Nonprofit Leader Running to Replace Ted Kennedy

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2009-09-18 10:32:00 UTC
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Alan Khazei, founder of City Year and Be the Change, Inc., will enter the open election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate, according to an email sent to friends and colleagues on Tuesday and reported by the Washington Post.

Khazei will be a familiar name for people involved with social justice and civic engagement work. In 1988, he founded City Year, a volunteer program for young people that has grown to 18 cities and an annual $60 million a year budget, inspiring the creation of programs like AmeriCorps along the way. More recently, he's acted as founder and CEO of Be The Change, Inc, a nonprofit working for systemic change through policy and be creating citizen corps capable of partnering with government and private enterprise to enact change.

Khazei is also part of one of the "first families" of social entrepreneurship. He is married to Vanessa Kirsch, the founder and President of New Profit, one of the leading venture philanthropy firms. Before founding New Profit, Kirsch was also the founder of Public Allies, a national youth service organization that Michelle and Barack Obama both had early relationships with.

Would Khazei be a good senator? He certainly has a perspective that is vital on the national stage, and which might be summed up by suggesting that average citizens have immense power to improve the world, and need the support and partnership of government to fully unleash their potential. What's more, for a "political outsider," he has quite a bit of experience working with the apparatus of government. Through his work with City Year, Be The Change, Inc., and New Profit, of which he is a board member and of which advocacy group America Forward is a part, he has an active engagement with legislators around issues of civic participation. The coalition of groups Be The Change, Inc. is a leader of - ServiceNation - had a major role in helping pass the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.

Does he have a chance? It's hard to say. He's up against Massachusetts' Attorney General, two US representatives, and perhaps the Managing Director of Bain Capital and co-owner of the Boston Celtics (yay Democrat Mitt Romney!). Whether people will be looking for experience or a fresh face will be a key question of the campaign.

To quote the friend who let me know about Khazei's announcement, himself a young nonprofit leader: "He is the man. Period. I hope he's running to win and not just to shape the debate." I couldn't agree more, and will be watching closely in the coming weeks.

(Photo: Be The Change, Inc.)

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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