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Corvington AppointedTo Run CNCS

Five months after being nominated by President Barack Obama, Patrick Corvington was confirmed by the Senate to be the next chief executive officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Senate consent was unanimous and Corvington is expected to officially begin later this month after the president signs his confirmation.

Corvington will be the first permanent CEO at the corporation since David Eisner stepped down 16 months ago. Eisner, who was nominated to lead the federal agency by President George W. Bush in 2003, was appointed last fall as president and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

CNCS oversees service programs, such as Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. The corporation received a record budget increase totaling $1.14 billion to support its mission, and Congress enacted the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, described as the most sweeping expansion of service in a generation. Its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011 is $1.4 billion.

Obama had nominated Nike Foundation President Maria Eitel last March but she withdrew her nomination by May for undisclosed health reasons. Nicola Goren had been serving as acting CEO until Corvington was confirmed. She will continue in a senior counselor’s role in the CEO’s office.

Corvington most recently worked at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore as a senior associate. Previously, he was executive director of Innovation Network, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that aims to build the capacity of the sector. He also has conducted policy research in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Center at The Urban Institute, and worked to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations abroad.

Corvington emigrated from Haiti as a teenager and became an American citizen in 1993. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Maryland and a master’s in public policy from Johns Hopkins University. – Mark Hrywna