Creating Career Opportunities for Gen Z Workers

It’s been thirty years since President Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act leading to the establishment of AmeriCorps. Since then, about 1.25 million Americans have dedicated countless hours to national service, using their service terms as a pathway to greater opportunity.

The Schultz Family Foundation has been proud to work with partners across the country creating human-entered innovations harnessing the power and potential of national service to launch young people from all walks of life into meaningful careers while also having a positive impact on communities in need. Among individuals who have answered the call to serve are Shani and Ethan, who illustrate the power of AmeriCorps to transform communities and the lives of AmeriCorps members.

Shani served with AmeriCorps from 2021-2022 and attributes her personal and professional success to the skills she learned during her service term.

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It has not been an easy road for Shani. For roughly 12 years, she was dating an abusive partner, became involved in fraudulent activities, and spent countless nights in jail. She worked hard to change her circumstances and at the age of 28, she got straight A’s on her first report card at Laney College. It was a turning point. Shani left her abusive partner, enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley and joined Berkeley Underground Scholars, a support program for systems-impacted students. She also enrolled in a year of AmeriCorps service with California Justice Leaders.

California Justice Leaders is an innovative AmeriCorps initiative leveraging the valuable life experience of formerly incarcerated and systems-impacted individuals. AmeriCorps members, like Shani, provide re-entry coaching and mentorship to justice-involved youth and young adults who are facing the same challenges they once did.

While doing outreach at a juvenile hall, she saw how a disproportionate number of Black and Brown youth lacked post-secondary plans after their release. She also saw firsthand the complicated systems and rules young people must navigate to avoid recidivism. Realizing her passion to help young people access pathways to college, Shani built relationships with individuals throughout her service term, individuals who would mentor her to eventually start two programs, Incarceration to College and Pathways to College.

“I knew what I was doing when I was committing crimes, I knew that I was affecting my community then and I’m very well aware that I can affect it now,” Shani said, “so I want to take that energy and put it in a place where I could be a woman of integrity.”

Shani graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s in African American Studies and a minor in Education. In the fall of 2023, she began working towards her master’s degree at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Shani says her career is a direct result of what she learned in AmeriCorps.

Like Shani, Ethan’s career was guided by the professional development and experiences he had during his AmeriCorps service term.

Ethan was raised by his mother in Rupert, a small town of 6,000 people in Idaho. After graduating with an associate degree in Communications Studies, Ethan signed up for FEMA Corps with AmeriCorps NCCC to learn about disaster management and to be a part of something bigger than what he could experience in his small-town community.

AmeriCorps members who serve with FEMA Corps spend about 10months under the direction of FEMA, providing disaster preparedness, mitigation, and recovery services. Many members use FEMA Corps as a pathway into the government’s emergency management sector.

Ethan began his term just as the COVID-19 pandemic started sweeping through the country. He was initially placed at the front lines of the COVID response and spent his service term in Louisiana, New York, and New Jersey working in multiple disaster zones and setting up mass evacuation sites. Additionally, Ethan worked on virtual projects around the country while stationed in Texas and Georgia.

During his service year, Ethan was challenged to step out of the comfort zone of his small, rural town. He worked alongside people from all walks of life with different ideas and backgrounds. Ethan says AmeriCorps showed him how national service can be used to bridge societal divides.

In a quest to push himself further, Ethan signed up for a second year of service as a team leader with AmeriCorps NCCC Traditional Corps. During this term, he worked in hospitals, provided disaster relief, and participated in beautification efforts and environmental initiatives in Louisiana, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Georgia, and Mississippi.

In all, Ethan strongly believes his service experience prepared him to enlist in the US Air Force, where he continues to serve his country.

“AmeriCorps provides people from all walks of life an opportunity; an opportunity to find their passion; an opportunity to learn about themselves and others; an opportunity to further their education and career goals,” said Michael D. Smith, AmeriCorps CEO. “National and community service is a proven pathway to employment in high job-growth sectors including education, public health, construction, nonprofit management, and other fields. While meeting critical community needs, AmeriCorps members and volunteers gain hands-on experience and skills to jumpstart their careers, as highlighted by Shani and Ethan.”

Many of the 1.25 million Americans who have answered the call to serve with AmeriCorps have not only served their communities in critical ways but have also used their service terms as a meaningful pathway to a thriving career.

To learn more, visit www.americorps.gov

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