Tobias Leadership Center

About Catherine Milton

As an early leader in the national service, Catherine Milton served as the first executive director of the federal agency, the Commission on National and Community Service and was responsible for the design and implementation of the national service programs which evolved into AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve.

Milton was appointed by Clinton as the senior vice president of the Corporation of National Service to oversee the development, launching and funding of AmeriCorps and other national service programs, including establishing the quality standards, training, funding criteria, and evaluation. Also designed and directed for a year the Presidio Leadership Center, the first national service leadership training center.

Catherine was founder and director of the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University where she developed international and domestic service programs, served as Special Assistant to the President of Stanford, and helped in the founding of Campus Compact, a national coalition of university presidents committed to engaging students in community service. Also oversaw development of Stanford in Washington.

She held senior positions in the Treasury Department and the US Senate; Assistant Director of the Police Foundation. Authored or co-authored six books, on issues relating to the police, including Women in Policing, and the history of Black Americans.

Milton also served as a member of the U.S. Attorney’s Task Force on Family Violence. In work with the U.S. Senate, authored the first two significant pieces of legislation focused on victims of crime, both of which were enacted into laws.

Catherine served as executive director of Save the Children’s U.S. Programs for eight years and as a member of senior management team that managed the international organization. She also served as president of Friends of the Children, national nonprofit.