American Connection Corps Member Application (2024-25)

Note: we expect the significant majority of 2024-25 ACC placements to be primarily in-person positions.

The American Connection Corps (ACC) is the flagship program of Lead For America (LFA), a national nonprofit that is building a new generation of public service leaders nationwide. ACC is LFA’s boots-on-the-ground service corps, aimed at building local leaders in rural and legacy communities. Through a year of service, ACC Members become leaders who can tackle critical challenges, advance economic prosperity, and spark needed change in the places they’re most connected to. Every corner of America deserves the leadership of great public servants, and ACC brings that vision to life. 

Here's how it works: after an application and interview process, candidates will be matched with a host site in their area. The service year will begin in early September 2024, and Members will be placed with an organization whose work advances one of the following ACC focus areas:

• Community & Economic Development
• Health & Social Capital
• Agriculture & Natural Resources

We'll have over 200 Members serving in the ACC cohort in 2024-25, making the program one of the largest and fastest-growing civic leadership programs in the country.

Key Responsibilities

Day in and day out, you’ll work for your host organization, building critical knowledge and skills while advancing progress on a critical challenge in your community. You might serve a rural town with a triple-digit population, a small city of over 50,000 people, or you might be based in a larger metropolitan area while serving multiple smaller communities statewide.

You’ll have a dynamic local supervisor at your host organization - someone who can be there for you and provide mentorship for your personal and professional growth. You’ll also be supported by your ACC Program Officer - Program Officers are our public service experts who will connect you socially with your peer ACC Members, facilitate a range of professional development opportunities, and support you with any questions/challenges that arise during your service year.

To give you a sense of the contributions you could be making in your community, here are some examples of ACC Members' past placements, projects, and impact:

• Helping a rural Nebraska county secure $10M in public-private funding to bring high-speed internet access to 1K underserved households statewide.
• Supporting a rural Minnesota community with digital skills training for thousands of high schoolers and senior citizens.
• Developing a greenhouse gas emissions strategy for a Montana tribal government’s operations, allowing the nation to track its environmental footprint.
• Allowing citizens of an industrial, upstate New York town to play an active role in how their local school district allocates their tax dollars.

Lastly, you’ll have even further opportunities to develop knowledge, sharpen skills, and build connections at ACC’s 3-4 in-person trainings throughout the year. Trainings are week-long experiences that will take you to places like Wichita (KS), Minneapolis (MN), and Washington DC; you’ll put your host site responsibilities on pause while you get to know your ACC cohort and discuss the challenges you’re each addressing in your communities. During each training, you’ll get to learn from nationally renowned community leaders, corporate executives, policymakers, and more.