In this 20th anniversary year for AmeriCorps, the Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development continues to have a strong and growing connection to the service program.

The Stevenson Center welcomed five new AmeriCorps alums to campus as Applied Community and Economic Development (ACED) Fellows, including our first City Year alums after establishing this new partnership in 2012. City Year is an AmeriCorps program working to address the dropout crisis in 24 U.S. cities. Our new City Year give-a-year scholars are:

  • Ramya Kumaran: Chicago 2011-2012
  • Renee Petrucelli: New York 2006-2007
  • Katie Raynor: Los Angeles 2008-2009
  • Dan Sheets-Poling: Boston 2012-2013

The AmeriCorps Alums organization includes the Stevenson Center as one of just four “Premium Match” graduate school partners in the country. The Stevenson Center sponsored the September 2013 and June 2012 AmeriCorps Alums e-newsletter, a publication that reaches more than 106,000 people who have served.

The Stevenson Center has also been an AmeriCorps service site since 2005, with 46 positions to date and more than $150,000 in education awards from the National Service Trust.

Illinois State University currently has four Stevenson Center students and two students from other units serving as AmeriCorps members. Their service ranges from work with undergraduate student leaders to research and data analysis.

As the only AmeriCorps program at Illinois State, these placements benefit students and community partners while reinforcing the Stevenson Center’s commitment to service on a global and local level.