| Home > Events > Disease, Disaster, and Democracy, 2006 > Conference Speakers > Karen Marsh Karen Marsh Summary | Panel agenda Professional Biography
Ms. Marsh is Director of the Citizen Corps, a component of the Freedom Corps Initiative that President Bush launched in early 2002 to capture the spirit of public service that emerged throughout the country in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Office of Citizen Corps resides in the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness, where it supports public education, training, and volunteer opportunities that involve Americans in protecting family, community, and the nation at the local level. The program is administered as a national network of state, local, and tribal Citizen Corps Councils that provide citizens with an institutional framework for community involvement in homeland security. Charter federal members of Citizen Corps include Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), and the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC); program affiliates include nongovernmental organizations involved in disaster response and recovery (e.g., National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) and crime prevention (e.g., National Crime Prevention Council). Currently, 72% of the U.S. population resides in communities with established Citizen Corps Councils—1,958 county/local/tribal councils and 55 state/territory councils (as of May 15, 2006).
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