The GREEN DMV Report
January 2010
The Blueprint for a Sustainable Future
Contributing Writer: Sally Prouty

I am delighted to be writing for Green DMV—and to share some of what we have learned in Service and Conservation Corps about creating successful green pathways out of poverty and into achievement.  The Corps Network, where I am proud to be the President and CEO, is based here in Washington and represents over 143 Service and Conservation Corps nationwide who last year engaged over 29,000 young men and women in service, often in crews or teams, to communities or the environment.   
Corps have been on the forefront of environmental action, sustainability, and green workforce development for decades.  Green pathways initiatives here in the DC metro area can learn from existing Corps in this region and across the country who:

  • Shrink the energy and resource costs from aging building stock through weatherization, energy-efficiency measures and upgrades, water savings, and transportation improvements, including partnerships with utility companies and community action agencies in urban, suburban, and rural communities;

  • Help to reduce our carbon footprint through environmental restoration, enlisting America’s public lands in the fight against climate change by planting trees and restoring wetlands and rivers, supporting carbon sequestration;

  • Help to reverse some of the effects of climate change and reduce the risks of natural disasters through fire fuels reduction, invasive species removal, erosion control, and habitat restoration;

  • Through learn-while-you-earn service opportunities and the acquisition of credentials, leading into post-secondary education, create a cadre of skilled professionals for demand-driven jobs in the new green economy, and

  • Serve as the basis for lifelong civic engagement for Corpsmembers.

Green economy workforce development is enhanced by the crew model— much “non-outsourceable” work like weatherization, solar installation, constructing greywater systems is completed thanks to teamwork, cooperative problem-solving at the heart of the Corps experience.

Corps—like Earth Conservation Corps here in Washington and Civic Works in Baltimore, among many—are especially effective in re-engaging formerly disconnected young men and women looking for a second chance.  In the past several years we have seen how the Corps model, tied to green employers and green jobs, gives these disconnected young men and women the foundational and industry-specific skills and competencies they need to find pathways out of poverty into employment. 

Young people can start with relatively low-skilled tasks like foam insulation or home energy audits and move, through structured, supervised experience and supplemental educational opportunities, to more skilled and lucrative work, including managing larger projects, and ultimately to ownership of small businesses.

There’s more to it than just hard skills development: at the Corps: these young men and women discover their ability to work with others, to become leaders in community revitalization and environmental improvement.  Corps raise the quality of workforce readiness, increase educational gains, and nurture sustained, intentional engagement with community through service-learning. 

Modern-day Service and Conservation Corps carry the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps. President Roosevelt founded the CCC in the Great Depression to solve two problems: unprecedented levels of unemployment and tremendous needs for environmental restoration after the period of the Dust Bowl.  Today, Corps find themselves taking a page from that history, engaging jobless young men and women in service to help to re-green our nation and our planet.    



Ms. Prouty was appointed President of The Corps Network in 2002 and serves as an advocate for its 143 member Corps. Immediately prior to this appointment, she served four years as Deputy Director Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and seven years as Director of the Ohio Civilian Conservation Corps (OCCC), a division of ODNR, operating two residential and six non-residential programs statewide.

Under her leadership, OCCC enrolled both middle class young men and women in a traditional Conservation Corps model and also unemployed young adults in a program focused on conservation based service-learning and youth development. In 2002 the Annie E. Casey Foundation recognized OCCC as "one of the premier youth programs in the nation" for effectively serving youth exiting the juvenile justice system.

Her current work is concentrated on utilizing national and community service as a strategy to revitalize communities, preserve and restore the environment, prepare young people for responsible, productive lives and build civic spirit through service. Currently, Ms. Prouty is co-chair of the national Campaign for Youth and until recently served as founding co-chair of Voices for National Service.