Federal Position Descriptions
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Board Member

Board Member, Corporation for National and Community Service
Responsibility
Management Scope

CNCS had a fiscal 2016 enacted budget of $1.03 billion and 629 employees.2

Primary Responsibilities

• Build outs and approves the five-year strategic plan prepared by the CEO, and makes annual updates to it
• Reviews CNCS’ budget proposal in advance of its submission to the Office of Management and Budget
• Reviews and approves proposals the CEO prepares on grants, allotments, contracts, financial assistance, payment and positions, and on regulations, standards, policies, procedures, programs and initiatives
• Reviews and approves the evaluation plan the CEO prepares
• Reviews and advises on the CEO’s actions on personnel, and on standards, policies, procedures, programs and initiatives necessary to carry out the national service laws
• Informs the CEO of any actions not in compliance with the annual strategic plan or the evaluation plan, or are not consistent with the objectives of the national service laws
• Reviews the CEO’s performance annually, along with other board members, for a report to the president
• Receives audit reports or investigations, as provided by the Inspector General Act of 1978
• Makes recommendations relating to a CNCS research program with respect to national and community service programs
• Advises the president and congressional authorizing committees on developments in national and community service
• Ensures information on CNCS programs and initiatives is disseminated effectively
• Makes grants to federal and other public departments or agencies, and private nonprofit organizations — or enters into contracts or agreements with such entities — to assign national service members and to support programs under the national service laws
• Prepares and makes recommendations to congressional authorizing committees and the president for changes in national service laws resulting from studies and demonstration programs the CEO is required to carry out3

Strategic Goals and Priorities
[Depends on the policy priorities of the administration.]
Requirements
  • Board requirements:
    • The board should represent a broad range of viewpoints and be diverse in race, ethnicity, age, gender and disability characteristics
    • No more than 50 percent of the appointed board members, plus one additional appointed member, are from a single political party
    • One member must be an individual between the ages of 16 and 25 who has served in a school-based or community-based program or is current or past participant or supervisor in such a program (42 U.S.C. § 12651a)
    • The board should be composed of people who have influence in different areas and that impact how a community and nonprofits exist and survive
    • A few members should have a solid understanding of the federal budget process
    • One member should understand community work and its political component (such as a former mayor or member of Congress)
    • One member should have a nonprofit background
    • One member should represent higher education (such as a former president or high-level university or college executive)
    • One member should have an understanding of philanthropy and how systems change
  • Board member requirements:
    • Extensive experience in volunteer or service activities, which may include programs funded under one of the national service laws, and in state government
    • Expert in the delivery of human, educational, environmental or public safety services
Competencies

• Influencer
• Ability to work across party lines
• Understanding of what national service means, and what it means to a country

Past Appointments
  • Mona Dixon (2015 to present): Currently a graduate student at Arizona State University pursuing a master’s degree in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Advocacy. Previously on the board for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the East Valley – Tempe Ladmo Branch and the board for UMOM New Day Centers, the largest homeless shelter in Arizona.4
  • Victoria Hughes (2015 to present): Currently Director of Development at the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University and on the Board of Trustees at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. Previously Vice President for Development at the Reason Foundation; Executive Vice President of A.C. Fitzgerald & Associates; Founding President and Senior Advisor at the Bill of Rights Institute; Vice President for Grants at the Charles G. Koch, Claude R. Lambe, Fred and Mary Koch Foundations; Director of Corporate Philanthropy at Koch Industries, Inc.; classroom teacher in Cincinnati, Boston, and Washington, D.C.5
  • Shamina Singh (2015 to present): Currently Executive Director of the MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth, a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum and a Henry Crown Fellow with the Aspen Institute. Previously Global Director of MasterCard’s Government Social Programs; head of Government and Public Affairs for Nike; Citigroup’s Global Community Development Group; senior positions within the Clinton Administration, the House of Representatives, electoral campaigns and national nonprofit organizations.6
AGENCY

Corporation for National and Community Service

Mission: To improve lives, strengthen communities and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering

COMPENSATION

Level III $165,300 (5 U.S.C. § 5314)1

REPORTS TO

The CNCS is an independent agency. Board members serve at the pleasure of the president.

SENATE COMMITTEE

Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

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Footnote
  1. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Public Law 115-31, May 5, 2017), contains a provision that continues the freeze on the payable pay rates for certain senior political officials at 2013 levels during calendar year 2017.
  2. https://www.nationalservice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CNCS_FY2018_CBJ.pdf Partnership for Public Service analysis of FedScope data
  3. OPM
  4. https://www.nationalservice.gov/about/who-we-are/board-directors
  5. https://www.nationalservice.gov/about/who-we-are/board-directors
  6. https://www.nationalservice.gov/about/who-we-are/board-directors
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