Public Allies is an American non-profit, largely taxpayer-funded organization, dedicated to youth leadership development. Founded in 1992 by Vanessa Kirsch and Katrina Browne in Washington D.C., other sites soon followed, including Milwaukee, Chicago, Arizona, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Delaware, Eagle Rock, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Maryland, Miami, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Silicon Valley/San Francisco, and the Twin Cities. Public Allies is a program of AmeriCorps.

Mission

Public Allies is an organization which advances new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits, and civic participation.

Core values

Public Allies lists the following as its core values:

• Focus on asset-based community development
• Collaboration
  Collaboration
  Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
  
  
• Continuous learning
• Diversity & inclusion
• Integrity

Program components

Most sites, with the exception of Eagle Rock, operate under the following structure:

• Apprenticeship
  Apprenticeship
  Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
  
   - Allies work at least 32 hours a week at a non-profit organization that they are paired up with at the beginning of the program.
• Training and Learning - Allies spend one weekday a week on various leadership development trainings, aimed at developing both personal and professional growth.
• Team Service Project (TSP) - Allies work in teams, usually ranging from 6-12 people, on a community service project

Public Allies Eagle Rock is the only exception to this format. At Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center, 12 Allies are recruited as Instructional Fellows, generally spend most of their time at the residential school where they also reside, have 2 hour Professional Development Trainings, and also work in 4-person teams to complete a TSP.