I have been an advocate for the power of Federal Work-Study to strengthen communities and powerfully engage future leaders of the democracy for over a decade, and at times it has been a lonely pursuit. Several wise and experienced colleagues, however, blazed the trail before me or collaborated closely with me, and this publication would not be complete without acknowledging the key role they have played.

In 1996, Mark Langseth (then director of Minnesota Campus Compact) worked with me to create a statewide initiative to strengthen how campuses used FWS as a resource in their service-learning and campus-community collaboration programs. I have always considered Mark my greatest mentor in this work. Marsha Adler has been key to the development of FWS for community service since her early involvement in the America Reads movement, and I was privileged to work with her on the first version of the report “Principles of Best Practice in Community Service Federal Work-Study.” Robert Davidson has been a passionate leader in raising awareness of these issues at the national level and I cherish his council.

Campus Compact has been essential to the spread of good practice in this and other areas of civic engagement, and I deeply appreciate the organization’s continued leadership and investment.