Volunteer Maryland is an AmeriCorps program in the office of the Governor. Volunteer Maryland places AmeriCorps members as volunteer coordinators throughout the state of Maryland. By focusing on community engagement and direct volunteer service, these Volunteer Maryland AmeriCorps members (VMA) increase the capacity of their organizations' volunteer program. By leveraging volunteer's social capital, VMA's create lasting change in communities across Maryland. Volunteer Maryland AmeriCorps members are professionally trained by internal and external professionals on all levels of volunteer management. These systematic training offer a level of professional development that has a transformational impact on the member. After the service year (11 months/1700 hours) the VMA is part of the 700+ VM network as well as over 1,000,000 alumni base in AmeriCorps. Members also earn and education award at the completion of their service year, which can be used for future classes, to pay down federal student loans or can be transferred to a child or grandchild if the member is over the age of 65.