Big Citizenship

Throughout his career, Alan Khazei has pioneered ways to empower citizens to make a difference. His work as cofounder of City Year, the model for President Clinton’s AmeriCorps, and with his second start-up, Be the Change, have put him at the forefront of a generation of innovators who have revolutionized social entrepreneurship.

Big Citizenship tells how, in the face of drastic budget cutbacks, Khazei led the effort to save AmeriCorps by convincing a huge coalition of people — members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, governors and mayors from around the country, private sector leaders, editorial boards of major newspapers, and thousands of American citizens — to lend their support to the fight. His journey — from the most local of grassroots engagement to Washington, D.C. — is an extraordinary story, and a vital model of idealism in action.