President Barack Obama announced a slate of nominees to fill seven of the eight vacant positions on the Corporation for National and Community Service’s board of directors. The board sets overall policy and direction for CNCS and its programs, which include AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. All new members must be confirmed by the Senate, where there is a huge backlog of nominees.
The proposed new members are:
Rick Christman, CEO of the Lexington, Ky.-based Employment Solutions, a multi-faceted nonprofit organization serving the needs of those with barriers to employment.
Jane Hartley, CEO of the D.C.-based Observatory Group, a political consultancy organization, who was an assistant to President Jimmy Carter during his term in office.
Marguerite W. Kondracke, CEO of the D.C.-based America’s Promise Alliance since 2004. Before joining the alliance, Kondracke was staff director for the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, part of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Matthew McCabe, a Teach for America participant who is currently serving as a teacher at George B. Swift Elementary School in Chicago, and who served as a field organizer for Obama’s campaign in Scranton, Pa.
John Podesta, CEO of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress and former White House Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton.
Lisa Quiroz, the senior vice president of corporate responsibility for Time Warner since 2004, when the position was created.
Phyllis N. Segal, vice president of Civic Ventures, a nonprofit think tank based in San Francisco that aims to draw Baby Boomers into civic engagement and volunteering. Segal is the former chair of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
In May, the current board members elected Mark Gearan, president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., to be the new CNCS chairman. He took office this month. Gearan succeeded interim Chairman Stephen Goldsmith, who had stepped in for Alan Solomont, now the U.S. Ambassador to Spain. Goldsmith is now the top aide to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
