Teaching Teachers in Guinea

Christina Kuriacose is a Returned Peace Corps volunteer from Guinea. She put her optical engineering degree to use as a problem solver and teacher of teachers.

Dare To Innovate

Hilary Braseth is the Founder and Executive Vice President of Dare to Innovate, a program that empowers young West Africans to fight pressing social problems with market-based solutions using creativity. She is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, she served as the community economic development agent in Guinea.

 

From Peace Corps to Kuli Kuli Foods

Lisa Curtis moved to West Africa to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger. The experience left her with a deeper understanding of malnutrition and agribusiness. Now she runs Kuli Kuli Foods, learn more about her journey and the role service played.

“You have to believe you have something worth pursuing…and I believe that”

Note: Make sure your volume is turned up

Teaching in Honduras

Andrea Perez graduated from the University of Tampa with a degree in Biology. Throughout her early adulthood she often went on 1-2 week mission trips to Central America, this passion for service and children inspired her to move to Honduras after graduation. She spent 1 year teaching with BECA (Bilingual Education for Central America) and then went on to teach at Mayatan Bilingual School. Listen to hear about her experience:

 

Teammates for Life: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Jarrad Plante is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about how service lead him into life long friendships and meeting the love of his life.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

Consider the Ripples: Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Blake Shultice is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about how service redirected his career from financial planning to teaching.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

Still Standing: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Dwight Owens is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more his inspiring journey and Still Standing with Dwight.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

AmeriCorps: Looking Outward, Inward, Forward: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Nicole Vera is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about how she has leveraged service to work across cultures and boarders.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

AmeriCorps, AmeriPath, AmeriLife: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Betsy Laakso is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about how she has created a rewarding career working for the Red Cross.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

Service and the Search for Self: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Kyle Kent is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about how he used service in place of an apprenticeship and re-framed his approach to community.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

Community is the Center of Service: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Eric Shovein  is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about how he used domestic and international service to jump-start a career in social justice.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

The Power of Continued Service: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Erin Busk is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about how she is impacting the Indianapolis community in a big way.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

Heart Hot, Head Cold: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Samantha Mairson is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about her journey from liberal arts school to fighting forest fires to hiking the Appalachian trail.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

Service as Legacy: An Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Rachel Ogorek is the compiler of Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about why she wanted to write this book and how her work in Denver,CO changed her life.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

Waking Up: Interview from Serve Reflect Repeat

Caitlin Closser is one of 20+ authors for Serve Reflect Repeat, a collection of stories from AmeriCorps Alumni across the country.  Listen to learn more about her journey from an employee at a publishing company to a national service advocate.

Note: all the proceeds from the sale of Serve Reflect Repeat benefit the NGS movement.

Brother Erik on Service Through the Franciscan Lens

“You have one life, how are you going to spend the time you got? What kingdom are you going to serve?”

Br. Erik Lenhart has followed a vocation to dedicate his life to serving the poor as a a Capuchin Franciscan friar.  His journey includes 2 years at West Point Military Academy and a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer (CapCorps volunteer) with Capuchin Youth and Family Ministries (CYFM). In this interview we touch on what it means to serve as a way to selflessness and the importance of service in discerning ones calling.

Quick disclaimer: the Next Generation of Service is not affiliated with a specific religion however we recognize the role spirituality and worldview play in ones journey toward purpose and orientation to service.



Doing it for the Love in San Antonio

Hassan Barzani shares experience as a college student serving as an AmeriCorps at San Antonio Youth.  Listen Here.

 

Excerpts from Hassan’s written story:

“My story begins less than an year before I was born on September 10, 1987. My parents got married on November 9, 1986. Then a month later my parents came to Houston, Texas, from Erbil “Hawler” Iraq-Kurdistan. My parents came from Kurdistan to Texas avoiding Saddam Hussein’s regime, a regime that resulted in the assignation my aunt, uncle and cousins on both side. Saddam’s use of chemical warfare against the Kurds and Iraq’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, had not only harmed my family’s life but many others. In addition, they came to America with a dream that when I came onto this earth, I would succeed. I am Kurdish-American and born as a United States Citizen. At 5 years of age my parents became US citizens and we settled into my hometown of Richardson, Texas…

Doing the AmeriCorps program this past year, I was privileged to prevent the students to drop-out from school and keep youth focused on getting an education and preparing for the world of work, and keeps low-income children from across the San Antonio huge Hispanic population highly distressed neighborhoods achieve life success through hard work, determination and opportunities to excel made me proud coming from a Kurdish America background and making this children having wonderful dreams later in life after high school and college.”

Marissa Kelly on Why Service? Why TFA?

Service has been an integral part of Marissa Kelly’s life and as she prepares to graduate from Babson College with a degree in Entrepreneurship she is continuing to serve. Marissa is preparing to be a Teach for America Corps member in Connecticut.

This interview explores her path to TFA and her hopes for the future.  Listen here.

Breyn Hibbs on Leading from the Heart

Breyn Hibbs’ story is the epitome of what the NGS Movement is all about. As her grad school experience came to a close, she began looking for a way to put her passion into action. She discovered Shakti Rising in 2010 and knew she wanted to do a year of service there. After volunteering for about a year, she joined the staff as an AmeriCorps VISTA with a focus on resource development in 2011. Through her personal growth and career development as a VISTA and eventually a formal staff member at Shakti Rising, Bre gained the skills she needed to later start Sol Alchemy, a unique yoga studio in her hometown of Bend, OR.

Breyn has a distinct understanding about how being of service to others is identical to serving one’s self and is ultimately the key to a fulfilling life. Bre also talks about how experiencing heart-based leadership shaped her understanding of social change and her approach to social entrepreneurship.

 

Career Center Rebel

I am on a mission to do something TOTALLY AWESOME after I graduate: to explore my passions, to travel, to be inspired, to reflect on what is important to me and to learn in a non-academic, non-corporate setting.

Over two years ago Erica Spiritos  began her mission to chart an alternative career path and started writing the Career Center Rebel Blog.

Since then she has led 5 Road Less Traveled volunteer trips for high school students around the world. She spent 9 months as a volunteer Intern at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies Center for Trans-boundary Water Management in Israel.

She is currently the Assistant Project Manager at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

Episode 1 of the NGS podcast delves into Erica’s Journey from Carnegie Mellon University to her roll as a government employee. She speaks about the roll service has had in her life specifically as learning experiences. Ultimately Erica never wants to work in a job just because it seems like the thing she is “supposed” to do, if you can relate listen here: