52 Ways You Can Join the Movement

There are thousands of ways you can become part of today's movement toward active citizenship. Some involve giving just a few minutes of your time and energy every day; others are so all-engrossing you may find yourself devoting a lifetime to them. On this page we offer a few suggestions to help you start your own exploration of this exciting new world. Good luck!

1. Join millions of other Americans who are giving their time and talent in all fifty states through ServiceNation at http://www.servicenation.org.



2. Help transform the educational opportunities enjoyed by kids in your community as a "citizen teacher" with Citizen Schools-learn more by visiting their website at http://citizenschools.org.


3. Fund a young person's work to improve health care in one of the world's most needy regions by supporting Global Health Corps at http://ghcorps.org.


4. Find out how you can invest i:n some of today's most creative social entrepreneurs by visiting the site of the Acumen Fund at http://wwww.acumenfund.org.


5. Get involved in the movement to make national service an American priority by learning about the work of American Forward at http://wwww.americaforward.org.


6. Learn how to serve your country by working for Uncle Sam by exploring the Partnership for Public Service's list of Best Place to Work in the federal government at http://data.bestplacestowork.org.


7. Encourage the young people your life to get started with service early by joining Youth Service America, devoted to kids five to twenty-five, at http://www.ysa.org.


8. Learn how to improve the management of any nonprofit organization or a socially minded for-profit company from the world-class experts at Virtue Ventures — visit them at http://www.virtueventures.com.


9. Help bring affordable, renewable energy to people in the developing world by supporting the work of Beyond Solar at http://www.beyondsolar.org.


10. Discover some of the amazing new forms of civic communications technology being invented by the geniuses at MIT by visiting the Center for Future Civic Media at http://civic.mit.edu.


11. Explore creative approaches being developed to problems ranging from homelessness and human trafficking to global warming by visiting the website of Change.org at http://www.change.org.


12. Learn how local citizens'g roups are using the power of dialogue and cooperation to create solutions to civic problems from the leaders at Everyday Democracy at http://everyday-democracy.org.



13. Give a year of your life to work in a small, dedicated group making life in America better—or support City Year, the organization that helps thousands of young people from every background do just that, at http://www.cityyear.org.


14. Discover an organization that trains inner-city kids to become active community leaders, founded with the help of Barack and Michelle Obama, by visiting Public Allies at http://www.publicallies.org.


15. Help bring desperately needed drinking water to some of the hundreds of millions of people who lack it by supporting Scott Harrison's charity: water at http://www.charitywater.org.


16. Be inspired by the ways in which national service is already benefiting our nation, and learn what you can do to help the cause, at http://www.nationalservice.gov.


17. Learn about opportunities to use our talents by working at one of America's thousands of nonprofit organizations at Jobs for Change at http://jobs.change.org.


18. Investigate the state of America's civic health — and what you can do to improve it — from the National Conference on Citizenship at http://www.ncoc.net.


19. Find the perfect volunteering opportunity in your own community by consulting the "Craigslist for service," All for Good, at http http://www.allforgood.org.


20. Make a loan of $25 or more with the potential to change a life through the online microlending program created by Kiva at http://www.kiva.org.


21. Become a more responsible business leader by learning what companies like yours are doing to improve their communities at the website of the Business Civic Leadership Center at http://www.uschamber.com.


22. Help preserve and protect our National Parks by volunteering through the Nature Conservancy at http://www.nature.org.


23. Consider investing in an enterprise that is transforming the world through the savvy portfolio managers at New Profit Inc.—learn more at http://www.newprofit.com.


24. Turn your Facebook membership into a way of getting involved by browsing the thousands of worthwhile initiatives represented at Causes on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/about.


25. Help improve the lives of some of society's most marginalized citizens by supporting the work of Pioneer Human Services at http://www.pioneerhumanservices.org.


26. Check out the innovative, interactive site for neighborhood improvement at SeeClickFix by visiting http://seeclickfix.com/citizens.


27. Match your interests and abilities with student volunteer opportunities by visiting Student Volunteer at http://www.studentvolunteer.com.


28. Experiment with new ways to communicate and interpret information of civic importance at the "democratic visualization" site Many Eyes at http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/.


29. Ever dream of going abroad as a Peace Corps volunteer? It's never too late — check out the options at http://www.peacecorps.gov.


30. Find out how to start a community garden from the experts at the American Community Gardening Association at http://www.communitygarden.org.


31. Explore possible jobs in the nonprofit sector and learn how to prepare for the switch from the for-profit world by visiting Bridgespan at http://www.bridgespan.org.


32. Help people around the world who are threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe by donating funds or volunteering time to Doctors Without Borders at http://www.msf.org.


33. Get involved in the national movement to improve the way Americans eat by learning about the work of Will Allen's Growing Power at http://www.growingpower.org.


34. Discover opportunities to hone your public service skills by learning about the training and fellowship programs offered by the Partnership for Public Service at http://www.ourpublicservice.org.


35. Support the amazing school that is revolutionizing inner-city education, the Harlem Village Academies—learn more at http://www.harlemvilageacademies.org.


36. Put your business skills to good use by helping entrepreneurs build businesses that can lift families and villages out of poverty through MBAs Without Borders at http://www.mbaswithoutbordcls.org.


37. Feed the world by backing the work of World Hunger Year, which supports community-based organizations around the world at http://www.whyhunger.org.


38. Learn about fledgling businesses with the potential to change the world by visiting Virgance, an incubator that specializes in discovering and supporting them, http://www.virgance.com.


39. Donate your wisdom to the young by becoming a mentor through Experience Corps, which helps people fifty-five and over help students in need at http://mvw.experiencecorps.org.


40. Check out the social enterprises that Fast Company magazine calls today's best by visiting their most recent annual list of honorees at http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/13l/eurekasocial-enterprises-of-the-year.html.


41. Discover the unique investment fund Bill Clinton calls "insurer to the poor"—LeapFrog Investments, which specializes in financial services for low-income people in the developing world, at http://www.leapfroginvest.com.


42. Offer your professional talents to organizations that need them by pro bono work through the nonprofit Taproot Foundation at http://www.taprootfoundation.org.



43. Help make the greatest city in the world even greater by becoming a New York City volunteer at http://www.nycservice.org.


44. Help bring the power of computing to children all around the world through One Laptop per Child at http://www.laptop.org.


45. Be amazed at how a community nonprofit is making life better for practically every child in Harlem by learning about the Harlem Children's Zone at http://www.hcz.org.


46. Make healing the currency of international diplomacy through the voluntary services provided by Physicians for Peace at http://www.physiciansforpeace.org.


47. Discover the power of microenterpvise to help poor people feed, clothe, house, and educate themselves by visiting Trickle Up at http://www.triekleup.org.


48. Help provide technologies that can change the lives of millions in Kenya and around the world by visiting KickStart at http://www.kickstart.org.


49. Give a break to a San Franciscan who really needs one by supporting the innovative self-help efforts of Rubicon Programs at http://www.rubiconprograms.org.


50. Turn your next trip abroad into an opportunity to change the world by learning about volunteering/travel programs at http://www.voluntourism.org.


51. Support the organization that helped make social entrepreneurship one of todays most hopeful trends by learning about Ashoka at http://www.ashoka.org.


52. Extend a hand to families and communities recovering from disaster by supporting the New York Says Thank You foundation at http://www.newyorksaysthankyou.org.