News & EventsPittsburgh Magazine names site director to "Top 40 Under 40" listFirst Lady Gives Big Speech About Public AlliesMichelle Obama Said:"The happiest time of my life was working to build Public Allies""national service programs will be our own stress test to see if we can handle the growth of The Serve America Act" - Public Allies CEO Paul SchmitzFirst Lady mentions Public Allies, announces social innovation fund to TIME 100Program provides opportunity in challenging job marketSchool of Social Work Announces Partnership with National Leadership Training GroupCompany's Nonprofit Academy Helps Prepare LeadersPublic Allies has stellar record of producing public servantsPublic Allies and Public Allies Alumnus were reconized by President Obama during signing of serviceStatement By The President on the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America ActNike Foundation CEO Nominated as CEO for CNCSNation needs youthful idealism more than everWith Finance Disgraced, Which Career Will Be King?Community Organizing Never Looked So GoodJourney For JusticePublic Allies Alumna is the First Lady of FunnyThe Chronicle of Philanthropy Tells the Story of Public Allies, the Obamas and the ClintonsCEO Featured in National Article on Nonprofit WorkforcePublic Allies Featured in National Study FindingsGeneral InformationFact Sheet About Public Allies and the ObamasPublic Allies Executive Summary & Growth Plan (double click back button to return)2008 Ally Program Results (double click back button to return)Reports, Articles and SpeechesPeter Hart PollLeadership CurriculumMaking a Career Out of Making a DifferenceWorst Practices of a Social EntrepeneurBuilding Tomorrow's Nonprofit Work Force

The Chronicle of Philanthropy Tells the Story of Public Allies, the Obamas and the Clintons

  

 

Fired Up and Ready to Grow

Youth group's Obama link raises its profile nationwide

By Suzanne Perry

When Vanessa Kirsch was working in the early 1990s to create a new organization to train young people for public service, she recalls, people kept telling her: "There's this guy in Chicago; you've got to meet with him."

That "guy" was a civil-rights lawyer and community organizer named Barack Obama — the future U.S. senator and Democratic presidential contender, who ended up playing a critical role in the group that Ms. Kirsch co-founded, Public Allies.  Read full article....