AmeriCorps Gets Wiki-fied

AmeriCorps offers a huge variety of programs and initiatives that can make a big difference in communities – but how do these communities figure out how to get and use AmeriCorps volunteers?

For a long time, they’ve had to go it alone or rely on the experience of their friends and colleagues. Not anymore! America’s Service Commissions, a ServiceNation coalition member, has partnered with ServeMinnesota to create the AmeriCorps State Program Replication Wiki. Basically, this is an online toolkit designed to help state service commissions replicate AmeriCorps state programs that are already successful.

Why try to replicate programs? Here’s what the wiki's website says:

The passage of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in April 2009 has prompted many in the national service field to question, “How are we going to rapidly triple the size of AmeriCorps while preserving high-quality programming and impact?” The Act places state service commissions at the forefront of this historic expansion, which calls for a fast-pace scaling up of innovative solutions. Replicating successful AmeriCorps programs is one key strategy that will help state service commissions avoid “reinventing the wheel” by allowing them to take advantage of existing program designs, resources and funding sources…Replication can also help to strengthen communities of practice, deepening peer relationships as commission staff across states connect to exchange shortcuts and serve as sounding boards to trouble-shoot familiar program challenges…Finally, replication creates a living laboratory for testing the impact of differing program variables. When a commission replicates a program, modifications may occur, enabling the field to compare results.

The wiki (like Wikipedia) is made up of user-generated content – which means it’s a great chance for those organizations that have benefited from AmeriCorps in the past to contribute their experience.

Here are some of the things that the new wiki offers:

Assess State Needs and Clarify State Priorities
Identify Issues and Determine which Type of Program to Replicate
Review Program Models using the AmeriCorps State Program Replication Wiki
Peer Exchange and Creating Collective Knowledge

In addition, the wiki offers a space to share best practices and to get in touch with other organizations and state service commissions.

So, log on and share! You’ll be helping to use the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in a great way and will be able to take advantage of the shared knowledge of a nation of service leaders.

Here's a video about why AmeriCorps is important and why it's great that the Serve America Act expanded it (and why you should take advantage of it):