Washington
The White House announced today that it plans to nominate Wendy Spencer, a longtime advocate for volunteerism, to lead the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The agency has been without a chief executive since May, when Patrick Corvington resigned unexpectedly after 14 months in the role. The corporation oversees AmeriCorps and other national-service programs.
Ms. Spencer currently leads the Florida Governor’s Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, which administers AmeriCorps grants in the state and coordinates donations and volunteers after disasters. She has also served as head of Florida’s Park Service and campaign director of the United Way of the Big Bend.
In 2006 she was appointed to the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.
Money Battles Ahead
If confirmed, Ms. Spencer will take over an agency that has become a big target in Washington’s budget wars. In September, the House of Representatives released a draft bill that would cut the corporation’s budget by 74 percent.
National-service advocates praised Ms. Spencer’s nomination.
“Ms. Spencer has worked across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to mobilize citizens to address problems facing their communities,” AnnMaura Connolly, president of Voices for National Service and campaign director of Save Service in America, said in a statement. “She is uniquely qualified to lead the Corporation for National and Community Service.”
