What If 1 Million Young Americans Completed Service Years Annually?

Describe the problem you’re addressing in five words.

Reduced pathways for successful adulthood.

Describe your solution in 10 words.

Expanding opportunities for young Americans to find purpose through service.

Describe your progress in 15 words.

Creating the conditions to make service years a common expectation and opportunity for young Americans.

When Kristen Bennett graduated from college in 2008, the financial crisis was underway, and she struggled to find work. Then she learned about AmeriCorps’s Volunteers in Service to America program through her university. AmeriCorps, a federally funded program, is the nation’s leading provider of service years — yearlong, paid, full-time service opportunities in sectors ranging from disaster relief to education to healthcare. Through the program, Bennett worked in her hometown, Rancho Cucamonga, as part of WE Connect, a campaign connecting low-income families hit by the recession to state services. “It opened my eyes to a very different part of the community I grew up in,” Bennett says.

Bennett is now chief executive officer of Service Year Alliance, a nonprofit that launched in 2016 with a lofty goal: 1 million young Americans completing a service year annually. Its work includes educating policymakers on how service addresses community problems while jumpstarting careers for young people.

Studies show young Americans see the value in national service. A 2021 survey by the nonprofit Voices for National Service found that 8 in 10 adults aged 18–24 supported increasing federal funding for AmeriCorps, for example. Yet the number of service opportunities has not significantly changed: Bennett estimates the total number of full-time service years has hovered around 65,000 in recent years. More recently, AmeriCorps faced the possibility of cuts to federal funding, which would have led to the loss of at least 30,000 service positions.

To help fund and sustain service year programs, Service Year Alliance is turning to states. In September 2025, Service Year Alliance launched the Center for State Service Innovation with funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York and Einhorn Collaborative. Through the center, Service Year Alliance plans to work with local leaders in eight partner states, beginning with California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New York, to develop alternative funding models and create 3,000 new service year opportunities annually. Bennett hopes that the center will be a hub for collaboration, where “anyone who wants to champion [service] in their state can go to find resources, thought leadership, and a partner to do it.”

By the Numbers

Around 65,000 paid, full-time service year positions are available in the United States, according to an estimate by Service Year Alliance. 28% of Americans volunteered for an organization between 2017 and 2023. More than 1.3 million Americans have served in AmeriCorps. According to Service Year Alliance research, 87% of service year participants say they gained skills that helped prepare them for future employment, and 77% reported they were likely to engage in conversations with people they disagree with. Service year alumni tend to be more civically engaged, with 91% voting regularly, as opposed to around 65% of the general population.

Gabriel Fine is the content manager at Carnegie Corporation of New York.