As executive director of the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, Amy Cohen has long used her expertise to support and promote service at the George Washington University. Now as a member of Serve DC, the D.C. Commission on National and Community Service, she’ll expand her mission to the greater Washington area.
Ms. Cohen was sworn into the DC commission by Mayor Vincent Gray, B.S. ’64, on April 23 alongside 13 other service-minded community leaders.
“I am excited to work with this accomplished and diverse group of people and the new Executive Director of Serve DC Jeffrey Richardson, to explore new initiatives and highlight the value of service for those who participate and for the communities we serve,” Ms. Cohen said.
Prior to joining GW in 2010, Ms. Cohen led Learn and Serve America, the largest federal resource for service-learning. She has been a member of the GW community for three years and has worked to strengthen the ties between academic experience and service opportunities, on campus and throughout the community.
“While I joined Serve DC as a citizen, I am always representing GW,” Ms. Cohen said.
“I am proud of GW's extensive commitment to service in D.C., as an institution and through our students, faculty and staff,” she added.
Serve DC is one of more than 50 national State Service Commissions and is the Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism. The commission sets policy and strategy for service projects and initiatives to find sustainable solutions to social issues with programming focused on three areas: emergency preparedness, national service and volunteerism.
State Service Commissions manage, monitor and evaluate AmeriCorps programs in their states, funded through the federal Corporation for National and Community Service. They also administer program funds for emergency preparedness from the Department of Homeland Security, and encourage volunteering through national days of service and other special initiatives.
The Serve DC commission currently has 23 members including sophomore Peter Sacco, the youngest member of Serve DC and the one of three GW students to be elected to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
He was nominated earlier this year and sworn in with Ms. Cohen, who called him “an outstanding leader in service for students and the community.”
Mr. Sacco said his unique perspective as a student will help inform his work with Serve DC.
“I think it is valuable to have a college student on the commission because they can easily relate to the typically younger AmeriCorps members serving in the District of Columbia,” Mr. Sacco said.
The combination of distinctive perspectives is what makes service effective and necessary to community, according to Ms. Cohen.
“Service is one of the most important ways that people of different backgrounds come together to work toward a common goal,” Ms. Cohen said. “It is an avenue of constructive communication and has the potential to build long-term understanding and respect among people. It is one of the primary building blocks of active citizenship and leadership.”