McChrystal: The One Thing America Needs Right Now Is…

General Stanley McChrystal is on a mission to create a million national service jobs for young Americans. His big idea, called the Franklin Project, was hatched last year under the aegis of the Aspen Institute. Its goal is to draft comprehensive policy proposals that aim to usher in a new era of “voluntary, but expected national service”—a voluntary civilian counterpart to military service—according to Franklin Project Director Jay Mangone. As the chairman of the leadership board, McChrystal is working alongside Mangone to gather private and public institutions in support of this idea. He sat down with NationSwell to talk about cultivating such a big culture shift, and the importance of national service in his own life.

Editors’ note: Since the original publication of this story, Jay Mangone, Director of Franklin Project, has become a NationSwell Council member.

Update: May 23, 2014
From June 4th through June 6th, the Franklin Project will gather leaders in Gettysburg, PA for Summit at Gettysburg: Our Unfinished Work. You can take action on this story to join the conversation around the #ServiceYear and receive an update from NationSwell at the Gettysburg Summit.