Washington D.C. - The Senate has unanimously confirmed Stephen Goldsmith to serve on the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service for a term lasting through October of 2010.

Goldsmith, former two-term Mayor of Indianapolis, has served as chairman of the board since June of 2001, overseeing a range of reforms and an expansion of the agency’s programs and participants. The new appointment ensures his continued leadership for an additional four years, including the transition to a new Administration.

The bipartisan 15-member board, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, sets overall policy and direction for the Corporation and its programs. The Corporation is the nation’s largest grant maker for volunteering and service, engaging more than 1.5 million Americans in service each year through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, VISTA, NCCC, and Learn and Serve America programs. The Corporation works closely with USA Freedom Corps, a White House office dedicated to expanding volunteer service in America.

“One of the President's great goals is to invigorate the spirit of service and citizenship in America, and with Congressional support we’ve come a long way toward that goal,” said Goldsmith. “I look forward to working with the Corporation, its thousands of community and faith-based partners, and the larger nonprofit sector to strengthen the culture of service in America."

“Steve has been an extraordinary chairman who has made a profound difference in strengthening and expanding national service in America,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation. “From the earliest days of this Administration, Steve has worked to build management excellence and broaden the reach and impact of our programs. His confirmation will ensure that all of national service will continue to benefit from his guidance and leadership for years to come.”

Under Goldsmith’s leadership, the Corporation has achieved a number of milestones:

• Last February, the Corporation unveiled a bold five-year strategic plan that provides a blueprint for building a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. The plan lays out four priorities: mobilizing more volunteers, ensuring a brighter future for all of America’s youth, engaging students in communities, and harnessing baby boomers’ experience. It includes specific targets to reach by 2010, including 75 million Americans volunteering, 3 million more at-risk youth with mentors, 3 million at-risk youth serving others in their communities, service-learning in half of all K-12 schools, and 3 million more baby boomers engaged in service.
      
• In 2005, Goldsmith worked with Board Vice-Chair Dorothy Johnson to build consensus for revised rules that helped make the AmeriCorps program stronger, more effective, and better positioned for continued growth. The final rule was based on extensive public input and balanced many different points of view from Congress, grantees, and other stakeholders.
      
• Goldsmith worked closely with Congress on the passage of the fiscal 2004 national service budget, which provided a historic funding increase for AmeriCorps to support 75,000 AmeriCorps members – a 50 percent increase over previous levels. Goldsmith received an “Outstanding National Service Advocacy Award” from Voices for National Service for his leadership in this effort.
      
• Throughout his tenure, Goldsmith has overseen a series of aggressive management reforms at the agency, ranging from an overhaul of the National Service Trust and the adoption of cutting edge technology solutions to institution of program performance measure and management metrics and the building of a performance culture among agency employees. These improvements have increased the efficiency and accountability of the Corporation and its programs.
      
• While the Corporation has always provided support to faith-based and community groups, these efforts were ramped up as a result of Goldsmith’s leadership and Executive Orders in 2001 and 2005, which encouraged federal agencies to level the playing field for faith-based and other community organizations to compete for federal funds. Last year the Corporation awarded nearly $81 million – or 13 percent of its overall competitive grant funds – to faith-based organizations, two percentage points above the national federal average.

Dan Paul Professor of Government at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Stephen Goldsmith is a nationally recognized expert on government management, reform, and innovation. He is the author of several books, most recently, “Governing by Network: The New Face of the Public Sector,” and his columns have frequently been published in such papers as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. He currently is a Partner in Knowledge Universe Learning Group, one of the world’s largest private education companies. While serving two terms as Mayor of Indianapolis, he earned a national reputation for innovations in government. Mr. Goldsmith was chief domestic policy advisor to President Bush in the 2000 campaign and then served as Special Advisor to the President on faith-based and nonprofit initiatives.

In addition to serving as Chairman of the Corporation’s Board, Goldsmith serves on the boards of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, the Fannie Mae Foundation, Homes for Working Families, America’s Promise-The Alliance for Youth, Finish Line Corporation, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, and the Council for Excellence in Government.

The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year, the Corporation provides opportunities for 1.5 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. For more information, go to http://www.nationalservice.gov.

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