Outrage Overload

A Connors Institute podcast

Outrage Bonus – Crisis in National Service Undermines Civic Engagement – Maureen Eccleston

Aired May 21 2025

Tens of thousands of AmeriCorps members have had their service cut short. Entire national service programs are being shut down.

What’s happening to AmeriCorps—and why should you care?

In this episode of Outrage Overload, we dig into the sudden and sweeping cuts to national service programs and how they’re quietly threatening civic engagement, community resilience, and social trust in America.

Our guest, Maureen Eccleston, is a proud AmeriCorps alum and Chief Impact Officer at Service Year Alliance. She’s spent over two decades working across state and national levels to expand access to service year opportunities. She joins the show to explain what these recent funding cuts mean, who’s being impacted, and what we risk losing when we fail to support paid full-time service programs.

From food banks and disaster relief efforts to programs that bridge political divides, AmeriCorps members are a vital part of the civic fabric in communities across the country. And when they’re sent home mid-service, the ripple effects are immediate and devastating.

✅ Why it matters:

In a time of deep division, national service programs like AmeriCorps offer more than just community support—they build bridges across differences. By bringing people together for a shared purpose, national service helps lower the temperature, rebuild trust between citizens, and lay the groundwork for a stronger, more resilient democracy.

Tell Congress to protect national service

Maureen Eccleston is the Chief Impact Officer at Service Year Alliance, where she leads cross-functional strategies to strengthen programs, partnerships, recruitment, and alumni engagement. An AmeriCorps alum with over 20 years of experience in national service, she has held leadership roles including Executive Director of PennSERVE and Board Chair of America’s Service Commissions. Maureen has worked across nearly every stream of service, including AmeriCorps State and National, VISTA, NCCC, and Learn & Serve. She holds a Master’s in Nonprofit Management and lives in Lancaster, PA, with her husband and two children.