White House Author

William C. Basl has worked in a variety of capacities over the past 37 years for the state of Washington on human resource, employment development, and national service activities. Bill currently serves as the Executive Director of the Washington Commission for National and Community Service, established by the Governor in 1994 to implement and expand volunteerism and national service initiatives including AmeriCorps. Prior to being named to this position, Bill founded the WA Service Corps in 1983, the first statewide youth service initiative in the nation designed to address priority local education and human services needs. Bill was reappointed to his current position in 2005 by Governor Chris Gregoire and also serves as a member of the Governor’s Small Agency Cabinet. He has assisted agencies and organizations nationally and internationally to expand and strengthen National Service. He supported the State Department in promoting national service having been requested by Italian government and civic service leaders to assist in developing their new service initiatives. He is the co-founder of Service America a national program that placed cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with AmeriCorps members to address critical community needs. He has also developed the Leadership Forum for National Service Executives at the University of Washington, Evans School of Public Administration which offers graduate level course work designed to meet needs of senior leaders in national service from throughout the country. Bill serves as Immediate Past Chair of Americas’ Service Commissions based in Washington, D.C. and also serves as a Steering Committee member of the John Stanford Public Service Academy at Franklin High School in Seattle. From 1970-72, he served as a VISTA Volunteer in Walla Walla, WA, helping migrant farm workers establish their own businesses, and in Spokane where he was a VISTA Volunteer Leader and helped form a regional legal services network. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Bill received a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island.