In his address to 300 AmeriCorps members and alumni during our annual ServeMontana Symposium in March, 2015 Governor Steve Bullock made an exciting announcement–Montana is the first state in the west (second in the nation) to become an Employer of National Service!
As an Employer of National Service, AmeriCorps and Peace Corps alumni can now indicate their service experience through a question included on all state job postings. The homepage of the Montana state career website (statecareers.mt.gov) has been updated to include language encouraging AmeriCorps and Peace Corps alumni to explore careers within state government.
We know National Service alumni are highly-qualified individuals. They bring valuable skills to the workplace such as determination, teamwork, and the will to do good for others. I encourage alumni to look at what the greatest state in the nation has to offer and to make a commitment to pursue a lifetime of service right here in Montana.
In response to the number of folks that were unable to attend the 2013 Summit because of the traveling distance involved, this year, we will be having FIVE regional Growing Leaders Youth Summits. It’s been nearly two years since the last Growing Leaders Youth Summit, and you’re going to love the ideas that have been cooking since then. The response to this event was overwhelming that this year, we are planning Regional Growing Leaders Youth Summits across the state in target areas around the Flathead, Helena, Livingston, Billings, and Havre. This is no small task, and we can’t do it alone. We need your help to make sure that this event is truly a success, and inspires young Hi-line residents to have an active role in the future of sustainable agriculture and local food systems.
Lend an ear (or more appropriately, an eye) about this opportunity for creating a truly transformative experience for high school students along the Hi-line. This is a request for your involvement in making the Growing Leaders Youth Summit a reality. The task is to put together a solid foundation of steering committee members, presenters, workshop leaders, and tour sites for an event in October 2015 that will build high school students’ sense of leadership and capacity to educate and organize their peers and communities around healthy eating and living.
Opportunity Link has been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive $100,000 for a creative placemaking project to support vibrant rural and tribal communities in Northcentral Montana with the arts at their core. Opportunity Link will receive $100,000 to plan a Hi-Line Arts Trail and commission public art.