Congratulations to Codefy of McLean - winner of the 2021 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Education Organization! The vast majority of computer programmers across the globe are male. Seeing a lack of computer programming courses in their own school, one determined group of female students in Northern Virginia decided to work to change that statistic in their own community. The students created Codefy, an organization providing free computer programming courses to middle and high school students. In just two years, the organization has grown to include more than 600 volunteers and more than 10 courses reflecting a...

Meghan McLees is an impressive student leader and role model for others. She cares deeply about helping others, inspires others to volunteer, and encourages them to pursue leadership in service. She has always been involved in service and enthusiastically dove in when she arrived at University of Mary Washington (UMW). She quickly became a student leader in several service organizations, including Circle-K and Alternative Service Breaks. Meghan also worked with a tutoring and mentoring program at her local homeless shelter, the Thurman Brisben Center. She is a member of a student-run service organization called COAR (Community Outreach and Resources) which...

Congratulations to Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church and Church of the Incarnation of Charlottesville - winner of the 2021 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Faith-Based Organization! The dynamic duo of Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church and Church of the Incarnation are well known in the Charlottesville community for their outreach efforts and commitment to service. Since May 2020, these organizations joined forces with the University of Virginia Health System and the Blue Ridge Health District to conduct free COVID-19 testing events at each church. In addition to church leaders and staff, approximately 300individuals from the...

Having offered years of service and expertise to Serve Virginia, Julie Strandlie recently concluded multiple terms on the Governor’s Advisory Board on Service and Volunteerism (GAB). "I have thoroughly enjoyed my eight years of service on the Governor’s Advisory Board and, since 2023, as chair of the Virginia Service Foundation," she reflects. "I was first appointed in 2015 by Governor Terry McAuliffe to an unexpired term and then reappointed twice by Governor Ralph Northam. I was also honored to serve as [GAB] Board Chair for two years." "I am so proud of the appointed Board and the fantastic [Serve Virginia] staff...

Isabel Gross, an AmeriCorps member with the Aspire! Afterschool Learning - Learning Links program in Arlington, saw the spark of excitement recently working with a student on his science fair project. “(My student) Brian and I were . . . building different kinds of bridges and seeing how many books they would hold before breaking. We were trying to figure out why some bridges held more books than others, and Brian came up with a number of potential factors -- length, different binding materials like glue, tape, and twine -- but could not determine conclusively which one of these had...

2024 Governor's Volunteerism & Community Service Award honoree the ODU Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is an entrepreneurial accelerator dedicated to providing economic development to veterans and underserved or disadvantaged individuals. Through its collective programs in the past year, the Institute provided 4,055 thirty-minute counseling sessions, created 498 new entrepreneurs, established 54 startup businesses, enabled 76 contracts totaling $13 million, and created 498 new jobs.  Despite a significant military footprint, Hampton Roads experiences significant challenges in social mobility and financial wellbeing. The Institute recognizes this and works to create grant strategies to assist these populations. These strategies include the Veterans...