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 agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in ...
, 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 on ...
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 was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
and former
Governor of Arkansas
The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics and government of Arkansas, Arkansas government a ...
Mike Huckabee
Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...
.
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. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home.
Its stated miss ...
"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, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
with honors from the College of Letters.
References
External links
Kiff GallagherMusic National Service
Wesleyan University alumni
American male singer-songwriters
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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