AmeriCorps Connections

From FEMA Corps deployments after Superstorm Sandy to leading AmeriCorps teams and serving as Program Manager for Serve Indiana. Willie Brooks has lived the full spectrum of national service. In this episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast, Willie shares how his three terms of service shaped his career, the mentors who pushed him to lead, and the life lessons he carries into his role today.

He also opens up about the influence of his biggest supporter—his mom—who first introduced him to AmeriCorps and set him on a path of service, leadership, and purpose.

If you believe in the power of service to transform lives and communities, you’ll love this conversation.

👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to help us keep lifting up AmeriCorps voices!

✨ AmeriCorps Connections Podcast | Episode #86 – Denise Fowler ✨

What happens when a confused college student searching for direction finds herself in the room where AmeriCorps was first unveiled? For Denise Fowler, that moment changed everything.
In this powerful conversation, Denise reflects on her journey as one of the very first AmeriCorps VISTA members in 1994, serving at the Denver, Indian Center. From helping build mentoring programs and stepping in to run a computer literacy center overnight, to witnessing the daily struggles of families just trying to make ends meet, Denise shares the transformational experiences that shaped her career and her commitment to service.

💡 Denise reminds us that AmeriCorps is more than a service year—it’s a launchpad for careers rooted in purpose, leadership, and getting things done.
If you’re an AmeriCorps alum, a current member, or simply someone who believes in the power of service, this episode will leave you inspired to keep finding your piece of it.

👉 Learn more about  Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration (TSPPPA) https://tspppa.gwu.edu/

📢 TAKE ACTION: Use the Voices for National Service tool (linked below) to contact your Member of Congress and urge them to fund AmeriCorps.
📞 https://voicesforservice.org/take-action/contact-congress/
📣 Share your story using #AmeriCorpsConnections

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share!

Still Work to Do” — Sneha Gandhi on Service, Identity & Purpose | AmeriCorps Connections Podcast

📌 This episode is part of our 2025 Recruitment Series. BayAC is currently recruiting AmeriCorps members to serve youth in San Francisco and the East Bay!
👉 Learn more: https://www.bayac.org/
In this deeply inspiring episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast, host Nicki Fiocco sits down with Sneha Gandhi—Bay Area Youth Agency Consortium (BAYAC) alum, educator, and empowerment coach. Sneha shares her transformative AmeriCorps journey, how her “Hidden Superheroes” classroom changed lives, and why now—more than ever—we need to speak up for national service.

🎧 From her service pivot during COVID to her current leadership supporting youth and future AmeriCorps members, Sneha reminds us: “If you still have a story, then the journey’s not over—it’s just beginning.”

📢 TAKE ACTION: Use the Voices for National Service tool (linked below) to contact your Member of Congress and urge them to fund AmeriCorps.📞 https://voicesforservice.org/take-action/contact-congress/
📣 Share your story using #americorpsconnections 
🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share!
🔗 Subscribe, share, and stay connected—because service doesn’t stop when the term ends.

🎙️ We Are the Vessels: Jordan Snipes on Youth Leadership, Service, and Fighting for AmeriCorps

In this powerful and heartfelt episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast, host Nicki Fiocco sits down with Jordan Snipes—a dynamic South Carolina native whose national service journey took him from youth commissioner to two-term AmeriCorps College Advising Corps member, and now, to graduate school and national board leadership.

From working with high school students across South Carolina to joining the America’s Service Commissions Board, Jordan shares what it means to serve with purpose, the challenges facing AmeriCorps today, and what comes next for a generation rising through uncertainty.

🌱 “We are the vessels,” Jordan reminds us. And in a time of national service cuts and political unrest, his words offer both grounding and hope.

📢 TAKE ACTION: Use the Voices for National Service tool (linked below) to contact your Member of Congress and urge them to fund AmeriCorps.
📞Contact your Congress person - Vocies4Service Tool 
📣 Share your story using #AmeriCorpsConnections
🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share!

In this episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast, we reconnect with Alex Tran, a dedicated AmeriCorps alum who has fearlessly served multiple terms in various capacities across the country. Alex returns to discuss the turmoil and uncertainty facing AmeriCorps amidst funding cuts and the critical need for national service. He shares his experiences, from his work with the American Conservation Experience (ACE) to his volunteerism and advocacy in Delaware.

Alex emphasizes the importance of organizing and raising voices to support AmeriCorps, highlighting his own efforts and passion for public service.

Read Alex's published Letters to the Editors in support of AmeriCorps:
Capital Gazette
New York Times

If you’ve ever been impacted by or curious about national service, this episode is a must-watch.
🎧 Hit Subscribe, share, and join us in supporting the future of AmeriCorps. #AmeriCorpsAlumni #nationalservice  #advocacy  #volunteerism  #publicservice

☎️ Contact your Congress person - Vocies4Service Tool 

🎧 Kate Morton: From AmeriCorps to Presidential Leadership
AmeriCorps Connections Podcast | Episode Title: “Purpose Finds You”

In this episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast, host Nicki Fiocco reconnects with Kate Morton, an NCCC alum and fan-favorite from Episode 5 (March 2023). Now a Chief Clinical Officer at Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless and a Presidential Leadership Scholar, Kate returns to share how national service continues to shape her life—and how purpose has a way of finding you when you stay open to the signs.

From her early days as a pharmacy technician unsure of her path, to a transformative AmeriCorps year that led her to pharmacy school, Kate reflects on:
💊 Her mission-driven work in public health and addiction treatment
🏥 Building compassionate care systems for people experiencing homelessness
🇺🇸 Being selected for the Presidential Leadership Scholars program
🎨 The healing power of art, community, and dignity in healthcare
🌌 Trusting the universe and embracing the unexpected
✨ This episode is a reminder that service doesn’t end—it evolves.
📍 Listen to Kate’s first episode (Ep. 5): “Reshaping Your Future Through Service”
📌 Learn more about Healthcare for the Homeless
✨ Presidential Leadership Scholars

☎️ Contact your Congress person - Vocies4Service Tool 

📢 This is not your average AmeriCorps Connections episode. We're issuing an urgent call to action.

On April 22, 2025, AmeriCorps Connections host Nicki Fiocco sat down with national service leaders Maureen Eccleston (Service Year Alliance) and Chad Driscoll (America’s Service Commissions) to discuss the unfolding threat to AmeriCorps programs across the country—including the demobilization of NCCC teams and the administrative leave of 85% of AmeriCorps agency staff.

💡 This episode breaks down:
What’s really happening inside the AmeriCorps agency
How we’re mobilizing to protect AmeriCorps programs
What YOU can do—today—to make your voice heard

🎯 Take Action Now
✍🏽 Share Your AmeriCorps Story: Submit your story to Service Year Alliance
📝 Register for the Letter to the Editor Workshop Wednesday, April 23 at 6:00 pm ET : Sign up here
📬 Email Your Members of Congress: Use this quick tool from Voices for National Service
💥 Amplify Online: Share your story and tag @AmeriCorpsAlums @ServiceYear @Voices4Service

💬 “There are 1.3 million AmeriCorps alumni. That’s a powerful voice. Let’s use it.” – Nicki Fiocco

From AmeriCorps Service to National Movement Leader: J.R. Jamison's Inspiring Journey

In this episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast, we delve into an illuminating conversation with J.R. Jamison, an AmeriCorps alum whose year of service in 2001 with the Indiana Reading Corps shaped his impactful career.

Join us as J.R. shares his personal journey—starting from his passion for storytelling and education, traversing through his work in higher education, and culminating in his current role as Executive Director of the Facing Project. Discover how AmeriCorps instilled in him a lifelong commitment to community service, the transformative power of storytelling, and why staying true to your passion matters at every life stage. Tune in for inspiring stories, actionable insights, and a celebration of the enduring impact of service.

🙂The Facing Project

🎧 Don't forget to subscribe, comment below, and join us in celebrating the power of service. #AmeriCorpsAlumni #NationalService #Storytelling #CommunityEngagement #CareerGrowth

➡️00:00 Discovering AmeriCorps: A Journey Begins
➡️00:59 The AmeriCorps Experience: Building a Statewide Program
➡️01:51 Connecting Through Stories: The Power of Narrative
➡️03:28 Welcome to the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast
➡️05:01 Introducing JR Jameson: A Career Rooted in Service
➡️06:45 From AmeriCorps Member to Executive Director
➡️09:01 Challenges and Triumphs in Literacy Programs
➡️13:39 The Impact of Service: Personal Reflections
➡️16:37 Navigating Career Paths Post-AmeriCorps
➡️21:24 Leadership and Imposter Syndrome
➡️24:54 Expanding AmeriCorps Programs: STEM and Beyond
➡️27:26 Reflecting on Special Collaborations
➡️27:56 The Impact of Kelsey Timmerman's Book
➡️29:29 Connecting with the Community
➡️30:45 Addressing Poverty Through Storytelling
➡️35:22 Launching the Facing Project
➡️36:20 Transitioning to Full-Time Leadership
➡️40:48 The Power of Storytelling
➡️47:59 Exciting New Projects and Future Plans
➡️51:01 Advice for AmeriCorps Alumni

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Alumni Connections

• AmeriCorps Alums LinkedIn Group 
• AmeriCorps Opportunities 
• Schools of National Service - Find an institute that will match/ honor or offer other incentives toward your Segal Education Award - 
• Employers of National Service - Find employers who prioritize AmeriCorps Alumni service in their hiring 

🤠Shout outs!
🌟🌟Podcast Marketing support provided by Do Good, Be Good - they provide training for AmeriCorps programs and are staffed by AmeriCorps alumni.

🌟🌟Hosting and podcast consultation provided by Producer Dan Metivier of Time or Money Production. Thank you, Dan! (p.s., he's an NCCC AmeriCorps Alumni)

{supporters} 

In this episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast, we sit down with Sarah Middleton, a passionate social impact leader whose AmeriCorps service year in 2001 sparked a lifelong journey in nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and corporate volunteerism.

Sarah shares how a single year of service shaped her future—from house-parenting at Girls Hope, to launching a global employee volunteer program at PIMCO, to starting her own consultancy, Mission Up. We explore the real-world impact of volunteering, the need to rebrand service as essential—not just "nice," and the importance of building networks and translating service into career momentum.

✨ Plus, Sarah shares exciting details about a hands-on workshop for service-year alums and early career professionals happening May 10th in Orange County!

📢 If you’ve ever wondered how a service year can catapult your personal and professional growth, this episode is for you.
 🎧 Hit Subscribe, comment below, and join us in celebrating the power of service.

👉 Learn more about Sarah at: https://www.missionup.co
💼 Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: Sarah Vagley Middleton
🗓️ Want to join the May 10th workshop? Reach out for details!
 
#AmeriCorpsAlumni #NationalService #SocialImpact #Volunteerism #CareerGrowth
 

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Alumni Connections

• AmeriCorps Alums LinkedIn Group 
• AmeriCorps Opportunities 
• Schools of National Service - Find an institute that will match/ honor or offer other incentives toward your Segal Education Award - 
• Employers of National Service - Find employers who prioritize AmeriCorps Alumni service in their hiring 

🤠Shout outs!
🌟🌟Podcast Marketing support provided by Do Good, Be Good - they provide training for AmeriCorps programs and are staffed by AmeriCorps alumni.

🌟🌟Hosting and podcast consultation provided by Producer Dan Metivier of Time or Money Production. Thank you, Dan! (p.s., he's an NCCC AmeriCorps Alumni)

{supporters} 

In this episode of AmeriCorps Connections, we sit down with Griff Ryan Roberts, an AmeriCorps NCCC, NCCC Leader & VISTA alum, who’s now in his final year of law school. Griff shares the honest, often humorous, and deeply impactful story of how a surprise call from Vinton, Iowa changed his life trajectory—from selling iPhones to becoming a passionate advocate for national service.

We talk about:
🤝Life in NCCC: From 10-person crews to living in church basements
🤝Lessons in leadership as a team leader and unit leader
🤝His shift from direct service to systemic change
🤝The bold proposal he’s working on: A 21st-century GI Bill for civilian service
🤝Why service builds empathy, resilience, and national unity

Don’t forget to subscribe—60% of viewers haven’t, and we need your help getting these inspiring stories out into the world. 💙

🔗 Connect with Griff on LinkedIn
📖 Read his law review article

🔔 Subscribe for more inspiring conversations!
#americorps #americorpsalumni  #nationalservice  #podcast  #communityengagement  #CivicLeadership #volunteerism

🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝
Alumni Connections

• AmeriCorps Alums LinkedIn Group 
• AmeriCorps Opportunities 
• Schools of National Service - Find an institute that will match/ honor or offer other incentives toward your Segal Education Award - 
• Employers of National Service - Find employers who prioritize AmeriCorps Alumni service in their hiring 

🤠Shout outs!
🌟🌟Podcast Marketing support provided by Do Good, Be Good - they provide training for AmeriCorps programs and are staffed by AmeriCorps alumni.

🌟🌟Hosting and podcast consultation provided by Producer Dan Metivier of Time or Money Production. Thank you, Dan! (p.s., he's an NCCC AmeriCorps Alumni)

{supporters}