National Service Agency Names Eli Segal Fellow
Washington, DC— William Chrysanthos, a former AmeriCorps member whose service included terms with the Breakthrough Collaborative, Teach for America, and Hands On Mississippi, has been named the Eli Segal Fellow for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Chrysanthos will be working with the Director of AmeriCorps and other CNCS programs to research, develop, and support initiatives of strategic importance to the agency.
"Will’s commitment to serving communities across the country is truly admirable and the value of his leadership in helping our youth and American families along the Gulf Coast has made a lasting impact," said Patrick A. Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The Eli Segal Fellowship, named in honor of the first CEO of CNCS, brings a stellar former AmeriCorps member to work in a different side of the service world. CNCS' Board of Directors established the fellowship after Segal’s death in February 2006.The competition was open to AmeriCorps alums who served full-time in the past three years. Candidates were sought who had strong leadership abilities, dedication to the ideals of national service, a social entrepreneurial spirit, and exceptional communication and analytical skills.
A native of Medford, Massachusetts, Chrysanthos, 29, started his AmeriCorps service with the Breakthrough Collaborative while in high school and continued through college while a student at Tufts University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History. Chrysanthos eventually served as the Assistant Director of Breakthrough Cambridge, and an award was established in his name to recognize leaders who best exemplify the "spirit of service". While serving as a AmeriCorps member in Teach for America from 2003-05, he designed and taught a five-subject instructional program for lower functioning, learning disabled, and at-risk middle school students in St. Louis, MO. Since 2006, he has spent four years helping residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast recover from the damage of Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill, where he began as an AmeriCorps VISTA Building Program Coordinator with Hands On Mississippi. Went on to continue his service as a Case Manager for a Biloxi non-profit named Hope Community Development Agency, before he eventually returned to become the AmeriCorps VISTA Program Manager for the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service.
"AmeriCorps has allowed me to serve communities across America in ways I never could have imagined when I took my first oath of service at 18 years old," Chrysanthos said. "I am deeply humbled to continue my service in honor of one of the greatest champions of national service in America. As the next Eli Segal Fellow, I will bring passion tempered by curiosity to understand and build upon successful national service policy."
About the Corporation for National and Community Service:
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.