This event is open to the public. It will be recorded and an ASL interpreter will be available during the event. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please email us before the event. Follow us @NPSYouth and #NPSYouth & #NPSYoungAdults on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Feel free to also share the Facebook event page and LinkedIn event page too.
Scroll down to watch the event recording, or view it on YouTube!
Event Details
Program
Moderator
- Nichole McHenry, Relevancy, Diversity, and Inclusion Program Manager, National Park Service
Remarks
- Mary Ellen Sprenkel, President and CEO, The Corps Network
- Tracey Ritchie, Vice President of Education and Engagement, National Park Foundation
- Yasmeen Shaheen-McConnell, Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships, AmeriCorps
- Jamie Crispin, Youth Programs Manager for the Youth & Young Adult Programs Division, National Park Service
Panel Discussion
- Jenna Miladin, PhD Student, Great Basin Institute (2024 Corpsmember of the Year)
- Mason Bunker, Srategic Planning Coordinator, National Parks of Boston Climate Conservation Corps
- Sara Vélez Galíndez, Field Coordinator, BoriCorps (2024 Corpsmember of the Year)
- Sara Doty, Corpsmember, Student Conservation Association and GulfCorps
- Wooju Chong, Birdability Intern, Environment for the Americas
- Olivia Hall, Corpsmember from the Piikuni Lands Crew, a partnership between Montana Conservation Corps and the Blackfeet Nation
Q&A Session
- Nicole Mason, Service-wide MAT Coordinator, National Park Service
- George McDonald, Senior Advisor for Youth Programs, U.S. Department of the Interior
- Sandy Scott, Senior Advisor for Office of Strategic Partnerships, AmeriCorps
Closing Remarks
Watch the Event Recording
Read the event recap! Have any questions? Please email us!
Learn More About Our Participating Partners
National Park Service Youth and Young Adult Programs: nps.gov/subjects/youthprograms
The Corps Network: corpsnetwork.org
National Park Foundation: nationalparks.org
Student Conservation Association: https://www.thesca.org/
AmeriCorps: https://americorps.gov/
Meet the Speakers and Panelists
Nichole McHenry (Moderator) is the Relevancy, Diversity, and Inclusion Program Manager for the National Park Service. Before taking her current position, she served as the Volunteer Program Manager for the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, managing the volunteer program for the 3700-mile-long trail. At an early age, Nichole was encouraged to focus on public speaking. In 1992, Nichole started her career at Lincoln Home National Historic. She then spent the next summer at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in Elverson, PA. In August 1994, Nichole became a permanent ranger at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. In 2004, she moved to Topeka, Kansas to serve as the lead park ranger at Brown v Board of Education National Historic Site. Nichole has served at the Acting Superintendent at William Howard Taft National Historic Site, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site and Ste. Genevieve National Historical Park. Nichole is a 2014 graduate of the Generating Operational Advancement and Leadership Academy (GOAL). A native of the East Saint Louis, IL, Nichole earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. When she’s not working, she enjoys shopping, traveling, cooking, listening to music, checking out new restaurants and spending time with family and friends.
Now, Mason serves as an AmeriCorps VISTA and Strategic Planning Coordinator for the National Parks of Boston Climate Conservation Corps, a Conservation Legacy Stewards Individual Placements Program. Mason thrives in his role, engaging with program stakeholders across multiple disciplines of climate response. He develops strategic plans for program growth, purpose, and logistics, curating promotional materials for the Climate Conservation Corps, and supporting pilot year projects.
Prior to her time at The Corps Network, Mary Ellen spent 10 years on Capitol Hill, including two years on the House Committee on Education and Labor, handling postsecondary education, training, and life-long learning programs. She also worked for Representatives Matthew G. Martinez (D-CA) and Nydia Velazquez (D-NY). Mary Ellen also previously served as Vice President of Government Relations at the Education Finance Council, and spent two years as the Assistant to the President of the University of Montana.
George has partnered with numerous 21CSC organizations, helping to develop such programs as the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Internship in collaboration with the Greening Youth Foundation, the Latino Heritage Internship Program, and the Mosaics in Science Internship Program with Environment for the Americas. George has not only championed the 21CSC within NPS, but has taken time to write congressional responses and inform leaders across the Department of the Interior about the value of this initiative.
Jamie Crispin is a proud product and advocate of national service. From serving as a Team Leader for AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) in Charleston, S.C. to being a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English as a foreign language in Ukraine, volunteering has always been a core value of hers. Jamie has worked on many sides of the national service family. As a Unit Leader, she was part of the team to open the AmeriCorps NCCC North Central Campus in Vinton, Iowa. Later, she managed an AmeriCorps Seniors Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) grant and supervised AmeriCorps VISTA members at a small nonprofit. She served as the Deputy Director at the Kansas Volunteer Commission, where she was instrumental in the state commission becoming the first Service Enterprise Initiative (SEI) organization in Kansas. More recently, she worked as a Senior Portfolio Manager with AmeriCorps where she managed over 110+ national service grants in both Missouri and Iowa. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Warwick in England. Originally from Erie, Penn., she lives in Blue Springs, MO with her two children, August and Abel. On most weekends, you can find her hiking with her dog, Roma.
Last updated: May 20, 2024