Christopher "Kiff" Gallagher is an American musician, songwriter, and nonprofit administrator, noted for his work in public service. In 1993, Gallagher helped to create

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps (officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work prog ...

, then served as president of the

Social Venture Network Social Venture Network (SVN) is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1987 by Joshua Mailman, Thomas H. Stoner Jr and Wayne Silby, SVN. Events Social Venture Network hosts two annual conferences, one on the West Coast in Spring and one ...

before leaving to pursue singing and songwriting. He was never signed to a label, so decided to return to his background in public service. In 2008, his idea for a public service music education initiative was endorsed by then president-elect

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and former

Governor of Arkansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomina ...

. Gallagher subsequently became CEO and founder of the nonprofit Music National Service ("MNS"), which administers MusicianCorps, a program that recruits musicians to serve as music teachers. "MNS nitiallylaunched a domestic 'musical Peace Corps' called MusicianCorps in four cities – SF/Oakland Bay Area, Chicago, New Orleans and Seattle – where twenty MusicianCorps Fellows serve full-time in public schools, parks and recreation centers, children’s and veteran's hospitals, public housing communities and elsewhere in return for a living stipend, health benefits and professional development." A 2008

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

"Ideas Fellow," he graduated in 1991 from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

with honors from the College of Letters.

References

External links

Kiff Gallagher

Music National Service
Wesleyan University alumni American male singer-songwriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-singer-songwriter-stub