“Investing in service is how we will build a Maryland where we leave no one behind,” Moore (D) said as he introduced Monteiro during a news conference Monday, with former lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D) in the audience. President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy Townsend’s uncle, conceived of AmeriCorps VISTA, a federal anti-poverty program, to encourage service to help lift underprivileged communities.
The scope and scale of Moore’s plan for a service program initially ran into trouble in the beginning days of the governor’s first legislative session. Moore and state lawmakers now are close to agreeing to merge the state’s Maryland Corps program, which was created a few years ago but never fully launched, with the governor’s service-year option.
The program, which targets high school graduates, will start with 200 participants in its first year and expand to 2,000 by its fourth year, according to the bill. It would largely place participants in jobs in climate, education and health and in positions in state and local government that are facing shortages.
Participants would work 30 hours a week and be paid $15 an hour from state funds. They will receive job training, mentorship, career counseling and financial literacy skills and will also receive a $6,000 stipend once they complete a placement.
Moore described his pick to lead the effort as a problem solver, bridge builder and peacemaker.
“Paul will use those talents to build a state that serves,” Moore said, adding that he selected Monteiro after a months-long, nationwide search. “I know he will succeed because I know you believe in this work,” the governor said.
Monteiro, whose grandparents met on a Peace Corps mission, has spent much of his career in public service.
He served most recently as a Biden appointee as director of the Community Relations Service at the U.S. Department of Justice. Previously he worked at Howard University, where he served as the chief of staff to the president and then as assistant vice president of external affairs. He has served as an at-large member of the Prince George’s County Board of Education. In 2014, President Barack Obama appointed Monteiro as national director of AmeriCorps VISTA.
Monteiro is the son of immigrants and the first in his family to graduate from high school. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and a law degree from Howard University School of Law.
“I’m the beneficiary of so many who chose to serve and invest in my growth and development,” Monteiro said Monday, mentioning his parents, teachers, pastors and educators. “So I made it my goal to give back to public service.”
