Introduction
Welcome to the SLYPN Update, a quarterly newsletter brought to you by the Service-Learning Young Professionals Network. SLYPN is a network for 20-30 somethings with opportunities to develop the skills and capacity they need to pursue their interests and advance their career in service-learning.

This issue offers a collection of resources, networking opportunities, news you can use, and action items. These are a small sample of the multiple resources found on SLYPN's website under the issue areas of: practice and professional development, research, communications and visibility, constituency building, non profit management, diversity leadership, and advocacy.

Issue Areas

Professional Practice
NYLC has been working with service-learning leaders from across the country to refine a set of Principles of Effective Practice for K-12 Service-Learning, derived from the 1999 Essential Elements of Service-Learning, and based in research.

These principles often referred to as the PEPS set the stage for developing national standards of service-learning practice, the next step in the process, which will in turn help ensure quality service-learning practice, as well as broader recognition for practitioners.
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Nonprofit Management
Thinking about the which type of organizations is best for you? Understanding organizational life cycles can inform your decision. Paul Connolly and Laura Colin Klein's Organizational Life Cycles article offers insightful ways of determining what stage an organization is operating at, managing transitions, developing healthy strategies, and anticipating future challenges. (New York Non Profits).
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Constituency Building
Terry Pickeral's article, 13 Successful Coalition Building Strategies: Coalition Building and Democratic Principles, explains how coalition building can provide an effective strategy to advance high-quality civic education while it models the principles of democracy. Currently, many national, state, and local organizations are interested in developing coalitions to advance effective education. This is especially true as educators, policy makers, and concerned citizens begin to focus on the Civic Mission of Schools and other policies, programs and pedagogies designed to improve civic education.
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Communications & Visibility
Recently, Youth Media Reporter--the professional journal for the youth media field--published an article entitled, MySpace and YouTube, which discusses new technologies and their ability to support youth activism despite the corporate ownership of these tools.
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Are you a do-it-yourselfer? Want to help spread the word about service-learning? Create your own videos and upload them on the new service-learning YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/servicelearning

Diversity
'The "missionary ideology" that currently underlies much of the service-learning movement is mostly the result of a series of decisions intended to "do good things" for others, and so the movement does not directly acknowledge what those others, particularly communities of color, might have to offer, the authors say. Its time to change that.'

Explore service-learning from a multicultural, multiethnic perspective by checking out Wokie Weah, Verna Cornelia Simons & McClellan Hall's article Service-Learning and Multicultural/Multiethnic Perspectives: From Diversity to Equity (NYLC Resource: Phi Kappa Delta May 2000). Join online discussions with other young professionals who care about this issue.
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Advocacy
Learn and Serve America's funding is in jeopardy, and that could mean major cutbacks for service-learning initiatives across the country. Policymakers must hear a strong chorus of support for the program to justify their efforts to sustain this national program. So what are you waiting for?

CALL CONGRESS: Speak. Act. Now.
Use your personal phone and urge your members of Congress to restore the traditional funding level of $43 million for Learn and Serve America. Educate your elected officials by sharing your stories about the power of service-learning and its positive impact on students and communities. After you make your calls, urge at least 5 other people to do the same. We need the power of our network to make sure that Congress hears our message loud and clear. Visit http://www.servicelearningunited.org/ for talking points and additional resources.

CLICK AND SEND A MESSAGE.
Take two minutes to personalize a sample message to your U.S. House Representative and Senators with our online advocacy tool. It's fast, and it's easy. But don't stop there. Ask your colleagues, parents, teachers, youth, friends, local supporters, and funders to send a message too. Spread the word about service-learning with a quick click.

Research
In their article, A Framework for Future Research: The Community Impacts of Service-Learning, Bailis and Ganger propose measurement strategies and areas for future research in this under-analyzed area of the service-learning field. It is a challenge to measure the financial, emotional, and educational impact of service-learning on those that have been served. It provides insights on how to include community impact measurements in your program. The article includes highlights from a national YMCA study. (NYLC: Growing to Greatness 2006)
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Grants and Awards Opportunities

• New York Youth Service Improvement Grants
  $25,000 - Deadline: April 30, 2007
• Learning & Leadership And Student Achievement Awards
  $2000-$5000 - Deadline: June 1, 2007
• World Of Children Awards
  $15-50,000 - Deadline: May 4, 2007
• Project Ignition
  $2000-10,000 - Deadline April 15, 2007

© 2007 Service-Learning Young Professionals Network

SLYPN is administered by the National Service-Learning Partnership at the Academy for Educational Development—with strategic support and leadership from Youth Service California.

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