**All Access Pre-Conference Kick Off**

Barbara Stewart was unanimously confirmed in February 2018 as Chief Executive Officer of AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteering.

AmeriCorps, formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service, brings people together to tackle the country’s most pressing challenges. More than 270,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers serve through over 2,000 organizations at 40,000 locations across the country. 
 
Barbara is passionate about the agency’s service mission and the ways it strengthens communities, develops individuals, fosters civic engagement, and brings people from different backgrounds together to solve problems. As CEO, Barbara has focused on modernizing the agency’s business operations, strengthening customer service, building sustainability, and raising awareness for service opportunities in order to position national service for future growth.
 
Prior to leading AmeriCorps, she held leadership roles in the private sector, including more than a decade as a senior vice president at JPMorgan Chase, and in state government. In addition, Barbara has spent many years helping nonprofits better fulfill their missions. She has chaired multiple nonprofit civic organizations and helped found a charter school in Chicago.
 
In 2010, Barbara co-founded the Bowe-Stewart Foundation with her husband, Peter Bowe, with a focus on closing the opportunity gap for urban residents of Baltimore, Md., and Chicago, Ill.
 
Barbara earned a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University and a Master of Management from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. When not at work in Washington, she and Peter split their time between their hometowns of Chicago and Baltimore.

Ethan started his gap year career in 2001 when he took a non-traditional break after his freshman year.  During his gap year he traveled to India, Nepal, Tibet, and Thailand for 7 months, and worked for 5 months in retail to offset what he spent.  After his Bachelors, Ethan quickly took to leading gap year programs in India, Indonesia, and Central America through Leapnow.  In 2006, Ethan moved back to Portland, Oregon where he started his own gap year organization along with a sister nonprofit, Carpe Mundi, to work exclusively with low-income youth in Portland.  Then, in 2012, Ethan launched the American Gap Association (now the Gap Year Association), to focus on four key priorities: Standards & Accreditation, Equity & Access, Research, and Resources for educators and families to better interface with quality gap year opportunities.  

Ethan is a speaker for the National Honor Society; co-founder of a youth hostel in Portland; Founding Board Member of a two-year college in Portland; co-founder of a climate change program for young leaders; instructor of Experiential Leadership; a member of Rotary; a TEDx speaker; a co-author of the Fair Trade Learning Standards; and original author of the Gap Year Standards.