The Idealist.org Podcasts

The Idealist.org Podcasts

By Idealist.orgNon-Profit
Download on the App Store

The Idealist.org Podcasts episodes

  • Emerging Corps: Blue Engine's Nick Ehrmann

    In 2010, a new national service corps is getting off the ground. Blue Engine, based in New York City, aims to recruit a corps of about a dozen fellows for the 2010-2011 school year to facilitate daily, differentiated, small-group instruction for high school freshmen.

     

    Our guest is Nick Ehrmann—Blue Engine's engine and a Teach For America alum— who says that we know how to get high-needs kids into college, or getting them "college eligible" — nonprofits and schools have been targeting and tackling hurdles like high school completion, college admissions, and financial assistance.

     

    But, while the high school drop-out problem is far from solved, groups are paying far less attention to college completion rates for high-needs kids, or "college readiness."

     

    Blue Engine aims to close the gap between college eligibility and college readiness.

     

    After graduating from Northwestern University in 2000, Ehrmann began his career in education as a Teach for America corps member in Washington D.C. In 2002, he joined forces with local philanthropists to launch the nonprofit “I Have a Dream” Project 312, a youth development program for Nick’s fourth-grade students. In the fall of 2003, he began doctoral work in sociology at Princeton University as a William G. Bowen fellow.

     

    Over the past three years, Nick spent months shadowing his former students in high school classrooms, living with their families, and conducting extensive interviews in the local community, where he has witnessed firsthand the negative effects of academic underperformance on the transition from high school to college. His dissertation—Yellow Brick Road—is scheduled for defense in the spring of 2010. Ehrmann currently lives in New York City.

     

    Idealist’s Amy Potthast talks with Nick about the Blue Engine fellowship, its application deadlines (March 10 and April 28, 2010); the gap between college eligibility and true college readiness; and why it’s crucial to expect more out of high schoolers in order to prepare them for high school and college success, and beyond.

     

    24 min
  • Peace Corps Community Resources: An interview with Erica Burman and Molly Mattessich of the National Peace Corps Association
    As Peace Corps nears it's 50th Anniversary in 2011, applications are on
    the rise, fewer Volunteer positions are getting funded, the Senate just
    confirmed a new agency director, and the number of Peace Corps  alumni
    is nearing 200,000. Helping connect the dots among the agency's fiscal
    needs, and Volunteers past, present, and future is the National Peace
    Corps Association—the independent organization of former Peace Corps
    Volunteers, known as Returned Peace Corps Volunteers or RPCVs.

    The National Peace Corps Association offers the Peace Corps
    community tools and resources to stay informed and engaged, and
    advocates for Peace Corps funding and support.

    Today’s guests
    are Erica Burman and Molly Mattesich of the National Peace Corps
    Association. Erica Burman is the Director of Communications at NPCA,
    and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in The Gambia in the
    late 80s. Molly Mattesich manages the Africa Rural Connect project at
    NPCA, as well as the Peace Corps Connect online social network. Molly
    served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali from 2002-2004.

    Idealist's Amy Potthast talks with Erica and Molly about NPCA's initiatives like the More Peace Corps Campaign, Africa Rural Connect, the RPCV Mentoring Program, and Global Teachnet. They also talk about the new online social network for the Peace Corps community Peace Corps Connected, the Peace Corps Polyglot blog, and World View magazine. Finally, they discuss the new Peace Corps director — and departing NPCA board member — Aaron Williams, and how online communication tools are changing the Volunteer experience.



    26 min
  • Teach For America: An Interview with Aaliyah El-Amin
    Today's
    guest on The New Service podcast is Aaliyah El-Amin, an alumna of Teach For America’s 2000 Atlanta corps. Teach For America is the national corps
    of recent college graduates who commit to teach for at
    least two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong
    leaders in expanding educational opportunity. In the 2008-09 school
    year, 6,200 corps members taught in over 1,600 schools in 29
    regions across the country while more than 14,000 Teach For America
    alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education
    for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence
    and equity.
     
    In
    2000, at age twenty, Aaliyah El-Amin graduated from Davidson College
    and joined Teach For America to teach 4th and 5th grade in Atlanta,
    Georgia. It was through her corps experience, that Aaliyah found her
    calling. During her time in the classroom, Aaliyah received her Masters
    degree in Elementary Education from the University of Georgia. By the
    time she was twenty-three, she’d received her principal certification
    and had become an instructional facilitator at her placement school,
    providing professional development to veteran staff members. Aaliyah
    then became the executive director of Teach For America--Charlotte when
    she twenty-four. She is currently at Harvard University working on her
    doctorate in Educational Policy and Administration.   

    Idealist's
    Amy Potthast talks with Aaliyah about the impact corps members are
    having in underserved classrooms across the country, how applicants can demonstrate the qualities Teach For America seeks,
    and how Teach For
    America alums are going on to become lifelong leaders in the field of
    education. They also talk about Aaliyah’s own career path and her
    personal passion for creating educational equity, and how you can get
    involved with the movement to end educational inequity whether or not
    you participate in the corps.

    For other service opportunities, including teaching corps, check out The New Service blog from Idealist.org.



    31 min
  • A Pride Month Interview - Lesbian and Gay Perspectives in AmeriCorps and Peace Corps

    June is Pride Month, so The New Service podcast from Idealist.org

    is taking a closer look at the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
    and transgender (LGBT) individuals serving in Peace Corps and
    AmeriCorps.

    Today's guests are lesbian and gay former service corps participants:

    • Chad Jeremy, a former AmeriCorps NCCC corps member, currently a
      • training specialist with AmeriCorps NCCC in Perry Point, MD. Chad is an
      officer with National Service GLOBE, an affinity group for LGBT folks involved with national service.
    • Kate Kuykendall, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (China,
      • 1999-2001); currently a Public Affairs Officer for Peace Corps Los
      Angeles. Kate's a member of the LGBT Returned Peace Corps Volunteer group.
    • Martha Tierney, a former Notre Dame AmeriCorps member, currently a
      • program offer for AmeriCorps National at the Corporation for National and Community Service. Martha is also a National Service GLOBE officer.

      The New Service podcast host Amy Potthast speaks with them about agency policies affecting LGBT

      service—including policies around joining the corps with a same-sex
      partner; the experience of serving as a lesbian or gay corps member;
      and opportunities to serve on projects that relate to LGBT issues.

      Also check out our interivew with one of the only known transgender Returned Peace Corps Volunteers about his service. (Because of scheduling issues, and as a way to maintain his anonymity, we agreed to a written interview with him.)

      Finally, if you are an LGBT individual considering Peace Corps service, register for Kate Kuykendall's online information session "Have Rainbow, Will Travel: The LGBT Experience in the Peace Corps" on Saturday, June 20, 2009. She'll introduce Peace Corps service more specifically, and also address issues of special concern to LGBT folks.

      Read the transcript.




      32 min
    • Cross Sector Relationships, Corporate Responsibility and Citizen Service: An Interview with Alan Khazei and Shannon Schuyler
      Corporate social responsibility and citizen service are increasingly
      becoming two sides of the same coin, as more business-sector employees
      and clients demand opportunities to improve their communities as part
      of their workplace culture. Exemplifying the beneficial opportunities
      of cross-sector alliances is the new national partnership between the
      nonprofit Be The Change, Inc., and the business network Pricewaterhouse
      Coopers (PwC).

      Today’s guests on The New Service podcast from Idealist.og are Be the Change, Inc's Alan Khazei and PwC's Shannon Schuyler.

      Alan Khazei is the founder and CEO of Be the Change, Inc, the lead organizer of the Service Nation campaign that has galvanized support throughout the country for passage of the Kennedy Serve America Act. Alan is Co-Founder & former CEO of City Year, the youth service corps that helped to inspire the development of AmeriCorps.

      Shannon Schuyler is the Managing Director responsible for PwC's U.S. Corporate Responsibility.
      As such she is responsible for fostering meaningful partnerships with
      national non-profits, including a new national relationship with Be the
      Change, Inc.

      The collaboration between Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Be the Change
      Inc is aimed at inspiring a new era of voluntary citizen service. PwC
      will also serve as a Lead Sponsor for ServiceNation's participation in
      the upcoming National Conference on Volunteering and Service. 

      Amy Potthast spoke with Alan and Shannon about their evolving
      partnership, about how corporate responsibility strengthens
      communities, and about how groups can — and must — come together across
      sectors to solve our most pressing social problems.




      26 min
    • Nonprofit and Volunteer Resources: Laura Norvig and Jason Scott from the Resource Center
      The Resource Center, a website of the Corporation for National and Community Service, is the repository of over 8,000 nodes of training tools, publications, and effective practices to support volunteer programs, nonprofits, and people involved with the AmeriCorps family of programs. The Resource Center–free and accessible to all audience–boasts a 3,000-item lending library as well as a calendar of events of interest to national service programs and nonprofits.

      The guests on this New Service podcast are Laura Norvig, the Resource Center's librarian, and Jason Scott, the Training Officer and eLearning Specialist at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

      Laura has been with the Resource Center for nearly a decade, manages acquisitions and operations for the Resource Center library, and oversees the taxonomy for the Resource Center website. She follows trends in blogging and collaborative media as well as serves as the “voice” of the Resource Center on social media sites.

      Jason is responsible for providing tools, training and information online to national service programs and nonprofits interested in service and volunteering. He has worked for an AmeriCorps State program and started out at CNCS as an AmeriCorps Recruiter before beginning his work in the Office of Leadership Development and Training.  He also served as a VISTA in 1999 then as a VISTA Leader in 2000.

      Amy Potthast talks with Laura and Jason about how you can access, benefit from, and contribute to the Resource Center.  Also check out sister websites VISTA Campus (free login required) and EnCorps.

      Learn more about national service and the Resource Center on The New Service blog from Idealist.org.




      26 min
    • AmeriCorps for Legal Experts: Equal Justice Works's Cole McMahon and Marty Costello
      In 2009,
      hundreds of emerging legal experts across the United States will offer
      assistance in helping people who face mortgage foreclosure and other 
      problems through the Equal Justice Works 2009 Summer AmeriCorps program and the one-year AmeriCorps Legal Fellows program.

      Every year in this country, four out of five low-income people in
      need of legal assistance are denied services because of overwhelming
      case loads at legal services offices and a dire shortage of attorneys
      who can help them. Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps plays a crucial role
      in closing the gap between the supply and demand of legal assistance.
      AmeriCorps attorneys secure affordable housing, lost wages, orders of
      protection, health care, public benefits, adoption services, and
      education for low-income and underserved communities.

      Our guests on this Idealist.org podcast are Marty Costello, Program Manager, and Cole McMahon,
      Senior Program Manager, from Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps. They join
      Idealist's Amy Potthast to talk about the Summer Corps, a 300-hour
      AmeriCorps Education Award program for law school students, as well as
      its one-year, full-time AmeriCorps Legal Fellows program.

      The Equal Justice Works
      2009 Summer Corps
      application opens today Wednesday, March 18 and closes on
      Wednesday, April 1; this summer's corps will
      commit to providing assistance to those
      individuals and families facing mortgage foreclosure and will set aside
      Summer Corps positions for 1L and 2L law students working on eligible
      mortgage
      foreclosure-related issues. See a list of host sites and learn how to apply.

      In exchange for a minimum of 300 hours of service, summer AmeriCorps members earn a
      $1,000 AmeriCorps Education Award that can be used to pay
      current educational expenses or qualified student loans. They also gain
      first-hand experience and legal skills in areas such as client intake,
      representation, legal research and writing. In 2008, 333 Summer Corps members provided direct legal services to
      18,395 low-income individuals. For more information on last year’s
      program, download the Equal Justice Works 2008 Summer Corps Summary of Accomplishments.


      Equal Justice Works blog is part of the Idealist Grad School Blog Project.




      23 min
    • The Musical Peace Corps: Kiff Gallagher's Music National Service Initiative

      Kiff Gallagher is founder of Peacelabs Music and the Music National Service Initiative (MNSI). In 2008, The Aspen Institute named MNSI's MusicianCorps — a developing AmeriCorps-type program that

      will enable musicians to serve in low-income schools — one of the top
      ten public policy proposals that would strengthen the United States.

      According to The Aspen Institute:

      Music reaches youth. … Music education develops habits
      of self-directed learning that drive lifelong success, and it can
      inspire community cohesiveness and service. Yet, most schools are
      experiencing significant cutbacks. Particularly effective at reaching
      disengaged youth, music can be an effective vehicle for a public
      service corps that meets social and civic goals.

      The MNSI project has recently received $500K from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

      to pilot a 10-month fellowship program in the Bay Area. After a summer training institute, Fellows would take up their
      service in public schools, engaging in these kinds of activities. The program is set to launch its first cohort in August 2009.

      Idealist's

      Amy Potthast talks with Kiff Gallagher about the need for music and
      arts education in the schools, about his role in developing the
      national service legislation that shaped AmeriCorps in 1993, and the
      future of the Music National Service Initiative.

      Also check out this story on NPR.

      17 min
    • Starting a New Service Corps: Scott Beale of Atlas Corps
      Today's guest on The New Service podcast series is Scott Beale, Founder
      and Executive Director of Atlas Corps, a service and
      exchange corps for professionals in the NGO sector.  Also known as a
      "two-way Peace Corps," Atlas Corps brings rising professionals from NGOs
      in the Global South to the United States to serve for a year; U.S.
      professionals find opportunities to serve at NGOs in Colombia, India,
      and soon, elsewhere.  Atlas Corps has just launched recruitment for the 2009-10 fellowship year.

      Scott has worked for the U.S. State Department, Governor Tom Carper
      of Delaware, and as the Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
      at the White House and Youth Venture (a sister organization of Ashoka:
      Innovators for the Public).

      Idealist's Amy Potthast talks with Scott about the need for
      professional global exchanges, starting up a new service corps, and his
      experiences that led to developing Atlas Corps.


      19 min
    • Peace Corps in China: Country Director Bonnie Thie
      In this episode of the The New Service Podcast, Amy speaks with Bonnie Thie, the country director of Peace Corps's China program.

      Bonnie served in Peace Corps Afghanistan, where she served for three years in the 1970s. She served 18 years with the Environmental Protection Agency most recently as the director of policy, communications and resource management in the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds in Washington, D.C. and in the EPA's Seattle Air Quality Office, working with states, tribes and Environment Canada to protect and improve air quality in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.  After attending law school at the University of Oregon, she practiced law in Alaska, first in private practice and then as assistant attorney general for the state of Alaska, working on oil and gas leasing, as well as a range of municipal law and use issues. Her undergraduate degree is in history from the University of Washington, which is currently the #1 producer of Peace Corps volunteers in the nation.

      Idealist.org's Amy Potthast — who served in China as Peace Corps Volunteer in the late 1990s — talked with Bonnie about the impact of Peace Corps experience on its Volunteers, the role of a Country Director, and the inevitable cultural confusion that comes with crossing borders.

      Amy talked with Bonnie in mid-December. At the time, one of Peace Corps China's founders, Ms. Zhan Yimei, was battling lung cancer from a hospital room in Chengdu, Sichuan. Last week Ms. Zhan lost her battle. Bonnie and Amy talk about Zhan Yimei in the interview; you can read more on The New Service blog about Ms. Zhan's indelible contributions to Peace Corps China.

      Learn more about Peace Corps China by reading Returned Volunteer Peter Hessler's account of his years in the program, River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze.



      25 min

    About The Idealist.org Podcasts

    From the publisher's feed

    This podcast tells stories of individuals and groups changing their communities in innovative ways to inspire you to do the same as well as interviews with nonprofit professionals about developing…