Opening Day 2026: Welcoming a New Generation of City Year Service Leaders
There is something special about the moment a new group of young people puts on a yellow jacket for the first time.
This August, City Year Bay Area welcomed more than 30 new AmeriCorps Members (ACMs) to Bloomhouse in East Palo Alto to officially begin their 2026–2027 year of service. Opening Day marked the beginning of a journey that will challenge them, inspire them, and introduce them to students, communities and fellow Corps Members who will shape their year—and, in many ways, their lives.
The day began with one of City Year's most meaningful traditions: an opening circle and Yellow Jacket Dedication Ceremony. Before stepping into their roles as City Year AmeriCorps Members, the Corps took time to reflect on what service means to them and dedicate their yellow jackets to someone or something bigger than themselves.
It was a powerful reminder that while each person arrives at City Year with their own story, they are now part of something much larger.
Beginning the Journey Together
After breakfast and team photos with their school teams, the program officially got underway. City Year Bay Area staff welcomed the new Corps Members and celebrated the commitment they had made to serve students and strengthen their school communities.
Impact Director Ashwini Srinivas welcomed the Corps to their special day, followed by remarks from SVP and Executive Director Luke Hostetter, who reflected on his own experience with service and the ways it continues to shape him today.
Returning Corps Member Dennis Outhavong shared a deeply personal perspective on his City Year journey, describing how the support of his fellow Corps Members helped him rise, grow and discover his own strength.
Chief of Staff Shannon Spafford offered another reminder that will likely become increasingly meaningful as the year unfolds: no matter how challenging service becomes, the memories, strength and community Corps Members gain along the way will make it worth it.
Then came a message from Ravenswood City School District Superintendent Gina Sudaria that captured the heart of why this work matters.
“Talent is Equally Distributed. Opportunity Is Not.”
Drawing on a quote from social entrepreneur Leila Janah, Superintendent Sudaria reminded the Corps that “Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.”
She challenged Corps Members to think differently about what it means to support a student.
Their job is not to save their students, she explained. It is to become part of their support network—to help remove barriers when they see them, build confidence and create the conditions for young people to recognize their own potential.
And in doing that work, she reminded the Corps, they may discover something about themselves, too.
As they help students imagine and build their futures, their own sense of possibility can expand. As they help young people discover their gifts, they may discover gifts within themselves.
But she was also honest about what the year will require.
It won't always be easy. It will require Corps Members to be present. To be consistent. To choose patience and hope, even when the work feels difficult.
Her words, along with videos reminding the Corps of City Year's history and mission, created some of the day's most emotional moments—a powerful reminder of the importance of the work they are about to begin.
A Year of Service Begins
Opening Day is a celebration, but it is also a beginning.
Over the months ahead, these more than 30 young people will show up in classrooms and school communities across the Bay Area. They will build relationships with students, support teachers, learn from their teammates and discover new things about themselves.
They will have hard days. They will have moments that surprise them. And they will have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference simply by showing up, again and again, for the young people who are counting on them.
That is the power of a City Year.
We are so excited to welcome the 2026–2027 Corps and to witness all that they will accomplish this year.
Thank You to Our City Year Community
A day like Opening Day doesn't happen without the community that surrounds our Corps Members.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to City Year Bay Area board members and long-time supporters Jack Keenan, Cissy Leung, Justin Prettyman, Shannon Fallon, Sharon Matthews and Jim Tabasz, as well as all of the parents, family members and loved ones who came out to celebrate and support these remarkable young people.
Their presence was another reminder that service is never an individual journey. Behind every young person who chooses to serve is a community cheering them on.
To our newest Corps Members: welcome to City Year Bay Area. Your year starts now.
We can't wait to see where it takes you.
