AmeriCorps Connections

Michaela Barnett : From AmeriCorps VISTA to Congressional Candidate — Science, Sustainability, and Solving for What Matters What does it look like when a service year becomes a launchpad? Michaela Barnett's AmeriCorps VISTA year at University Tennessee (TU) Recycling in Knoxville wasn't something she planned — she stumbled into it while applying for a different job entirely. But that year handed h...

Eric Ragone & Laura Rog | AmeriCorps Connections What does it look like when your service year doesn't just change your path — it catalyzes everything that comes after? That's the through line in this conversation. Today I am here with Eric Ragone, Major Gifts Officer for the 40 Forward Capital Campaign at God's Love We Deliver, and Laura Rog, Chief Service Officer for New York City and Direct...

Shayna Canty didn't find AmeriCorps — AmeriCorps found her. 🙌 From a dermatologist who saw something in her she couldn't yet see in herself, to a service year in Scranton that changed everything, Shayna's story is one of those "just say yes" journeys that reminds you why national service matters. 💥  Now she's Pennsylvania's first youth commissioner in over seven years, a Service Year Alliance Al...

What happens when your AmeriCorps service doesn't just change your career — it unlocks the final piece of who you are? For Tisha Vonique, two terms of national service revealed the third pillar of her identity: health equity. And she hasn't stopped building since.   About This Episode Tisha Vonique describes herself as a "catalyzer of curiosity" — and that phrase alone tells you everything you nee...

What happens when an artist, a restless servant-leader, and a lifelong learner become the same person? You get Rok Locksley — AmeriCorps NCCC alum (2003), AmeriCorps State & National alum (2023), and two-time Peace Corps volunteer who spent decades painting murals in small-town Texas, building youth centers in Eastern Europe, gamifying parks in Illinois, and learning — over and over again — th...

Catherine Hicks came into her AmeriCorps year with 30 years of tech behind her, a master's in public health ahead of her, and a personal connection to the work that made everything matter more. A fresh alum at the time of recording, Catherine served with the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse in the Bay Area — a harm reduction organization doing life-saving work distributing Naloxo...

She survived a tropical storm, was at AmeriCorps headquarters on 9/11, and once made sure volunteers were fed during the anthrax scare outside a shuttered DC hospital. And she credits all of it to her NCCC service year. Laura Swier Kotelman served in AmeriCorps NCCC in 2001 — a year that turned out to be unlike any other. From mold remediation in Louisiana to the Special Olympics World Games in Al...

What happens when your AmeriCorps service year never really ends? Libby McClayton did two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Office of the Mayor in Baltimore, then a third year as a State National member with Children's Hunger Alliance in Dayton, Ohio. The through line? Food. And she's still at it. Now on the board of the AmeriCorps Alum DC Chapter — one of the only 501(c)(3) alumni chapters in...

What does it look like when a veteran heals — and then turns around to help the next one? David Konkler served in the AmeriCorps VETCO program in Tacoma, Washington, supporting veterans transitioning out of military life. But his service didn't stop there. He co-founded Nine Line Veteran Services, an outdoor nature-based peer support program that brings veterans together through hiking, camping, a...

What happens when you spend your life moving — and you bring your commitment to service with you every single time? Najla Munshower served in the AmeriCorps Veteran Leader Corps in 2012-2013 as the spouse of an active duty service member in Washington State. What she built there — coordination programs for veterans in transition — became part of the framework for the USO Pathfinder Transitions Pro...

Shawn Durnen will tell you that national service saved his life. And then he built an organization so it could do the same for others. A veteran and AmeriCorps VETCO alum, Shawn is the founder and CEO of Nine Line Veteran Services — built from the ground up over 15 years. His service year in Washington State sparked everything: grant writing, community coordination, housing support, and one-on-one...

Happy Earth Day!  🌍🌎🌏 Alex Schwartz has a philosophy for volunteering that he picked up from a hospice care essay he read on a spring break service trip in college — and it's stuck with him through every service experience since. Step 1: Show up. Step 2: Do what you can with what you have. Step 3: Be ready to leave. From AmeriCorps NCCC building Habitat for Humanity homes in Montana, to disaste...

What if volunteering looked like helping someone turn a lifelong dream into a board game? 🎲 Rok Locksley has been living in an Airstream with his family for four years, traveling all 48 states — and everywhere he lands, he brings community with him. Sparked by his AmeriCorps service in Macomb, Illinois (yes, the birthplace of Monopoly — and that story gets wild), Rok now runs volunteer game desig...

Three years later, she still goes back to volunteer. That's how deep service runs for Shelbie Simmons. Shelbie served as an American Connection Corps Fellow in Clay County, Kentucky — one of the top 25 poorest counties in the US — tackling digital equity, broadband access, and literacy in a place that's often overlooked. She built coalitions across three counties, co-created Little Free Libraries,...

Shayna Canty didn't know what she was doing with her life — and then AmeriCorps happened. Now she's a two-time state service commissioner, a national Youth 250 representative, and one of the most energetic advocates for young people in community engagement you'll ever hear. Based in the Pocono Mountains and working as communications coordinator for her local Meals on Wheels, Shayna talks about wha...

What does service look like 25 years after your AmeriCorps year? For Addie Madchen, it never stopped. In this special edition of AmeriCorps Connections — part of our 250&Beyond: Our American Story series — Addie shares what brought her from Connecticut to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and why she never left. From coat drives and AIDS runs with City Year to teaching jazz guitar to kids in her community...

From Serving Abroad to Serving Delaware — His Next Stop? The US Senate! | AmeriCorps Connections Podcast 👉We are NOT a political podcast. But when a US Senate candidate shows up who is also an AmeriCorps alum, Peace Corps volunteer, AND a Fulbright Scholar — we open that door WIDE! 🚪 Christopher Beardsley is a Wilmington, Delaware native who has served from Rwanda to South Africa and back home t...

What really happens during an AmeriCorps service year? Callie Fishburn did her VISTA year in Bennington, Vermont in the middle of a global pandemic — and came out the other side with lessons nobody prepared her for. She gets real about the financial sacrifice of national service, the hard truth about building projects that don't outlast you, and why she made the unconventional choice to stay in he...

🎙️ AmeriCorps Week 2026 — A Celebration of Service, Purpose & Impact "AmeriCorps just gave me purpose. It gave me perspective. It gave me passion." - Alex Schwartz (eps. 94) This special AmeriCorps Week 2026 Compilation is a love letter to the 1.3 million AmeriCorps alums who have shown up — for their communities, for each other, and for this country. From tutoring students and fighting for na...

Cali Moore knew she would serve in AmeriCorps before she ever graduated college. After growing up in a community center staffed by AmeriCorps members, she intentionally chose to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Horton’s Kids in Washington, DC. From there, she became a Segal Fellow at AmeriCorps headquarters, rotating across departments and even deploying for national disaster response. Her journe...

In this episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast , host Nicki Fiocco sits down with Luis Sierra Moncion , a City Year alum whose service year brought him full circle—back to his own high school in Miami. Luis shares how his City Year experience helped cement his identity as a community member, leader, and advocate, and how national service became the foundation for a career in higher educatio...

What happens when you say yes to service — and keep saying yes? In this powerful and deeply human episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast , host Nicki Fiocco sits down with Alex Schwartz , an AmeriCorps alum whose journey spans nearly every corner of national service: AmeriCorps NCCC, State & National, VISTA — and now AmeriCorps staff . Alex shares the story that changed everything — a s...

What does service look like after retirement—and why is it more important than ever? In this powerful episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast, host Nicki Fiocco sits down with Sarah, an AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP Program Manager in Minnesota, and Carolyn, a 73-year-old AmeriCorps Seniors volunteer whose life—and community—has been transformed through service. Together, they share an inspiring,...

In this episode of the AmeriCorps Connections Podcast , host Nicki Fiocco sits down with AmeriCorps NCCC alum Zach Steaple (Class 23A) to talk about the kind of service you can’t unsee — and how those experiences quietly reshape who you become. Zach shares how a gray AmeriCorps sweatshirt from his mom and a youth sports program at Notre Dame first planted the seed of service, long before he knew w...

🎧 Podcast Platform Description (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.) Episode 91: National Service Advocacy & the Power of AmeriCorps — with Phil Kolling In this episode, Nicki Fiocco talks with Phil Kolling , Executive Director of Serve Vermont , about the enduring impact of national service — from AmeriCorps VISTA and NCCC to the state commissions ensuring these programs thrive locally. Phil refle...