A Startup University to Train Public Servants: the US Public Service Academy

Google Tech Talks August 20, 2008 ABSTRACT Chris Myers Asch will speak about his efforts to build the U.S. Public Service Academy as the civilian counterpart to the military service academies a federally-funded college where students would get a free education in return for a commitment to serve for five years in the public sector, at the local, state, or national levels. Without lobbyists, a PR firm, or powerful connections, Asch has built a bipartisan coalition of senators, representatives, college presidents, military veterans, service organizations, and others in support of his idea. He will discuss the challenges and rewards of social entrepreneurship, as well as the promise and potential of the U.S. Public Service Academy. Speaker: Chris Myers Asch A native of Washington, D.C., Chris Myers Asch is a graduate of Duke University and the University of North Carolina, as well as an alumnus of Teach for America/AmeriCorps. He co-founded the non-profit Sunflower County Freedom Project in 1998, which he ran until he launched the U.S. Public Service Academy in 2006. He won the 2007 Eli Segal Award from AmeriCorps Alums and became a 2007 Echoing Green Fellow.