City Year - History

History

City Year was founded in 1988 by Michael Brown and Alan Khazei, then-roommates at Harvard Law School, who felt strongly that young people in service could be a powerful resource for addressing America's most pressing issues. They built City Year with the conviction that one person can make a difference; and since its inception, City Year has promoted the vision of service as a common expectation – and a real opportunity – for citizens all around the world.

City Year’s vision is that one day the most commonly asked question of a young person will be, “Where are you going to do your service year?”

Initially, corps members focused their efforts on community rehabilitation, beautification of neighborhoods, and developing community awareness in Boston. Over the years, the organization has expanded, opening sites in 24 cities throughout the U.S., and refocused its mission on fighting the dropout crisis.

Inspired by a visit with City Year during his 1992 run for the U.S. presidency, President Bill Clinton enlisted the help of Brown, Alan Khazei and others to establish AmeriCorps through the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. Since then, more than 575,000 AmeriCorps members have contributed upwards of 700 million hours of public service. All Americorps members, originally conceived as unpaid volunteers in service, are now paid by the federal government through the Corporation for National and Community Service (agency funding for 2010 was $1.6 billion) and subsequently through a variety of matching grants, including the Segal Americorps Education Award. City Year, along with thousands of other non-profit organizations, is a member of the AmeriCorps network, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

In early 2005, City Year opened its first international site in South Africa. A second international affiliate, in London, England, would follow in 2010.

In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf region, City Year opened a site in Louisiana to help with the recovery. The Louisiana Corps motto was "Here to Serve, Here to Stay."

In 2009, Michael Brown announced "In School and On Track: A National Challenge." City Year’s In School & On Track initiative is designed to bring City Year corps members to 50% of all of the students falling off track in City Year’s 24 U.S. locations, which will require expanding the number of corps members to 6,000 and engaging school districts, the private sector and the federal government through AmeriCorps as partners.

Over the years, the organization has expanded and focused its mission on fighting the dropout crisis in American education. City Year corps members function as a "human capital resource" in underperforming elementary, middle and high schools, working with sliding students to provide targeted academic interventions aimed at curbing the number of high school dropouts.

In 2012, City Year co-founder and CEO Michael Brown announced a long-term impact strategy for City Year. Under the terms of this plan, City Year would expand to 14,000 corps members yearly across 38 cities in the United States.