that modest living allowance we are willing to partner with the educational scholarship and brand them as americorps members which is a great opportunity to join with us. i'm really pleased that the ncoc under o'lear's leadership also has the school should engage more americans in particular that 18 to 24, 28 year americans in service and it's led by a wonderful leader general stanley mcchrystal who is a wonderful face and a prolific champion for

encouraging young people to serve. we really have to thank general mcchrystal and o'lear for their leadership and the members of the national service alliance as well. so now we know our opportunities. we need to get more americans to serve. we have provided ways to do so. we just celebrated our 20th anniversary where we celebrated 900,000 americans who have served in americorps over the last 20 years. what we have learned from americorps is that they have learned great skills. they learn how to be great speakers. they learn how to connect services to individuals. they learn how to market a program. they learn how to work through problems and they learn how to serve with people different than themselves. all of these are characteristics that employers are helping for

and we would encourage employers to look for. they also have a vision of themselves mentality in their qualifications. they have been selected so we are now going to ask employers across the country to recognize that participants like the alums from c corps. and americorps have great assets to offer organizations. at the 20th anniversary of that president obama alongside president clinton and we were pleased to have president george w. bush and laura bush and also in george h.w. bush and a service that is home with americorps members. in all 50 states the new class of americorps, 7,555,000 of them were inducted at the same moment in time on september 12.

announcing a new initiative called employers of national -- so we are asking employers to give a little bit of a preference to those in americorps or peace corps or other national service partners, maybe in your advertisement that you post job applicants. you say a americorps member, peace corps, peace corps, encouraged to apply. take it a step further and maybe would ask those employers across the country both nonprofit and private sector to put a checkbox in their checkbox in their application is as heavy their application is as heavy serve the national service program like americorps or peace corps? please describe your experience or maybe there's a point system you might want to encourage. i'm very pleased that we are having an inaugural charter employers of partnership challenge that will enlist employers around the country who will participate with us and

that deadline is december 31 but i'm pleased to present a couple of great employees who have already signed on, disney, comcast and nbc universal, the american red cross, habitat for humanity, teach for america, the city of nashville was her first city and the city of south sioux city in nebraska. i was just in nebraska to announce the partnership with the first lady of nebraska on the steps of the mansion there last week. so if you have an organization and you employ anyone consider the alums of national service in your qualifications or someone you should look to to bring your team. i promise you they will make outstanding team members. i am thrilled to be a part of this conference. i'm thrilled to be a partner to

a leader of dnc -- ncoc and i support all the work that universities and colleges are doing to give our students opportunities to serve and let's work on that group are not enrolled in college as well. i'm going to count all of you to join us in americorps partnership challenge or in any way you can find a vehicle, and avenue for americans to serve our community. thank you so much for having me today. [applause] >> thank you wendy. they were bringing out our next speaker's i want to just give you a sneak peak of some of the civic life data that will be coming out. i want to share three members of view.

two of them haven't changed much but the third i find interesting. 80% of americans said they served with a friend or family and that's good news. 56% of america's trusted most or all of their neighbors but this last number, 55% have some more great deal of confidence in the media. that sounds like the majority but it went down seven-point cents 2011 and that sounds to me like that's worthy of pacific health index report. all of these numbers don't mean as much or don't have meaning in and of themselves that are connected or disconnected from the people who work on the ground. to those folks do in small and big ways make the difference in our communities. and i want to invite a group of folks who have done after national service, mary bruce and

her colleagues from americorps. please join me in welcoming them to the stage. [applause] >> my dad dropped out of high school. he went back in his early 20s. i remember him telling me he took it much more seriously a second time around and there was another student who was being distracting in class. my dad found that kid in the hallway, grabbed him by the caller threw him into the lockers and threaten him within an inch of his life. my dad said he hoped that kid paid attention. my dad later went to college but he didn't finish and he always regretted that. so in our household growing up

college was not optional. my dad story and is hope for us made us pay attention. so when our college acceptance letter came we were thrilled. no matter how we ran the numbers we found that we couldn't afford it and it was devastating. so very late in my senior year of high school i found americorps and it changed my life. i moved from suburban ohio where 99% of my peers went to college to watch -- to attend d.c. public schools where at that time fewer than half finished high school. i served as a tutor and mentor. i have never been so exhausted. i remember once i was walking to school in the winter holidays and i want to do something for those kids so i bought some cramped and small things and i put them in gift bags. i was in the middle of the

sidewalk handful of these gift bags and i broke down and cried. how is it possibly going to make a difference to these kids? charisma in tunisia carlos and rafael, these kids were so smart and hard-working and stuck in the system that was completely failing them. these kids made me pay attention. i don't know where they are today but i would like to think they were a little bit better prepared because i was there. and more than that i know i'm part of a movement of teachers and principals, of poets and policymakers who were made in america. individuals who continue to live a life of service because they served. the data shows that. nine and 10 americorps alums go on and continue to work in the public sector. they say was among the most

significant professional experience of their life. i'm thrilled to be joined by new fellow americorps members. we were made in americorps, we are part of the movement and i'm thrilled to be in the service today. spin and growing up i was an ordinary kid. i was often bullied and picked on in school but despite that i always have this inner sense of confidence that whatever is going to do in life is going to be important and i was going to have an impact and i have that because of my parents. my family and folks in the community instill that vision into my future and for me i thought i was going to be through science. i always wanted to be a doctor and i member when i got my first microscope when i was eight years old. i love the show at er and i

thought maybe it would be a biotech to try to find a cure for cancer and i would be my impact on the world. i was a bio major in college and i signed up for service learning course. i didn't know what service learning was. sounded different and engaging and i definitely didn't know the service learning course would assign me to groupon working with teenagers who had been removed from their families because the decisions they themselves had made or the decisions their caregivers had made. as i developed a relationship with those young people i began to look at them and i began to see my teenage self within them but when i looked in their eyes i didn't see any light and i didn't hear any vision of what they thought their future could be. it was in those moments i realized the impact i always thought i would have to my work in my life was likely going to look a little different so that one service learning course became another and another until when i graduated from college i didn't want to go back into bio. i was looking for leadership

operative that would help me become a youth service professional that can impact the lives of young people and i found when they back and it happened to be an americorps program through when i got on the plane from durham north carolina and landed in new hampshire and i raised my right hand to take the americorps pledge i had no idea what participation in a program is going to do for me. would ignite this lifelong thirst to empower and uplift and transform individuals and communities but it did. as a result i stand before you today back in the lab and the social integration lab excited and honored to be part of a network of americorps alums, national service and work with organizations like ncoc who are exploring how can we leverage voluntarism civic engagement to address the challenges we face as a community and as a country in a nation. and jeffrey richards and sheep officer of mayor d.c.'s volunteers in the district where we are facilitating 500 service opportunities each year and in addition to that are getting things done. thank you.

[applause] >> good morning. how is everybody feeling this morning? my name is kelly and like my colleagues here maryanne jeffrey i was made in americorps. when i graduated from college i graduated with a major in urban planning comparative literature which clearly prepares you for life as a spoken word poet. i actually was a three-time alternative spring break alum which is i think almost a record and i wanted to do something with my life. i graduated from school in 2000. i graduated from school in 2000 i have the benefit of just always knowing that americorps was there and that is what i could do with my life when i wanted to contribute and get back to my community. after i graduated from school i served a year in public allies chicago. back then it was in large part

due to michelle obama and back in those days people would talk about how great the obama is were and i was like who are the obama is and why does everyone think they are so great and we soon learned their total impact on american history. but when i was in my time at americorps i was working on the west side of chicago doing youth entrepreneurship. by first day on the job was everyone's first day on the job since it was a startup as well as in the early weeks of my time there. one of the major gang leaders in the neighborhood was assassinated by a rival gang so they were so much that was happening at that time but as i have gone on to perform all of the world i will always take that experience of not only serving enough space but my cohort and friends that continue to make impacts in so many different fields. before i close out today i would like to share a poem with you if that's all right. is that all right? i wrote this in celebration of the 20th anniversary of

americorps so it's dedicated to the 900,000 people who have served their americorps into all of you who care so deeply about contributing to our communities in so many ways. to find your place in the world, where leverage can mean everything, where your courage can invite a child to read, and house to be built, a veteran to live more fully again grasped hands in a circle. where none of us know what we can be, not yet. we find out together, planning nights at the school gym packing medical supplies at the clinic i'm jamming paper stuck in the printer driving out long stretch of road beyond the floodplain. here, where value so often goes overlooked come here in this place, this community in this

person you commit without maybe even knowing exactly why yet. you commit 10 months, a year, two years, three, a lifetime. add to the billion hours of wo work, the hundreds of thousands of hands working so hard to pull together what so often falls through the cracks. find value here. where too often goes overlooked, where it's leverage can mean everything for all of us, every single one. thank you all so much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen please welcome the chairman of the national advisory board of the ncoc 2% the award. ♪ >> good morning. [applause]

we are running a little behind so iran onstage. it's uplifting to hear a story of service learning translating into what we heard was a lifelong thirst to serve community and country. what a wonderful display of an powered service. also hats off to mary bruce who is doing an extraordinary job with americorps alums and wendy's max spencer who is helping to strengthen the service culture. to adapt years ago our next guest and keynote speaker was giving a talk on leadership at the aspen institute ideas festival and ignited a nation with a big idea. having just returned from commanding troops in iraq and afghanistan he noted that for the first time in history less than 1% of americans were serving in our military during war leading to the complacent assumption that serving the country with somebody else's j job. he went on to call for large-scale national service so

that every young american could have the shared experience of serving their nation either in the military or as a civilian. this commitment to service grows out of its own service to country and remarkable record of achievement. it he has been praised for creating a revolution in warfare and fused intelligence and operations. a four-star general, he is the former commander of u.s. and international forces in afghanistan and iraq. he is also the former leader of the joint special operations command jsoc which oversees the military's more sense -- most sensitive forces. his leadership of jsoc which he completely transformed is credited with well-known actions that have made our country safer. today through his work here at home he is on the frontlines of the national service movement yet again bringing the same ingenuity and dedication he brought to the battlefield to the franklin project at the aspen institute at the new

national service alliance of which the national conference on citizenship service nation and voices for national service are a proud part. as chair of the franklin project leadership council he is recruited and led a high-level team of advocates for national service. bringing in former secretaries of defense and state leaders from the military and from every sector of american life and tapped the talents of marine corps veteran jay man going to lead the effort with his extraordinary team teach for america allow mckenzie alum o'connell former cia analyst taro carol mueller new york city said the corps member adam groves and former california volunteers analyst tess mason elder and my cochair allen casey beat your principle allen casey who is with us here today as well. he is encouraged all of us to apply some of the lessons from

jsoc to form a new national service alliance with a common vision, clear goals and a plan of action to meet them. he is also the author of the best-selling book by share the task. how many of you have read a? please hands go up. more patient. his new book team of teams set for release in 2015. so today the national conference on citizenship is honored to present general stanley mcchrystal with the award commissioned by the major george a. smith memorial fund. this annual award is designed to honor the life and service of major smith, a man who served for 20 years in the u.s. army as a foreign area officer throughout the middle east and spent his retirement working with fema to help hurricane victims restart their lives. in honor of major smith service his family established the award to recognize an outstanding veteran who defined their citizenship for your service to our country both in uniform and beyond. i cannot think of anyone who

better fits that description or someone who has done more than his share of the task than our honoree and keynote speaker today. please welcome general stanley mcchrystal. [applause] [applause] ♪ >> i grew up in the rangers and the word actually was first used by the rangers. it was interesting because there's a great story about where it came from.

it went back to omaha beach in the second world war. if any of you have seen "saving private ryan" he was in the battalion and the story is that it was very difficult and they were getting shot up and general norman cota brigadier general walked along the beach and he needed people to start moving and let no matter how difficult it was going to be. andy went to an organization and he said which units are you guys from? the young sergeant looked up and he goes sir where the rangers and he says okay, rangers lead the way. the young man looked up and said who, us? [laughter] you spend a lifetime in the military like i did you are taught never to volunteer. from day one even if they are giving out four-day passes and attach 100-dollar bills to -- i spent my whole life volunteeri volunteering. it was funny around soldiers and people in this room you have a

habit of volunteering. you can't help yourself. someone says something has to happen, you just do. your arm is up before you realize it. ..

>> >> they are jointly bound to take care of each other's though the concept of citizenship laws divvying small or limited responsibilities is what you are and what you are about and do what you don't do and citizenship in america has eroded for lots of reasons but to the point we need to stop and look at the real problem. partisanship and economic equality, the polarization of different parts of the society, but if we look at the problem and we want to fix it and take a big step

that will take a bigger idea. i believe that service produces citizens that once your part of something bigger than yourself and you commit yourself you feel differently about it. once you invest you own part of what america and a society is. the franklin project is a recognition the big idea is right now. we need to do more the nation needs to embrace the adl that citizenship is reinforced dramatically so the franklin project is one part of an alliance to make service a rite of passage for all america to give an opportunity for all americans to do 12 months of

paid in national service with health care conservation education it is two sides of the same coin of military service. service is service to others so if we say are you in the service it should apply to anyone that has been serving others think about your first experience. you felt good initially. but over time you felt different. so the idea is we have a long-term effort to take a decade or more to expand the concept so every young american has that opportunity.

right now is pretty limited. we will have to expand dramatically that is 25% of each year and the ultimate goal is to have it so embedded in our culture that when people sit around the dinner table with their family the parents will say where are you thinking about serving? either before or during or after college or before you begin the rest of your life? young people talk among themselves. then on the train to stir talk to the stranger next you to say where did you serve? someone says it taught in a

school in louisiana and others -- person says marine corps than there is the instant connection there is a bond they never knew they all had contributed to something because citizenship did not just mean i can vote that i have the right and responsibility. and if we can make this an expectation to where people move forward in society or government or politics and they think about running for office, they will not do it unless they can say this is what i did for the nation to contribute. i am small part of this movement.

i joined slightly over two years ago. and i was in the military service and had no idea. and i am probably average but i have the opportunity to see what it is and we have to have so much more. this room should not be full of 150 people that 150,000. i believe it is possible if we aligned to the big idea. but it is really just trying to get you to do more. [laughter] thank-you for all you are and all you have done. [applause]

♪ [inaudible conversations] one more time. given up. [applause] every time i think it might be doing something or make a contribution it gets me out of bed little faster and gets real the door a little faster. a couple of personal notes where is ted mcconnell? standout plays. [applause] today is his birthday.

is the executive director and the pillar of our community so happy birthday. is kristin backstage? she is a long time, i'm in trouble. come here. [applause] sa full-time employee is of counsel in legal terms and she will be married in two weeks to a wonderful guy and

along the way she really screwed up her arm. so only a national service terms dishy a wounded warrior. thank you. [applause] >> this morning we seem to shed light on economic equality. end its relationship to active civic engagement. the goal certainly is not to engage in a partisan solution or discuss the causes but instead to better understand the issue in the relationship between civic engagement and the quality. what of our the interplays between these two critical elements of our lives?

and how can we see active citizenship as a long-term way to address this challenge from political social or advantage points? is interesting prism, it is an interesting way that comes from the issue of economic equality. the history of capitalism is a constant search for balance between what the economist referred to as base animal instincts that have propelled the country for word none the less and then need to ensure all americans feel they have a stake in the economy and democracy. as capitalist incoming quality motivates entreprenuers to take a risk to build companies capitalism foster's the most

successful society in relatively short 250 years it has gone from nowhere to leading countries five times our age. at the same time democracy serves as a counterbalance giving every citizen equal representation. america is getting richer the most voters don't feel at. taken to its conclusion that the measures of the health initiative qualitative and quantitative we need to keep the data coming tell us about the balance like a thermometer they indicate inevitably single when the health is threatened the system works better than any other invented but it has to work for as many as possible. everyone needs to have a

legitimate look. this is one reason why going deeply into health and unemployment this is a panel discussion that is the natural evolution not at the downstream challenge but the culturally ingrained upstream challenge of economic equality we will not find a solution in the next 60 minutes but we have distinguished thinkers to shed light on the topic. we have bill lewis said chair from the brookings institution government studies program of former policy adviser to president clinton and presidential candidates an expert on domestic policy political campaigns and elections than current research focuses on

designing with the polarization and with the "wall street journal" column and i know others do as well. mentally lament is this balance is semiprecious short supply. we have a longstanding relationship with bill and he has served as founding adviser to our initiatives and it is a pleasure to introduce bill and the members of his panel. [applause] ♪

>> i have not got to the bifocals yet. [laughter] it is a pleasure and honor to be back here at the annual meeting of this organization that is done so much to promote knowledge and action in the area of civic engagement. there is nothing like this organization i hope it continues to go in the years ahead. the most precious thing we have is time i will try not to waste it. my first job is to introduce

the members of this panel. have distinguished resonates so i will not give anyone the introduction he or she deserves. starting at the far end end, fellow and policy studies at 80 i for purposes of today's discussion or perhaps most importantly the former commissioner of human resources administration which is the largest municipal human-resources administration in the country in an extraordinary vantage point to view what is going on in our society today. and with a citizen university.

the areas of citizenship and a gauge read. by eric has become extraordinarily common intellectual at what i now regard as a founder of strategies. as well as the nonprofit institutions end of world to recognize the red campaign. and the children's defense fund you can get all of those together if you are onto something.

to my immediate left or right thomas who is the senior economist from the economic policy institute. and serving with distinction in virtually all the federal government agencies i would describe as honest and functional. including gao, a social security, congressional research service he has not touched cbo but the rise in may is complete. since you are a certified economist could you get this conversation launched with in the commonwealth and inequality and what we know

has been going on in these areas over the past generation? >> i want touse step back a little bit talk about inequality talk about economic opportunities or outcomes. it is easier to talk about outcomes because they're easier to measure. that is the discussion about consumption or income or wealth inequality. in a word however you measure inequality looking at it, the floor or after transfers and taxes, the trend over the last three decades has been upwards of

wealth and consumption and equality over the past 35 years. the interesting thing most of the action has been at the top of the wealth or income distribution. it is the top 1 percent and it does have some implications why in kind inequality is important it is competion for civic and gauge read. >> now we will pass the microphone all the way down. and from the human resources administration and to what

happened in new york city for the national trend as well. with the soulful -- social services agency we had child enforcement and our focus there was less on inequality an opportunity enhancement and we felt compared to other large cities three made progress during difficult times. nationally the inequality issue for those who'd care about poverty a little bit of a distraction. and the most recent data was very disappointing where reword 2013. 45 million americans are classified as for.

it is almost 15 percent lower than it was. we are far off from the relatively recent past so from my perspective to focus on broad based growth that increases the opportunities and jobs of all levels it has been terrible for struggling americans. of the social services programs and focus on work support to make agents go farther especially those left out to but not likely to be eligible for food stamp benefits the lastly

family. to the extent the child poverty rates for single parent families is 45% in married couple families it is 9%. that statistics are highly related were most households are in single-parent families. and poverty reduction is what we need to focus on. >> you have spent a number of years looking hard between civic trends and economic trends and how do

you assess that impact and gratified ethiopia decided to focus squarely on inequality for those whose concern is primarily about the poverty is understand the point you are making but economic and political will look -- with zero period of unprecedented equality that has not been seen since the great depression this is an

instance the when you have this type of concentration it is not healthy for the economy. these are not unrelated phenomenon. with part of the same vicious cycle and political inequality. with of levels of concentrated voice and political clout that we have to day there is there a recent study by benjamin page that shows essentially the policy preferences of average americans have little or no bearing on the policy outcomes. and even those within the top 10% it began its

political and civic and equality a where those in the middle much less those who are poor have little to no voice or power to make a voice heard. that gets mower economic inequality. this is part of the feedback of the cycle. but more broadly but getting to focus on how to break that vicious circle to set in motion a virtuous circle with more political opportunity and civic opportunity. >> not only had to work with all the profit organizations

one of the principal actors in the effort to get the millenials generation, i have a two-part question. first of all,, does what you just heard reading true with the people that you counseled or activate and its fire? -- inspired? have a view have people respond to these questions? >> i am not as reserved as my colleagues i am very excited about this work. i know everyone is. my job is to tell stories to help people tell the stories in then their rings true and my primary goal is how do i help young people not just

understand this data but conveyed the stories to the decision makers? what we hear and know about the economy is terrifying. all the data and research even though i am on the upper end but it shows that millenials are still optimistic. what we know is they our solution driven a generation. and he articulated this eliot may. but that bypass generation they're not interested in the institutions of old but those that they were told would solve their problems

to lead them to economic prosperity. zero word i have not heard used yet as people start talking about their future. and thus far they have failed them. and their resolution and oriented. but the relationship between economic insecurity and the quality of civic engagement needs to be transformed to that a solution so how do we position civic engagement as a solution? but the data was so exciting you can see the relationship

and employability. so you can tell people civics engagement is not beautiful or positive but to paint it as a solution for the economic security your experience saying to help get a better future i think we will have a dramatic increase. the second thing i will say there are two stories being told. only where we care about the data we realize their civic minded. and that young people are selfish and lazy that is not true.

but we have to find a way to talk about the work for good may not sound like we have been taught civic engagement is. it may not look the same. and to find ways to hold accountable and then it is communicated to people who are not in this room to reflect a reordering. >> that is terrific for a wonderful opening statement and related to a different questions. i will call an audible because too important debates have emerged for

points of discussion. the first i detected a difference of of this is between tom and robert if we should be looking and equality are poverty but what should we really be keeping our eyes on as a problem to be addressed through civic engagement? one of the things that we need to keep our institutions honest. people complain about them failing them but to keep them honest by voting, with

your congressperson to attend city hall meetings or with a member of congress. is not that hard to make an appointment and to talk about a specific issue on your mind. i think i it agree with eric that income inequality is not a distraction and eric did the great job to talk about the problems that we see that inequality brigit's political inequality. we also have health and equality that is related to its.com. what we should be focusing on is the welfare of our nation. that does include those the

syncom distribution but those that seem stagnated over 20 years. >> the suggestion of body language. [laughter] odyssey have worked in the program's 80 years i am focused on the bottom but i will offer this that there are some solutions on the income inequality issue. i am a believer in transparency ceos and workers that rule has been passed we should talk about that. but secondly cooperation in -- corporations are sitting on investment opportunity they can give it to shareholders pass on to customers and they could be nicer to their employees that is good for our country as a whole but just to talk

about the ongoing resentments for crazy reasons to have very high incomes it does seem to pull away in a much larger question how do we increase wages and jobs throughout the rest of the economy? we seem to have lost track. it was a bad recession but it was five years. sayings are better now but if we don't pick up speed will be back in another recession. i am very much focused on job creation and growth being in the volunteer worldly sometimes think we are the center of of world.

but the economy is the center is bigger than what we can do with government social services for civics engagement. >> i quite agree. to this extent that actually there is the world - - a word that has been missing and that word is power. volunteer civic engagement does not happen in a vacuum but in the context of unequal power. it turns out there is one way to break out of the

politics of false choices i come from a city of seattle the has taken steps to do that while simultaneously making participation and more robust that was to raise minimum wage at $15 and was privileged to serve on the committee business labor nonprofit deal that made this happen was not a socialist run amok butted deal was crafted on that economic theory when more people or those at the bottom have more purchasing power when workers have more of many businesses have more customers.

it is great and for capitalism it is also great for civic life. it is time on the of margins to get involved to be a part of the pta but even then get it concrete fell low wage workers in seattle at the heart of this campaign were people for reasons that we agree have not participated have never given a speech in public gore have showed up with public policy questions

or participate in our democracy. but the existence was catalytic airport baggage handlers across the board. they started to show up in civic life and when you can get results they learned what members of the teapartier learned that when you are a and the situation that institutions are not helping you into organizing people with a collective voice and that ability to discover that capacity is a way to simultaneously address poverty. >> calling inaudible you will know how it will develop. [laughter] that is great and leads to

the second question before rigo 2q with a. barakat you use a very interested -- interesting phrase of the bypass generation of. that suggested that somehow you could go around the existing institutions through all trinidad pathways. what they seemed to be talking about what of are the reflections? bypass or connection? >> it is not either/or.

alternately results in connection. when you find as a digital program created to have citizens connect directly with the elected officials when they see a problem the way to use technology for those you can fix it so with that those pathways already assessed you can filiform or go to city hall. the path blazed exist but they create a new way with technology that helps elect officials and hold people accountable but there is

still that connection. i can go through examples were young people say these institutions understand their value but it says they're not working the way they're supposed to work. to get immediate results there is still a belief with the value we strive to a poll but what we have seen that things are broken. and that is to save you can only fix it with voting.

and many of the issues they care about have gotten worse. voting is very important. i am not denigrating that but about where this impulse comes from to embrace the results to change these institutions. >> now i will call michael back up to use the podium to moderate the discussion. >> i will take the chairman's prerogative. i found very interesting erica's comments we are belote -- beyond lucky to have her.

but the failure of institutions it is a frustration, and to people in the economic strata the subtext is how to read share what we have more broadly? were one of the clear things with those who haven't to give for cher is a lack of confidence picking from the top of the charts i would ask how do get a common cause? because they were talking before to stack the deck in

favor which is the subtext how did we get to that point of common cause? >>. >> i have some ideas but i don't know about the answer. my approach is about the stories that we tell about civic and engagement and it is compelling that had not previously been cynically engaged not only with the engagement but like but the outcome as a result adhere

them often the from the committees that i work with with that national narrative we don't hear the stories about what civic the kitchen looks like today and how it is working. as an example of ferguson you don't have to get in a discussion today of the details but so many of my friends today have traveled to ferguson for ferguson october not just working on the issues at hand but using it as the critical moment that figures out where to go from here? if we can figure out these moments with the beautiful

opportunities to say you have a voice and you do have power and here is what it looks like. here is what we know here are the tools use them however you wish matell those stories the can shift the narrative. >> i am a little surprised of the downcast attitude i am little more optimistic as a cage as a nixon designed in disgrace we had very difficult times we're in the sixth year of the obama presidency he has a

signature change in the way he thought would be best. i am a little more optimistic but the charter school movement clearly coming from people and kids to say we will change this institution the mayor decided he wanted to do something different and the community rose up to change the course about what happened. so i think there is a lot but our institutions are not so unhealthy we have to keep at it. >> very briefly recall do

well to keep in mind the way eric frame to his remarks civic engagement is the game that everyone can play. natalie pushing in the same direction. but that grass-roots insurrection overthrew the democratic majority through the end of the second world war government spending in absolute terms that we all have our views on the wisdom of that program but it is a useful reminder but civic engagement and consents incertitude different sayings.

you can have more engagement and ordovician at the same time. we should not assume these things go together. >> i agree. it is about sharing individual stories but the larger story of us. i want to do connect the dots. general the crystal what they're doing with the franklin project is not interesting initiatives national service to make it a normal and in ethnic will go so far to stitch together as a bigger story even as

they are poles apart center for klay where we can feel like we know each other and see each other not just to say hi. we come together to fix a third saying. that commonality emerges a clause race or region not only focusing their inequality but is something that we return to over and over again. >> who has a comment? don't be bashful.

please stand up. >> i am with americorps. >> thank you for your service. i am a civilian looking to support military families so there is a discussion serving in 99% that is supported but not engaged i am constantly in thin discussion how do we make them feel like they need to care to go beyond caring but do something? metas i we are engaged with the franklin project and to give that opportunity to extend and i was learning to live as a homeless person

for one week in d.c. i was rejected by the homeless population and the other population so i thought how do i make a difference is different for me when i come from a privileged background and the need for this engagement was personal because of my experience but not my background. the with that 75 percent that are not volunteering but some feel they don't have that power to get involved and why would i bother? sly and interested to hear more about what you to do with stories. i was telling my supervisor

that i feel like i cannot make an impact because i don't come from them that when i go home to talk to these people who have no idea they are not receptive. >> thank you very much. >> i think we talk about differences so much for the background that we don't talk about our shared meador human needs. those who volunteer or serve in a traditional way like the military or americorps organization is well positioned to articulate the needs they tried to meet in the world and in their own life. when you hear americorps

people tell the story that this is what i wanted and it happened to be the way that i chose. everybody has the same need as a desire for community or to make impact, we have to position service as a way to meet those needs. but the personal human desires to see aerosols' the fill certain goals to feel loved and connect with one another of. [laughter] that is real though. to tell that in relation to values that can go a long way for more tangible differences between us.

>> i am reminded with my friend chris martin iraq army veteran fed is called got your six that some of you may know is military terminology that is got your back said campaign to engage veterans as they return from iraq and afghanistan not as victims or walk on water as heroes but civic assets to continue to serve. the question was more broadly about the 99% to did not serve but in the sense is the another request of returning veterans it is a

reflex that is better than not but when we encounter someone like you that has served we say thank you for your service. but i would love it now if they say you are welcome. power usurping? how're you going to serve? just take that pro-forma moment to turn into a moment of i did serve and i am not a special bed and i do have standing to challenge you to show what. >> at the national conference on citizenship is chairman and eisenhower were believed this was a vehicle to a channel the patriotic urges of veterans in the community service.

this is how we began. other questions please. >> first things to the panelists. to describe the millenials generation with that being said tatarstan the issue could not be solved overnight what is one tangible act for when we leave here today? >> refused to say that is a question for me. [laughter] to return the question one tangible thing to the begin the journey of what? >> that we can begin today? >> one place to start is a minimum wage nationally has

been stuck for quite some time. saw inflation adjusted terms it is going down. we would like to increase that. that would help people at the bottom of the income distribution to pass the bill to raise the minimum wage. >> i will give the prospective on the minimum-wage issue. it is likely higher. but when i listen to that we have too big constituencies. one was single mothers that or offer some time entering into low-wage jobs and had children in the household and as a result they were eligible and received a

larger earned income tax benefits, a child-care assistance and food stamp benefits. from my perspective of raising minimum wage in terms of their economic well-being have done that much because as a country we have developed these programs to shore wages for that population. also look at a single men. particularly those of color are the most disconnected and troubled members of society. increasing minimum wages and not so sure would help them either because it makes a harder for an employer to take a chance on them because the cost is higher. we have very open and immigration and attitudes so

we like bringing those into the city but higher minimum wage i don't know if that helps add a note that is the best solution. i feel we have to talk about the economic engine going. i vaguely with said they can engagement issues. . .