Founded in 1983 by Dr. James Kielsmeier, NYLC is the host of the annual National Service-Learning Conference.

[1] Founded in 1983, to "create a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world with young people, their schools, and their communities through service-learning".

[4] NYLC publishes an annual research publication, Growing to Greatness, that seeks to document the scope, scale, and impacts of service-learning.

Each edition features a series of topical research articles from leading scholars in the field as well as qualitative profiles of several U.S. states and territories and, increasingly, state-by-state data on service-learning and positive youth contributions.

The standards are the result of a national review process that began with research from the field and vetted the previously-published Essential Elements of Service-Learning through a series of reactor panels to arrive at the final document.