VISTA ALUMNI NETWORK
there's a seat for you in the VAN!
OCTOBER 3, 2013
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2012-13 cohort concludes their year with service and celebration
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VISTA Alumni Network 
there's a seat for you in the VAN - the VISTA Alumni Network!
 
For NC Campus Compact VISTAs and volunteers, piling in a van and riding off on a service trip can make for great memories. Together, the riders share a special camaraderie and purpose. During your AmeriCorps service, you probably had such an experience. Whether you were driving, navigating, or counting heads to be sure everyone was ready to go, you made a difference - and helped others see how they could too.  Since our program began 10 years ago, 170 individuals have served as NC Campus Compact VISTAs. To strengthen this network, we're planning 3 newsletters a year, along with other ways you can re-connect. We hope you enjoy the ride!
In This Issue
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Blasts From the Past!
Each issue, we'll pull some of our favorite photos from the NC Campus Compact VISTA archive. Above, our 2012-13 VISTA cohort celebrated their end of service by working together at a community garden. At right, the 2004 - 05 VISTA group. View more photos
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Alum Spotlight: Jessica Gagne Cloutier (ECU VISTA, 2004-06)
sometimes a "gap year" becomes a career

Jessica Gagne Cloutier was thinking about her post-grad options as an Elon University senior when she decided to take the advice of NC Campus Compact VISTA Jessica Snow (Elon, 2003-04) and spend a year doing service before starting down the PhD road to a college professorship. "Then I fell in love with it," she recalls of her time at ECU's Volunteer and  Service-Learning Center. "It allows me to serve on a college campus, as I had always envisioned - just in a different capacity."
 Read more
Alum Spotlight: Jodi Lasseter (Peace College VISTA, 2004-05)
builds movements for environmental, global justice

Jodi Lasseter has never been afraid to strike out on her own in her attempts to bring people together. In 2003, she was part of the inaugural AmeriCorps team at City Year Boston, and in 2004 she became the first VISTA at Peace College (now William Peace University), where she helped establish the school's Office of Community Involvement. Now she's started her own consulting firm to share the expertise she gained from a decade of work in mediation, activism, and grassroots organizational development with groups like the Amazon Alliance and the national Engage Network.
 Read more
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Queens VISTA Christina D'Aulerio
VISTA Impact Snapshots, 2012-13
stories of 3 VISTAs building campus-community partnerships

In the most recent project year concluded in August 2013, 22 VISTAs at 20 host sites mobilized over 8500 volunteers, including more than 1800 to work with designated community partner sites where VISTAs were building capacity. In a recent blog post, we offered snapshots of 3 VISTAs who had great success supporting a campus-community partnership to fight poverty.
 Read more
Be a VISTA Alumni Mentor!
Share your wisdom with a current VISTA

Last year, NC Campus Compact started a VISTA Alumni Mentor program to match a local alum with a current member for networking and support. We are still looking for matches for current VISTAs in several parts of the state, including the Triangle. Mentoring a VISTA is not a big commitment: we only ask that mentors have 3 contacts with their VISTA each semester, including at least one face-to-face meeting sometime during the year. Mentoring is a great way for alums to stay connected to national service and to service at a local campus, and it gives current VISTAs another support who can help them think about their work and future with fresh eyes.
Contact Chad Fogleman to learn more.
Special thanks to our current mentors!
  • Aimee Brunton (Central Piedmont, 04-05)
  • Bridget Ferrigan (Pfeiffer, 09-10)
  • Chelsey Bennett (ECU, 11-12)
  • Christa Leimbach (PA CC, 05-06)
  • Elizabeth Corney (ECU, 12-13)  
  • Katie Graunke Higgs (WCU, 08-09)  
  • Lauren Smalley (UNCG, 07-09) 
  • Neil Hoefs (Duke, 10-12)
  • Sally Parlier (Durham Tech, 11-13)  
  • Sara Brown (UNCA, 12-13)
  • Rachel Hutto (Greensboro College, 06-07)
  • Rebecca Cole-Pratt (NCSU, 04-05) 

Civic Engagement Jobs
Looking for a new challenge?

NC Campus Compact is now seeking candidates to become our next VISTA Leader. If you have served as a VISTA within the last 4 years and you're interested, please contact us! You can learn about many other non-profit and higher education jobs by following the NC Campus Compact Jobs Blog. As an AmeriCorps VISTA alum, you can also check out the VISTA Campus Jobs Board and the AmeriCorps Alums Career Center (log-in required).

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Happy 20th Birthday AmeriCorps!

AmeriCorps turns 20 this year! On September 21, 1993, President Clnton signed into law the National Community Service Trust Act, which created AmeriCorps. Though VISTA, started in 1964, is almost 50 now, we are also a proud part of the AmeriCorps family. Since its inception, more than 820,000 citizens have taken the AmeriCorps pledge.
Watch the 20th Anniversary video!

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07-08 VISTA Bowl-R-Rama
Where are they now?

Anna Davis (Greensboro College, 2010-11) recently received her master's from Elon's i-media program. Anna shared her skills with us, designing new logos for CSNAP and PACE. Thanks!

Anya Piotrowski (UNCG, 2012-13) is currently the VISTA Leader at Carson-Newman University in Tennessee.

Candace Semmel King (LRU, 2007-08) is Director of Operations at the Children's Museum of Alamance County.

Mariel Steinbeiser (Wake Tech, 2011-12) recently became the Assistant Coordinator at Wake Tech's Office of Volunteerism and Leadership.

Neil Hoefs (Duke, 2010-2012) is a Senior Resident Community Engagement Fellow with the Duke Durham Neighborhood Partnership. Appropriately, he's also "engaged" and planning a fall wedding. Congrats!

Roger Palmer (Duke, 2008-09) is now a Program Specialist in the Colorado State Office of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Read more

Sara Acosta (Campbell, 2010-2012) is the Director of Communications at Love Wins Ministries in Raleigh. Sara's been busy, as her organization has been in the news lately.

Sally Parlier (Durham Tech, 2011-13) recently became the new volunteer coordinator at Durham Technical Community College.

Tim Geier (Elon, 2004-05) is Project Manager with Interior Systems in Milwaukee, WI. Tim is married with kid and one more on the way in November.

Do you have an update for us? Reply and share your news.
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