Our Story

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Traditional high school/youth service leagues provide amazing opportunities for civic engagement. However, these groups are often gendered (for girls or boys only) or require a major volunteer commitment from a student's parents. Even if participation is ostensibly "free" there are hidden costs, like purchasing t-shirts or activity fees that create invisible barriers to participation. Nonbinary students, students without a parent who is able to volunteer, students with limited financial resources and students who don't belong to an organized religious youth group also deserve the opportunity to give back in their local communities and to develop leadership skills while in high school. 

At Staples High School in Westport, CT, OneNational founder James Dobin-Smith recognized that volunteer opportunities for students were either broken into single gender groups (the Nat'l Charity League for Girls/Service League for Boys) or single issue advocacy but that no group existed for a student that didn't fit into the boy/girl binary or was interested in local community service relating to multiple issues (homelessness, the environment, diversity & inclusion, etc). OneWestport was born. The founding board members range from theatre kids to athletes showcasing that the leadership of student organizations can be reflective of the entire student body. In its first year of existence, OneWestport attracted 130+ members - making it one of the largest student organizations on campus.

Shortly after founding OneWestport, James heard from friends nationwide who were interested in starting their own chapters. They too found themselves or their friends sidelined by invisible barriers to participation in traditional clubs. James created OneNational to ensure easy access for all students to create their own opportunities for volunteering and engagement. The OneNational toolkit provides easy to follow instructions for any student to organize, volunteer & lead. Use our toolkit to start your chapter today!