HISTORY
The first AmeriCorps members began their service in September 1994. A year later, AmeriCorps Alums was founded as an independent 501(c)(3) organization to help former members stay connected to one another and continue their lifetime of service. AmeriCorps Alums worked hard to secure benefits for members, including healthcare and an extensive job bank. AmeriCorps Alums also encouraged institutions of higher education to match the AmeriCorps Education Award and advocate for AmeriCorps. To build a broader network, the Board voted to rename the organization the National AmeriCorps Association.
In 2004, the Board decided to pursue a merger to strengthen the organization's capacity. After much research, deliberation, and consultation with alums and stakeholders, the Board determined to merge the organization into Points of Light Institute and restore the name AmeriCorps Alums.
POINTS OF LIGHT INSTITUTE
AmeriCorps Alums is a stand alone operating unit within Points of Light Institute — a civic change institution committed to bringing people together to strengthen communities through meaningful volunteer service. Points of Light Institute and embraces a new vision for transformation:
One day every person will discover their power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant democracies around the world.
Points of Light Institute has three main goals:
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Citizen Action: Create an engaged citizenry where every individual has the opportunity to make a difference through meaningful civic engagement.
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Civic Infrastructure: Develop a civic infrastructure equipped with the resources, tools, and knowledge to create change in communities.
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Campaigns for Impact: Demonstrate the power of citizens actively engaged in changing our world and solving problems.
Points of Light Institute advances innovative civic change strategies.
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To realize this new vision and to achieve these goals, Points of Light Institute supports a portfolio of branded
business units that enable people a variety of ways to act upon their power to make a change.
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Points of Light Institute supports these efforts through incubation, back-office support services, sector thought leadership, and public policy development.
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The Institute also supports emerging new business units and entrepreneurial ventures through partnership, collaboration, and incubation that advance a variety of forms of civic engagement.
Together with Points of Light Institute, AmeriCorps Alums helps people be the change they want to see in their communities.
Generated by Points of Light Institute:
HandsOn Network is the leading business unit within the Points of Light Institute portfolio and is the activating arm. HandsOn Network equips, mobilizes and inspires people to take action that changes the world. Our Network, now the largest in the nation, is leading people from impulse to action, turning their ideas for change into real projects like building wheel chair ramps, watershed protection projects and tutoring programs – action that addresses critical issues facing our communities, our nation and our world. The Network includes over 250 affiliates—that serve in all 50 states and in nine countries. In 2007 alone, these HandsOn Action Centers helped to deliver more than 33 million hours of volunteer service valued at $1.2 billion dollars.
MissionFish is a social enterprise of the Points of Light Institute, representing another form of how we support people's power to change the world. It does this by enabling people to sell or purchase products through eBay to benefit the nonprofit causes they care about. MissionFish has raised more than $125 million charitable dollars for over 15,000 nonprofits worldwide.
Civic Incubator: The Civic Incubator is Points of Light Institute's newest business unit with the purpose and promise of creating innovation in social change. Investors in this space are eager to see smart consolidation and collaboration for greater efficiency and leveraged impact. The Incubator will nurture new ventures in civic engagement and intends to be an example of how philanthropy can apply sound business principals to grow its mission and impact. The Incubator will establish a portfolio of resources to incubate new enterprises and support programs across the Points of Light Portfolio, enabling a promising idea to define its mission, create a business model and move from concept to reality. The Incubator will provide expertise to grow these emergent ideas, including joint ventures with other for-profit and nonprofit organizations to bring innovation, entrepreneurship, and thought leadership to the civic change movement. To carry out its mission, the Incubator:
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Acts as an entry point for new civic ventures.
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Applies intense focus and rigorous evaluation to convert a few ideas into going enterprises.
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Incubates these enterprises in an entrepreneurial atmosphere.
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Provides advisory services to other Points of Light Institute business units to support innovation in existing Institute programs and initiatives.
An example of a current incubated program is AmeriCorps Alums, an initiative that is equipping and engaging the 500,000 alumni of AmeriCorps programs who have dedicated a year or more in service to communities, neighborhoods and schools all over the country to fulfill the commitment of a lifetime of service. The Civic Incubator is also developing a Faith Institute, an initiative to bring together diverse faith-based partnerships in strategic alliance around the goal of better equipping and mobilizing these communities in direct service by bringing faith and service traditions together and tapping into the extensive organizing power of faith networks to create deeper and broader impact.
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