Jenny is a known national service leader. She served our agency with distinction from 2012-2016 as the Special Advisor to the CEO and as our White House Liaison.

Most recently, Jenny served as Chief of Staff at Women for Women International. Throughout her tenure, she provided consistent leadership during times of great transition. She was responsible for the global strategic planning process and delivery as well as internal communications. Jenny partnered with the global leadership and the Global Board of Directors to ensure a seamless, high-quality, and consistent program that inspired and encouraged Directors in their commitment to the mission.

Karen is a proven leader with extensive experience in communications, policy, operations, and partnerships. She joins AmeriCorps from Guild Education, a hyper growth start-up where she led the development and implementation of internal communications, including operations, messaging, and change management. Previously, Karen spent several years in leadership positions in operations, internal and external communication, and government relations for Cities of Service and Jumpstart. She was part of the communications teams for President Clinton and Vice President Gore and was a researcher and associate producer for NBC News. A proud AmeriCorps alumna, Karen volunteers in New York City public schools, including coordinating a school-wide community service program. She holds a master's degree in education from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in English and French from the University of Connecticut.

A proud military veteran, Mary brings more than 17 years of leader development, project management, community engagement, and public speaking experience and a passion for addressing social justice issues that affect underserved communities. Most recently, she served as Executive Director, East Region of The Mission Continues. She has been featured in major publications for her thought leadership on diversity and inclusion and has lectured widely on topics including poverty, diversity, and leadership. She is a combat veteran, having served 10 years in the United States Army as a communications officer, including two combat tours in Iraq. Her previous roles include Senior Project Manager for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, President’s Management Council fellow in the Department of Treasury, and Chief Operations Officer of the Kids Hope Alliance. Mary is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the New York Institute of Technology.

Yasmeen’s professional experience centers around making national service part of growing up in America. Most recently, she served as Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships at Service Year Alliance, where she led initiatives including the Serve America Together campaign, stakeholder engagement, and convenings for leaders inside and outside the national service network. Yasmeen helped start the Franklin Project at the Aspen Institute, where she designed and ran a fellowship program for rising leaders across the country. She was a business development consultant with News Deeply, a new media and technology startup, and managed programs and the Arab American Census Information Center at the Arab American Institute and Foundation. Yasmeen is a proud AmeriCorps alumna, and served in 2008 with the Arab American Resource Corps in a community support and cultural resource position before becoming a supervisor for future members. She earned a bachelor's degree from George Washington University and a master's degree from Harvard Divinity School.

Fernando joins AmeriCorps with a wealth of experience in antitrust and competition policy, federal oversight and accountability, and public law. Most recently, he served as the Faculty Director of the Program on Law and Government at American University Washington College of Law. He previously served as the Vice President, External Affairs and a Policy Counselor at Time Warner Cable; General Counsel and Board Chair of the National Network to End Domestic Violence; and as a member of numerous nonprofit boards including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). He has received numerous national and local awards for his work advocating against domestic violence. Fernando received his J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, and his A.B. cum laude in Government from Harvard College.

Atalaya believes in the power of diverse voices to solve any problem, no matter the scope or complexity. She brings 20 years of experience in service, community engagement, and education to this role. She has worked in public school districts and the nonprofit sector, bringing private and public organizations together to ensure citizens of all ages and those in underserved communities thrive. Atalaya most recently served as the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Programming at Jumpstart for Young Children, Inc. There she managed AmeriCorps State and National and AmeriCorps Seniors programs from the grantee level, launching her former organization’s only Foster Grandparent program. Atalaya has been a member of several advisory committees, councils, and coalitions, including as a founder of Los Angeles Generation to Generation, which focused on engaging older adults to support young children across Los Angeles County. She was also selected as an Encore Fellow, using her time to write about the positive impact seniors can have in educational settings. Atalaya earned a master’s degree in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Virginia.

Meg brings with her to AmeriCorps VISTA a passion to ensure everyone has the opportunity to succeed in life. She grew up in a family of organizers and teachers and has served as an advisor to several foundations, advocacy and direct service organizations committed to improving education. She previously served in a variety of roles at Stand for Children and was the CEO and a Founding Partner of 270 Strategies. At 270, she founded and led the company’s education practice, advising public school districts, charter management organizations, foundations, direct service and advocacy organizations. Meg also brings extensive experience in leading public engagement and advocacy strategies. She has worked on senate and gubernatorial campaigns, served as the Co-Founder and Senior Advisor for Organizing Corps 2020, a National Regional Director for the 2012 Obama for America campaign, and more. She was even a forest firefighter, named to one of Oregon’s elite “hotshot” teams. Meg earned a B.A. in History and African Studies from Oberlin College.

The majority of these leaders joined AmeriCorps on day one of the new administration to hit the ground running. We expect to welcome AmeriCorps’ new general counsel and AmeriCorps Seniors and AmeriCorps VISTA directors within the next two weeks and additional colleagues in the near future.

Today, as America faces unprecedented challenges, we need national service more than ever. AmeriCorps is poised to support the administration’s priorities to address COVID-19, economic recovery, climate change, racial equity, education and workforce development, and community resilience.

Our new leaders from the Biden administration understand the crucial role national service can and must play to help unite our nation and address our pressing challenges. From all of us at AmeriCorps, we look forward to collaborating with your organizations to continue to bring out the best of our nation, together.