"What are we going to do tomorrow"

It has been a whirlwind few days.

On Friday we celebrated 20 years of AmeriCorps with a fantastic

Picture for our Noble Pritzker alumni
on the White House lawn

event on the south lawn of the White House. President Obama and President Clinton gave remarks and a new class of 75,000 AmeriCorps members were sworn in to join the ranks of the more than 900,000 total members since 1994. Afterward there was a small reception for many of the individuals who worked on the original legislation for AmeriCorps in the early 90s - Treasury Secretary Jack Lew (who was a staffer at the time for President Clinton and helped start the program) spoke as did President Clinton to thank those in the room for their part in creating a legacy of public and community service.

It was wonderful and humbling to be a part of both events, to be in rooms with men and women to whom I am incredibly indebted, whose work has given me opportunities to serve.

But, what has stuck with me from the last few days wasn't the events at the White House, it was something said on the stairs in a lobby of a nondescript office building a short walk away.

Fellow board member Lisa Garcia-Quiroz
introduces Phyllis Segal to receive recognition
from the CNCS Board of Directors. 

On Thursday night members of the national service community gathered in the atrium of the CNCS headquarters to share stories on the eve of the 20th anniversary. There was a short program to honor Phyllis Segal for her service on the board of CNCS as well as her commitment to national service in general. Additionally, Phyllis' late husband Eli had helped shepherd the original AmeriCorps legislation through congress and became the first CEO of the agency that oversaw AmeriCorps.

As Phyllis gave remarks accepting a board resolution in her honor she related the following:

"People have been asking me what Eli would think about where we are now, if this is what he envisioned 20 years ago. Would he have been surprised at how large AmeriCorps has grown? And, I think this is exactly what he envisioned. This is exactly what he expected. I think he would have continued though and the next thing he'd say is, 'but what are we going to do tomorrow?'"

Me with fellow current and former CNCS
board members Hyepin Im, Laysha
 Ward, and Phyllis Segal

There was a lot of pomp and celebration over the last few days - all warranted given the more than 900,000 who have served in AmeriCorps, the billions of hours of work that has helped develop communities, increase economic opportunity, and improve educational outcomes.

But, if there is any message in the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps, it has to be this: what are we going to do tomorrow?