Senate Confirms a New Leader of National-Service Agency

Patrick Corvington, an official at one of the nation’s biggest foundations, was confirmed on Thursday by the U.S. Senate to become chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

President Obama in October nominated Mr. Corvington, a senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, to succeed David Eisner, who left the agency in November 2008.

Mr. Corvington was among 27 presidential nominees that the Senate approved Thursday night after Mr. Obama threatened to clear a backlog of confirmations by making appointments during congressional recesses without a Senate vote.

Nonprofit Veteran

Before joining the Casey foundation in 2005, Mr. Corvington, a native of Haiti, had a long career in the nonprofit world. He has served as a patient advocate in an HIV/AIDS clinic, a case manager for migrant workers, and interim director at a group shelter home.

He was also executive director of Innovation Network, a group in Washington that the offers planning and evaluation tools to nonprofit groups, and has written reports about nonprofit leadership. (Read the national service agency’s biography of him.)

”Patrick’s years on the frontline of the service movement give him a unique understanding of the obstacles facing communities and the transformative power of service,” Stephen Goldsmith, chair of the corporation’s board, said in a statement.

Expanding Service Programs

Mr. Corvington takes over the corporation as it is in the process of greatly expanding AmeriCorps, the flagship national-service program, and preparing to award $50-million in grants under the Social Innovation Fund, a new program to help nonprofit groups expand successful approaches to social problems.

President Obama has proposed increasing the agency’s budget for 2011 —from almost $1.15 billion to $1.4 billion—despite his effort to freeze overall spending on many domestic programs.

Nicola Goren, Mr. Eisner’s former chief of staff, has been serving as acting chief executive since Mr. Eisner left. She will now become a senior counselor in the chief executive’s office, said Ashley Etienne, a corporation spokeswomen.

President Obama must still sign the appointment before Mr. Corvington officially starts work.

Many charity leaders have welcomed Mr. Corvington’s nomination, praising his knowledge about ways to strengthen nonprofit organizations. Some, however, have expressed concern about his lack of experience managing a big organization. In an interview with The Chronicle in October, Mr. Goldsmith, the board chair, said Mr. Corvington had the intelligence and skill to handle external relations and day-to-day management and would be surrounded by high-quality people.

See The Chronicle’s article about Mr. Corvington’s nomination.