View the full strategic plan online for the history of NYC Service, legacy programs, and innovations in service.
New York City is a global city, where economic, political, and societal conditions impact a diverse population of 8.3 million people. Global and national ties are felt deeply within our diverse and interconnected city. With the global COVID-19 pandemic and recent national reckonings around civic, social, and racial justice, NYC Service has a unique opportunity to serve as a uniting force within the New York City community.
Several factors impact the necessity for a modernized view of service, one that is used to both address critical and immediate needs across New York City as well as addresses current local and national concerns.
Service and volunteerism are a core form of civic engagement, inclusive of direct actions within one’s community, and extends beyond to public service, military, and national service. Service presents the opportunity to solve many of our challenges by bridging solutions to the people that power change.
Each year in New York City, there are approximately 3,500 active AmeriCorps members and more than 1.5 million people volunteering within their neighborhoods to deliver vital and urgent services. This force of volunteers and AmeriCorps members, people who love this city, are the solution to curing the loneliness epidemic, uniting people within a political divide, and investing in our future.
To that end, NYC Service has updated our strategic plan to identify three areas where we believe service can be strengthened to engage and support the public, private, and nonprofit sectors – as well as individual residents – to join in a full city movement to bring people power into creating solutions for the city we all love so much. We are in a historic place in time in need of connection and collaboration, and service is the uniting force to bring us to meet the moment.
NYC Service will focus our work to create access to opportunities to serve, promote knowledge of how to approach service in practical and impactful ways, and bridge New Yorkers across all sectors to encourage and build a culture of service.
NYC Service will increase the number of service opportunities for New Yorkers to ensure everyone who wants to contribute to the city has a chance to serve, opportunities are easy to access and participate in, and service contributes to people across all five boroughs. The core of our work centers on bringing people together to support each other and invest in our collective success.
NYC Service will provide effective and robust tools to program participants and partners to build knowledge on how to engage in meaningful service that creates strategic impact, and how to foster service collaborations that are responsible and equitable to New York City neighborhoods and communities. It is our responsibility to provide tools and services that are robust and useful to our partners, at no cost to the New York City community.
NYC Service will bridge sectors through convenings to create a culture of service in every corner of our city. The heart of our city is at its best when people join together to learn from and grow with each other, and fostering collaboration around service initiatives will create bridges to unite under a common vision to expand the power of service as a change agent in New York City.
When taken collectively, Access, Knowledge, and Bridging will allow NYC Service to ensure service is being used as a transformative element – one which moves volunteering beyond ‘nice’ acts into a realm of collective value and collaborative success for our city. Ultimately these strategies can lead service into a tool that promotes positive outcomes for individuals and the organizations with which we partner, contributing to community success, and a thriving city. Key factors NYC Service will look to impact in the coming years, ensuring:
Service is a cornerstone to our city’s success through robust engagement and action every corner of our city. As we continue to evolve to meet current circumstances NYC Service looks to the future to deeply embed service as a strategic tool. To amplify our efforts, we are spearheading new initiatives to amplify volunteerism as a strategy in the city’s portfolio and engage all sectors in our collective efforts.
Key Initiatives Launching to Engage New Yorkers and Amplify Service as a City Priority
Advisory Council: The Chief Service Officer will continue to drive partnerships to implement and evaluate approaches to volunteerism. The 12-member council will represent a cross-sector of voices and engage in developing a set of recommendations to make New York City the easiest place to make an impact through volunteerism and service.
Volunteers for a HealthyNYC: In partnership with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, launch a campaign to build the capacity of nonprofits and hospitals and increase opportunities to volunteer in the areas of health that contribute to healthier, longer lives for New Yorkers.
National Service Leadership Council of New York City: Mobilize more than fifty National Service programs from within the five boroughs to strengthen AmeriCorps programs and enhance the member experience. The council will focus on partnerships to increase recruitment and retention, bolster professional development opportunities, and collaborate on member engagement.
Youth Action Campaigns: In partnership with city agencies, including NYC Public Schools and DemocracyNYC, NYC Service will recruit high-school youth ages 14-18 to volunteer during school recess, annually for an April Youth Action Month, and National Voter Registration Day.
Engaging the City’s Largest Workforce: In partnership with the Office of Labor Relations’ WorkWell and Department of Citywide Administrative Services, develop tailored campaigns to increase access to volunteer opportunities for social connection, positive health outcomes, and professional development.
TeamNYC Pilot: In partnership with private sector partners at Gloat, NYC Service will expand opportunities to bring corporate volunteers to provide skills-based support to critical city agency projects – growing employee engagement to connect to NYC communities and support their own well-being and skill growth.
Mayor’s Office for Nonprofit Services: Expanding alignment with the Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Support to collaborate on supports for nonprofits through service and volunteerism and provide free resources to help nonprofits build capacity to engage everyday New Yorkers in their causes.
For more information on the NYC Service Strategic Plan, download the full report.
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Media and press inquiries, contact Steph Halpin: SHalpin@cityhall.nyc.gov.
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