There are many Ally groups across the U.S. in places like D.C., Chicago (not-so random but unrelated fact, Barack Obama was on the founding board for Public Allies and his wife, Michelle, was the founding executive director of the Chicago chapter...) and more! If you get hired as an Ally you are assigned to work at a specific non-profit doing anything from taxes for low-income individuals to working with youths, depending on the non-profit. Public Allies is also one of the highest paying AmeriCorps jobs, by the way. So that’s my Public Allies: At a glance, onto my day.

The Public Allies program is a 10 month program beginning in September/October and ending at the end of June/ early July, so the Allies I met with were at the end of their program, with a couple of weeks left. Walking into their conference room, one of the things I that was most impressed about was how comfortable I felt. I found out that an AMAZING person that I’d gone to school with was an ally (shout out to Miss UM Sola!), but besides that, the atmosphere was very laid back and friendly, and you could obviously tell that everyone was passionate about what they were doing to improve the community.

This day about half of the group of Allies gave a 30-minute presentation on a topic of their choice that they felt was relevant to their work. I heard from allies from the varying topics of sexual assault and stalking, dining etiquette during business interviews and meetings, the worst practices/behavior of non-profit organizations, substance abuse in the workplace, organization, leadership, and self-reflection.

Although it was a rather long day, it was kept enjoyable by the great sense of humor of everyone in the room (and some delicious cake). I think that I was most impressed by the camaraderie of all the Allies. It created a peaceful environment that I think is needed to recruit and retain great leaders, volunteers, and supporters. Many of the Allies were less-than impressed with their placement organizations, and the dialogue was open concerning faults and flaws of non-profits that inhibit their success to methods of improvement in achieving the original goals each non-profit sets out to achieve.

All in all, I think that Public Allies is a great program that allows for immense growth, personally and professional. I wish had time in my life schedule to apply to the program, but for those who do; applications are due in early July (the 3rd or 5th I think...but I could be mistaken).

Public Allies, Miami, AmeriCorps (all tags)

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Youth, Education & National Service

Road Trip With a Mission: Expanding National Service. AmeriCorps alumni and ServeNext.org members, are traveling the country by bus for the National Service Express Tour, hitting 30 cities in 60 days.

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