When public service meets human potential

So there we are in 1994, meeting for the first time in a one-room office in the PNC Bank building in downtown Wilmington. We were both Delaware public school kids, recent college graduates, with no careers but high hopes. One of us, 23 and a James Madison University grad, was taking a year to prepare for medical school.

The other, 24 and a University of Delaware grad, was a bit more pedestrian, deciding whether to become a lawyer or a writer. If you knew his grades at Delaware, neither could have been possible at that time. We both agreed early that we wanted to make a difference in the world and we hated the popular notion that 20-somethings only want material things, putting themselves first and community a distant last.

We believed that young people come alive when they are helping others, because being of service satisfies something deep within. With that spirit and a little adult supervision, most notably from Sonia Sloan and David Sysko, Public Allies Delaware was born. We were part of a burgeoning national movement funded by a new Clinton Administration program popularly known as AmeriCorps.

While President Clinton called this effort the Domestic Peace Corps, the seeds emerged from President George H. Bush’s 1,000 Points of Light. Bi-partisan at their core, AmeriCorps and Points of Light were based on an identical concept – re-imagine the ethic of faithful, committed public servants that in the words of Alexis de Tocqueville, allow America to “overcome selfish desires to make a vibrant civil society.” In the early ’90s, Public Allies was one demonstration of that profound truth.

Delaware was one of the first five locations, including Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Washington, D.C, Chicago and Milwaukee. The objective was to find a diverse group of local young people who wanted to learn about themselves while doing good for others. The design is straightforward: participate in a 10-month apprenticeship in a local nonprofit working four days a week and come together every Friday to build personal and professional development skills. “Allies” also work on group projects that last far beyond their service. Allies are generating actual solutions to local neighborhood challenges. Upon completion, Allies receive a $5,550 award to pay for postsecondary education.

Public Allies is giving real opportunity to young people who want to make a difference in the world. Sometimes they are not college graduates. In fact, 50 percent of Allies do not have degrees when they enter the program. For others, Public Allies is their first full-time opportunity. And in nearly every case, the typical Ally is figuring out who they are as they serve others.

Public Allies has expanded to 23 cities. More than 5,000 young people have completed the program and more than 80 percent continue careers in nonprofit and public service. They continue to thrive well after their apprenticeships end. A recent survey of Delaware alumni shows 50 percent are in management positions; 64 percent are pursuing advanced degrees; 72 percent are actively engaged in public and civic service; and 85 percent still live and contribute in Delaware. But none of these numbers tell the full story of what Public Allies has meant to those whose lives have been enriched through it.

The stories are innumerable and powerful. A young man from a tough neighborhood, who had a few brushes with the law as a teenager, finds himself at a local Boys and Girls Club trying to help teens from his neighborhood avoid the mistakes he made. A recent law school grad, grappling with the right career for herself, works at a law clinic for the poor. A home-schooled 18-year-old wants to teach kids about the importance of health, money management and self-concept. A battered single mom takes a vow of silence and then decides the only way to deal with the pain is to help other single moms. All trying to be and do better – by serving others.

We are no longer in our 20s and some of our original dreams have been bruised by life’s harsh realities. Fortunately, the Ally class of 2014 is as wide-eyed and hopeful as we were in 1994. This past fall, Delaware first lady Carla Markell delivered an address to this year’s class and said, “Public Allies is the place where public service meets human potential.” Today, we celebrate 20 years of doing just that. Whether on Wilmington City Council serving the people of the 1st District, in New York City as the newest cast member on “Saturday Night Live” or at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. e raising two daughters and leading the nation in the fight against childhood obesity, the legacy of Public Allies in Delaware and across our nation endures.

Public Allies Delaware will celebrate its 20th anniversary at 6 p.m. Thursday at the downtown Doubletree Hotel in Wilmington. Tickets may be purchased at www.publicallies.org/Delaware20.

Dr. Suzanne Sysko is an endocrinologist and the chief medical officer and co-founder of Well-Doc, a health-care company that uses technology to improve disease management and reduce health-care costs. Dr. Tony Allen is the Whitney M. Young Awardee for Advancing Racial Equality, the National Urban League’s highest honor and a Bank of America executive.