Life After City Year: Pathways for the future

At City Year, like many organizations, we live in a world of acronyms. As an alum, I believe the most important acronym we have is “LACY” – “Life After City Year.”  

LACY refers to City Year’s Double Bottom Line of not only serving the students we work with, but also focusing on the professional development of our Corps members. City Year strives to be intentional in providing Corps members with the opportunity to explore their career interests, develop a broad array of skill sets, and forge meaningful connections with mentors in their areas of interest.  

My LACY Story

I graduated from City Year Cleveland in 2015, and I am proud to say that I finished my Corps year with more transferable skills than I gained in any other work experience during my early adult life. However, it took me a few years to fully appreciate all that I gained through my City Year experience. It wasn’t until I found myself in what was, at the time, my dream job that I fully understood the competitive edge that City Year’s LACY focus had given me.  

Shortly after I started on the job, my supervisor shared with me that while other applicants had been competitive, she offered the job to me because of the way City Year stood out on my resume. If not for City Year’s LACY initiatives, such as resume workshops, mock interviews, and networking events, I don’t know if I would have gotten the job. 

Preparing for Life After City Year

Ideally, every Corps member who serves with City Year will eventually have a LACY story such as mine. To make that happen, City Year prioritizes Learning and Development Days, collaborates with our National Strategic Partner, Deloitte, to provide workshops and career pipeline opportunities, and regularly reaches out to engage both our local community and alumni network to assist with LACY initiatives.

City Year San Antonio’s 18-Minute Networking

One of our larger LACY events is our 18-Minute Networking event. As the name indicates, at this event we ask community members in all different career industries to engage in networking conversations with our Corps members in 18-minute increments. This gives Corps members an opportunity to explore different career fields and connect with potential mentors, all while sharpening their networking skills. 

Interested in mentoring a Corps member and being part of their LACY success story? Joining us for our 18-Minute Virtual Networking event on February 16th, 2023. There’s still time to register! Visit our event page for more information or to sign up to participate.  

Learn more about 18-Minute Networking

Dana first served with City Year as a corps member in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio in 2014. This experience ignited a passion for service, and she went on to serve with three other AmeriCorps programs across five different states. Dana serves as the Special Projects Manager – Impact for City Year San Antonio.