Leadership
Staff
Zach Maurin – Co-Founder & Executive Director
Zach’s deep commitment to expanding national service began during his full-time year of service with City Year (‘02-‘03), a leading AmeriCorps program. As an AmeriCorps alumnus, he has been an advocate for expansion by meeting with congressional offices and speaking at events organized by Voices for National Service. Zach has worked as a part-time Program Assistant for New Leaders for New Schools, a nationally renowned organization that prepares outstanding urban school principals. At George Washington University, he served as a founding member on Service-Learning Advisory Board to create a university Service-Learning department. He graduated from GWU with a bachelor’s degree in English, dually focusing on literature and writing. He can be reached at zach@servenext.org.
Nicole Aro - Program Associate
Daniel Bittker - Blogger and Research Intern, Social Media for Service
Daniel is a junior at Michigan State University studying international relations. He has extensive experience working with a number of non-profit organizations in their search for an online presence. At Michigan State, he serves on several different university-wide councils and student government boards as well as the university newspaper’s Board of Directors. Daniel works as the Public Relations Coordinator for the Michigan State University’s Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities where he works with students and employees to ensure that the Michigan State community is inclusive for persons with disabilities. Daniel will graduate in May 2011 with a degree in International Relations and Comparative Cultures and Politics.
Melora Coughran - Blogger
Katherine Frank - Policy and Research Intern
Katherine is a junior studying International Affairs and Economics at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. In the past she has worked for organizations such as DC Reads and Jumpstart both also based in Washington, DC. There she worked with elementary age children to foster social and literary skills. In the fall of 2008 Katherine interned for Congressmen Sestak in the DC office, where she performed administrative duties such as answering phone calls from constituents and writing letters and memos for the congressmen and staff. Katherine is from Philadelphia.
Genna McFarland - Blogger
Genna is a senior at the University of Maryland, where she is studying literature. Committed to social justice, Genna is a member of the Alternative Breaks program on campus, with which she has participated in service learning trips to Appalachia and Guatemala. Genna is also a member of the America Reads chapter on her campus, which has allowed her to get hands-on experience with students struggling with literacy in high-need schools. This experience has made Genna want to commit to a life of service in the field of education, where she can combine her love of literature with her passion for social justice. Genna will be graduating in May 2010 with a degree in English.
Board of Directors
Deb Jospin - Partner, sagawa/jospin Consulting
Deb Jospin, co-founder of the sagawa/jospin consulting firm, formerly served as the Director of AmeriCorps. In this position, she oversaw the management and direction of the AmeriCorps Grants program, AmeriCorps* VISTA, AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps, and the AmeriCorps Recruitment, Selection and Placement unit. During this period, AmeriCorps grew from an annual budget of $150 million, with 18,000 members serving in 350 programs, to an annual budget of $234 million, with 60,000 members serving in 925 programs.
Deb continues to actively support AmeriCorps members by serving as co-chair of the Steering Committee of AmeriCorps Alums.
Deb is President of the Daniel A. Dutko Memorial Foundation, established in memory of her late husband Dan Dutko. The Foundation has established the Dutko Fellowship program at Tufts University, enabling Tufts graduates who are interested in public policy management to spend ten months in Washington, D.C., working in politics or for a nonprofit organization.
Deb is a 1980 graduate of Tufts University. She earned an MSc in Public Policy from the London School of Economics in 1983 and a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1989. When Tufts University created the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS) in 1999, Deb became a founding member of its Board of Overseers. Now called the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, its mission is to provide a comprehensive education, both inside and outside the classroom, that prepares Tufts graduates to be committed public citizens and leaders who take an active role in building stronger communities and societies. Deb is also a Trustee of Tufts, chairing the Board’s Committee on Trusteeship, co-chairing its Committee on Academic Affairs, and serving on its Executive Committee.
Peter Loge – Principal, Milo Public Affairs LLC
For the past 15 years Peter Loge has been advising candidates, elected officials and advocacy organizations at all levels.
Prior to launching Milo Public Affairs LLC in 2007, Peter was a Senior Vice President M+R Strategic Services, a national public affairs and political consulting firm. At M+R Peter directed the Media Relations teams and provided strategic counsel to a wide array of clients including the Save Darfur Coalition, Human Rights First, American Farmland Trust, and many others. Prior to joining M+R Peter served as the first Director of The Justice Project, the organization that led the fight for the passage of the Innocence Protection Act, which President Bush signed into law only days before the 2004 election. Peter has extensive expertise in both communications and political strategy including serving as the Chief of Staff, Communications Director, and Campaign Manager to U.S. Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), Director of Constituent Services to former U.S. Representative Sam Coppersmith (D-AZ), and Deputy to the Chief of Staff to Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). Peter lectures regularly on politics and lobbying (several of his talks have been broadcast on C-SPAN) and teaches courses in language and politics at George Washington University. His writing has recently appeared in the Drake Law Review, the edited volume Wounds that Do Not Bind: Victim Perspectives on the Death Penalty, the Journal of the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors, and The Hill newspaper. Peter is a graduate of Emerson College and holds graduate degrees from Syracuse University and Arizona State University.
Peter’s wide-ranging career includes: serving as the President of the Emerson College Alumni Association; holding the elected position of Vice Chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party (Phoenix, AZ); serving as director of forensics at Clemson University; being an award-winning artist; appearing as a political satirist on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" and the BBC World Service; serving as board chair of DC SCORES and serving on the board of United for DC (DC United's charitable foundation); serving on the Board of the Copyright Alliance; helping found and serve on the board of NEXT PAC; serving on the board of Good Works PAC; working as a Regional Field Director at the Concord Coalition; and working as a reporter at The Business Journal in Phoenix, AZ. Peter has been quoted in numerous local and national publication, and appears in the documentary about the 2004 election, "Split: A Divided America."
Sean McDevitt – National Alumni Director, City Year
Sean currently works at City Year where he is National Alumni Director. In that role, he oversees the ongoing development and mobilization of City Year's global network of over 10,000 alumni, including its on-line community, events, and fundraising. Prior to being on staff, Sean was a corps member, also with City Year, serving in Boston. Directly after his corps year, he worked for Serve-a-Thon, an event led by City Year and one of Boston's largest days of service. Sean graduated from La Salle University.
A.J. Robinson, Jr. – CEO, Symphonic Strategies, Inc.
Dr. Robinson is Chairman and CEO of Symphonic Strategies™ Inc., an organizational and community development firm based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Symphonic Strategies™ works to raise the overall impact and effectiveness of those who are working to bring about positive change in society—whether they are individuals or organizations—by helping clients align their strategic goals with the values, attitudes, and behaviors of its people. To put it metaphorically, Symphonic Strategies™ aims to improve the performance of the broader "orchestra" by strategically unleashing the skills, talents and gifts of each individual "musician."
Dr. Robinson has advised and worked with leaders in public and private sectors all around the world. He most recently served as special adviser to Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund. While at the Corporate Executive Board, a leading international business strategy firm, he delivered keynote remarks and led organizational strategy seminars with C-level audiences (CEO, CMO, CTO, etc.) in more than 150 organizations in over a dozen countries throughout Europe and North America.
Dr. Robinson has been a consultant to the PBS show Frontline, served as a staff writer on the Encarta Africana Encyclopedia of the Black Diaspora, and was an adjunct professor in the Department of Organizational Sciences at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He was also part of a delegation of scholars that toured South Africa immediately after the end of apartheid.
He holds a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard and dual bachelor’s degrees in social psychology and political science from Stanford University. He is married to Lisa Clayton Robinson and, together, they have three beautiful children.
Aaron Marquez - Co-Founder, ServeNext.org
Aaron responded to the 9-11 attacks by taking time off from college at the University of Arizona to join AmeriCorps with City Year in Boston. Rapidly the national service movement inspired him, and he decided to return for a second year of service with City Year as a Senior Corps Member. During his second year he was awarded the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Service Innovation Award and the MFS Civic Impact Award. In 2004 and in 2006 he worked as a Field Organizer and Field Director for candidates that championed national service. He is a graduate of Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and studied Trans-State Actors in International Politics.