National-Service Veteran Khazei to Pursue Senate Run

Alan Khazei, a major figure in the national-service movement, has announced he is taking a leave of absence from his job as head of Be the Change, a nonprofit group in Boston, to pursue a bid for the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat.

“Because like all of you, I have dedicated myself to empowering people from all backgrounds to make a difference and strengthen our democracy, today a group of citizens is picking up petitions and helping me take the necessary steps to participate in the special election in Massachusetts,” Mr. Khazei wrote in a letter to colleagues.

He called Senator Kennedy “our nation’s leading champion for citizen service” and “an outstanding mentor, friend, and champion.”

Massachusetts will hold a special general election for the seat in January, with a Democratic primary in December. The Boston Globe reported last week that Mr. Khazei was thinking of throwing his hat into the ring as a Democratic candidate.

Be the Change, which Mr. Khazei founded in 2007, is the lead organizer of ServiceNation, a coalition of more than 200 groups that promotes volunteerism and national service. Before he started that group, Mr. Khazei was co-founder and chief executive of City Year, a youth service corps.

Mr. Khazei said Bill McClements, a partner at the Monitor Group, an international advisory and financial-services firm, will serve as acting president of Be the Change, while Greg Propper, Be the Change’s managing director, will serve as interim executive director of ServiceNation.

To learn more about Mr. Khazei, see The Chronicle’s profile of him.