Introduction The Atlas Service Corps (ASC) is a citizen sector organization (“CSO”, i.e. NGO/nonprofit) that places young leaders working in the citizen sector of developing countries into voluntary positions with citizen sector organizations in the United States for one year fellowships followed by one year working in the citizen sector of their home country. The goal of the ASC is to build capacity of the citizen sector both in the U.S. and in developing countries through these voluntary positions. Ultimately the ASC would resemble a “reverse Peace Corps,” where developing countries from around the world would send young all-stars from the citizen sector to the U.S. to volunteer, build capacity, learn skills, share knowledge, and come home to strengthen their domestic citizen sector. These fellowships would address a wide range of issues, all related to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

Justification: Thomas Friedman declares in The World is Flat, that the 21^st century will not be shaped by governments or corporations like previous ages, but rather by empowered individuals from all corners of the earth who, as a result of globalization have unique opportunities to make a difference. Certainly the private sector has already benefited from the international exchanges of talent, and the academic community has for years been enriched through international exchanges of students. However the citizen sector (a.k.a. the nonprofit, social, NGO, or independent sector) has been left behind, unable to afford such exchanges that could expand staff size, build capacity and improve services. No cost-effective structure has yet been created to facilitate these exchanges in a manner that benefits all countries involved.

Today, hundreds of volunteer exchange programs exist that send people from “the West” to “the developing world”, and at least one sends people from one developing nation to another. These programs vary in degrees of success and sustainability, but none of them bring people from the “developing world” to the “the West” to train people and build capacity. The ASC will build the network and the institution necessary for the citizen sector to compete, grow and prosper in this new world. These international exchanges will help the citizen sector provide more services, improve technology, and implement more evaluation.

Mission: To integrate a global citizen sector; to develop a global partnership for development.

Method: ASC will facilitate international fellowships for emerging citizen sector leaders who contribute a year of voluntary service to the U.S. and who then work an additional year in the citizen sector of their native country, sharing new skills, best practices, and valuable experience.

Vision: A true global citizen sector where best practices, talent, and services cross boarders with ease and efficiently and effectively serve the needs of the world, and local, communities through international partnerships and collaboration. The ASC seeks to strengthen the world’s citizen sector through international exchanges building global social capital.

Values

The ASC will be a values-based organization creating a strong international network of emerging citizen sector leaders who share a common drive to advance the larger good. ASC Fellows will be individuals committed to:

1. Personal & Professional Integrity	6. Lifelong Learning & Service
2. International Cooperation	7. Participatory Citizenship
3. Sustainable Engagement	8. Honesty & Transparency
4. Social Entrepreneurship	9. Strength from Diversity
5. Visionary Leadership	10. Equal Human Rights

ISSUES

The ASC Fellows will address a wide variety of issues, but will focus on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs). In particular, ASC will partner with US CSOs, and seek Fellows who are addressing Hunger/Poverty, Education, Gender Equity, Health and the Environment. These issues represent UN MDGs 1, 2 ,3 ,6 and 7. The eight and final MDG – to develop a global partnership for development – is at the core of the mission of the ASC.

Fellow Logistics

Choosing Outstanding Fellows: Fellow will be selected from countries around the world (starting in India and Colombia) to spend one year volunteering at a U.S. citizen sector organizations (CSOs). Individuals who participate in the program will be college graduate emerging leaders with 3-5 years of experience working in the citizen sector. Fellows will be selected by the ASC with substantial input from partner organizations in the U.S. and abroad. If selected, Fellows will have to pay for their own visa and provide a $500 deposit to participate in the program to help ensure that they complete the program.

Candidates will be rising starts in the citizen sector of their home country. They will be well educated, emerging-leaders, committed to the social change. Specific requirements may include: college degree, three years of citizen sector experience, a commitment to return to one’s home country for an additional year of CSO work, excellent written and oral communication skills in English, and computer fluency.

The Fellows will volunteer for one year, but receive a great experience in return. Fellows will receive one month of advance training – 2 weeks in their home country, and 2 weeks in the U.S. – immediately before starting their year of service. After completing the first year, 25% of the Fellows will be eligible to extend for a second year. Fellows will receive a living stipend and health care during their training and fellowship. After returning home and working in the citizen sector for one year, the Fellows will receive a financial award ($2,500 after one year of service in the U.S., $5,000 if they had volunteered for two years). During the year, Fellows will receive on-going training as well as opportunities to interact with other Fellows.

Partner Logistics

Partnering With The Best: ASC will seek to partner with innovative, strong U.S. and developing nation CSOs to place Fellows and recruit candidates (such as organizations started by Ashoka Fellows in the U.S. and abroad). Each Fellow will be placed at a U.S. CSO that addresses a similar issue to the one they have experience in – such as in the environment, poverty, health, women’s issues, etc. ASC will reach out to all types of U.S. CSOs, including foundations, to give Fellows an opportunity where they can share their own experiences and also learn from their host.

CSO Cost Share / Living Stipend / Health Insurance / Air Travel: U.S. CSO will cost share $16,000 for each Fellow (during the first year). The Fellows will receive a living stipend similar to, but greater than the stipend received by AmeriCorps Members, roughly equal to 150% of the level of poverty (around $15,000 in Washington, DC). Health insurance and round-trip airfare will be provided for every Fellow by the ISC.

Location / Scale: ASC will start by taking 2-10 Fellows from India and 2-10 from Colombia and placing some from each country in two different locations in the U.S. (Washington, DC and Wilmington, DE). The model will be tested for two years, and eventually the ISC would involve hundreds of Fellows from numerous countries.

Value to Partner Organizations: ASC will partner with US and international CSOs to recruit, train, and place Fellows. The ASC will also partner with U.S. universities to train Fellows before and during their year of service (two weeks at a University before the Fellowship and then monthly during the fellowship). U.S. Partners will receive an experienced, trained fellow for 12 months, to volunteer at and learn from their organization on a full-time basis. These emerging leaders will bring new perspectives, and a wealth of experience to strengthen the CSO. Fellows may not do more than 20% administrative work, and partner organizations will provide suitable workstations, including a desk, computer, phone, etc. Partner organizations will provide the daily supervision of the Fellow and create opportunities for the Fellow’s development.

Organizational Logistics

Value to Global Community: The citizen sector in the U.S. will benefit from the volunteer hours of hundreds of Fellows bringing in their own experience, knowledge and skills into the U.S. After returning home, the “developing” nations will benefit from the returning Fellow’s experience and a commitment to work at least one more year in the citizen sector. The international community will benefit through increased understanding of cultures and overall strengthening of the citizen sector. The ASC directly advances Millennium Development Goal #8 (to develop a global partnership for development) and indirectly advances five other goals. (See our issue areas.)

Sustainability: Since U.S. CSO will cost-share the Fellows, in the long run the ASC is a 100% sustainable program. In early years, the $16,000 cost share would not cover all of the expenses, but over time this cost share amount will go up. In the long run ( about 12 years), ASC will build a foundation that would meet the financial demands not met by the cost share. View our financial section to see how this will work.

Competitive Advantages / Unique Approach: In the U.S., only CSOs that “fight poverty” are eligible for VISTA volunteers (the most common AmeriCorps Members). Some schools receive Teach for America volunteers and other organizations receive part time support from City Year, Senior Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, etc. The vast majority of CSOs are not eligible to receive full-time, subsidized, volunteers for one year. However, many organizations need help building capacity, and will embrace the opportunity to find a well qualified volunteer for a year for half the cost of the normal starting salary and benefits. This is especially true when those applicants bring 3-5 years of relevant international experience.

LONG TERM PLANS

U.S. Fellows: By the fifth year of the ASC, Fellows will be taken from the United States to volunteer in CSOs overseas. The format and logistics would be similar to the International Fellows in that volunteers will receive training and a living stipend while they worked in an CSO overseas to gain valuable experience and a global perspective.

Employee Exchanges: As part of the U.S. Fellow program, citizen sector organizations will be sought to do employee exchanges. By identifying similar organizations in the U.S. and abroad, an exchange could be established between employees. For example, a youth serving nonprofit in the U.S. will nominate a rising leader in their organization who was willing to volunteer for a year at an CSO overseas with the promise that his/her job would still be there for them when they return. This individual will be matched with a foreign youth serving CSO that will also nominate a rising leader to volunteer in the U.S. for a year. These two individuals will then participate in an exchange through the ISC and each organization will pay the partner cost-share to cover the living stipend and expenses for each Fellow. While each employee will take a pay cut for the year, they will gain valuable experience without the risk of losing a current position. The organizations will save money on salary (since the partner cost share would be less than the employees salary) and they will gain a better-trained, more motivated employee with a new overseas perspective.

South-South Exchange: By the tenth year of the ASC, we will introduce a south-south exchange, where Fellows will go from any developing country in the world to any other developing country that is part of the ASC network.

SAMPLE PROFILE

Sometimes the best was to see how a new idea would work is through an example. So, on this page, read about a hypothetical exchange of a rising star in India working at a youth citizen sector organization India, who does an fellowship at a US citizen sector organization for a year. Read about this sample profiles here.