Internally, we understood equally well that this would be a big, big project, and that a collaborative effort was vital to ensuring we were on the same page from start to finish. We therefore staffed our team with a number of creative-minded folks, all with different strengths — from user experience to content strategy to visual design.
Coupled with regular, in-depth co-working sessions with the client team, we set our team up for success from the beginning. Before starting designs, we developed extensive content inventories and audits for all site content, giving our client team a starting point to understand what was on their site and what might not need to be.
Once we defined our new website structure, we built out each new page in a content staging tool called GatherContent. Together with Peace Corps, we assigned each page to a specific content creator, and the entire team nearly creators!
How better to start a new website design than with the structures that hold it in place? We took a modular approach with the structure of the pages and design system, creating flexible and reusable elements that could be applied to pages across the site. There is a need for ongoing reform efforts to strengthen in-country and post-service health care, including reinforcing resources, and placing psychologist resources at each post to aid staff and Volunteers.
These include critical and overdue support for RPCVs who are disabled from service-related illness or injury, and non-competitive eligibility protections so that this benefit does not expire while Returned Volunteers are recovering from illness or injury. Whether by internal policy or congressional mandate, a working group of stakeholders and experts should be established to combat all forms of systemic racism, and to address health, safety, recruitment, and training challenges within the agency.
This should become a permanent entity, which may require legislative authorization. Background : While Peace Corps reform legislation has been passed, and the Peace Corps Inspector General regularly issues reports calling for policy changes, implementation of these proposals has been unclear at best. The agency often cites staffing, finances, and legal issues as impediments. The agency has established multiple internal task forces, but an external entity would be charged with ensuring that the recommendations are followed in a transparent and public manner.
Peace Corps recruitment must be fully reevaluated and reformed, with a greater emphasis placed on attracting more recruits who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Recruiting in diverse schools should be considered — with outreach down to high schools, middle schools, and beyond, to plant the idea of service early on. More community-based recruitment beyond college campuses is needed, particularly in lower income and Indigenous communities.
College recruitment must greatly expand beyond the current and historical top-producing Peace Corps institutions to broaden and diversify opportunities for service. The Peace Corps should absorb all Peace Corps-invitee related costs — particularly medical — to eliminate financial barriers to service.
Medical costs might be addressed through partnerships with other agencies. Enhanced post-service support is needed, including increased readjustment allowance, college loan forgiveness, and improved mental and general health care.
Background : For the Peace Corps to expand capacity, recruitment may be an issue. National Peace Corps Association and the Peace Corps community at large can play a major role in a reformed recruitment process. National Peace Corps Association and other community leaders should be more deeply and actively engaged by the agency to collaborate on this expanded effort. Progress on specific mandates passed in recent reform legislation and recommendations for improvements made by the Peace Corps Inspector General need a more thorough public airing.
This was underscored in the recent IG report on the tragic death of year-old Volunteer Bernice Heiderman, who died from undiagnosed malaria. The Peace Corps currently has the highest rate of political appointees of any federal agency, and the increased rate of their hire at the agency creates a perception of political influence that may damage the Peace Corps brand abroad.
While the agency has made an extensive review of the effects of the rule in the past, this period provides a time to revisit those insights as part of bolder structural reform. Examine whether this timeline is functional, and if there is a demand to lengthen or create flexibility with this mandate. This could include highlighting certain positions that will serve as an institutional memory, along with five-year rotations for positions that require quicker rotations.
Increase support for language learning and health issues for older Volunteers. Communicating to the Peace Corps community, within the Peace Corps community, and to the wider world about the Peace Corps is indispensable to the overall success of the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps agency and National Peace Corps Association, including affiliate groups, can better serve Returned Peace Corps Volunteers when it comes to the content, timeliness, and effectiveness of communications.
The Peace Corps is one of the best ideas the United States has ever had. Background : The Peace Corps community is politically engaged and informed about current events at home and around the world. The issues that define our time of crisis are much bigger than the Peace Corps community, but they affect the institution — and larger societal discussions have brought to the fore concerns raised by Black Volunteers in particular.
What is more, these are issues that young people are talking about now; how the community addresses them will directly affect future applications and interest in the Peace Corps. How the United States grapples with racial justice is also part of the context in which Peace Corps Volunteers will be working when they return to service, so the agency and the community need to lead in this area.
It is often said that Peace Corps Volunteers represent what is best about this country, so the Peace Corps community needs to ensure that they can say their community is honestly talking about where it can and must do better. This disconnect is a tremendous missed opportunity for maximizing U. It shortchanges Volunteers as well — preventing them from having a seamless transition to reentry in the United States. The motivations that lead diverse communities to volunteer for Peace Corps service should be amplified and shared to help inspire Americans to support the Peace Corps.
Investments should be made by the Peace Corps agency and NPCA to support the concept of national service more broadly. Background : There is broad bipartisan support for the idea of national service, and particularly at a time of crisis people cite the Peace Corps as a model for how to work in communities. Volunteers do that work through the technical skills they bring, empowering communities, breaking bread together, and bridging differences through mutual respect.
Volunteers learn flexibility and resilience — traits that American society needs. By bolstering support for the network of returned Volunteers, the Peace Corps community can help communicate this value at home.
More strategic — and following the model that university alumni associations across the United States have followed for years: Emphasize the value of the Peace Corps network upfront during recruiting; connect Volunteers with NPCA as they enter service, keep them connected, and solidify the connection at close of service.
More diverse voices and perspectives need to be included in the telling of Peace Corps stories by the agency and community members. All RPCVs should be able to place themselves within the work that is done and understand the motives and rewards of joining the Peace Corps. This office or officer should be focused on communication from and within the Peace Corps community.
A joint advisory committee should be established between the agency and NPCA to tackle public communications on behalf of both Peace Corps service and the broader concept of public service. National Peace Corps Association and the Peace Corps agency must embrace this discomfort and take public positions on timely topics. The Peace Corps requires that Volunteers go into communities where they need to embrace discomfort in order to succeed. Similarly, the agency and NPCA should lean into challenging issues.
Download Report. Learn More. The Peace Corps has inspired millions of Americans and people around the world for six decades. It sets the gold standard for service, and its brand is a cultural icon with near universal recognition. It symbolizes American values at their finest, with ordinary people departing the United States to engage with everyday people in every corner of the world.
It inspires Americans to dream big and to challenge themselves to shape the world in ways that benefit all of humanity — through hands-on work in a community. It is, in a nutshell, American leadership. We find ourselves in an unprecedented time. It is because of a global pandemic and a global evacuation of Peace Corps Volunteers that the Peace Corps community has tackled far-reaching questions about the future of Peace Corps and its mission.
The broad and deep conversations have underscored the fact that this mission is more critical than it has ever been. But those conversations have also underscored that the Peace Corps will neither succeed nor remain relevant through returning to the pre-pandemic status quo.
The Peace Corps has done great good. It can and must do far more. Without question, those of us who have worked on this report are motivated by a commitment to Peace Corps ideals. We have also undertaken this work as a fundamentally pragmatic endeavor: Give the agency and the community the tools and guidance to succeed. The United States is at an inflection point, where our role in the world is up for redefinition.
Yet the question of how we engage the world is not a political one. It is a societal question. And we believe that American society needs to reach out to the world, and that the Peace Corps is one of the finest ways that our country does it.
As we noted at the outset of this report, for nations that welcome Peace Corps Volunteers in and beyond, it is an important signal that they are open to the rest of the world. These recommendations are intended to strengthen the Peace Corps for the future by ensuring that past weaknesses and new opportunities are clearly identified and properly addressed. Many issues explored in this report have been raised within the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer community for years.
But until this time, there has never truly been an opportunity to pause, reflect, and help chart a new path for the agency and community. Now there is. We have both an opportunity and a responsibility to seize this moment.
We therefore aim, with this report, to promote a more inclusive Peace Corps that better serves both the Volunteers and the communities in which they serve. And we seek, through this report, to ensure that all Americans have an equal opportunity to invest themselves in Peace Corps service — and that when they do, they are treated equally, with the dignity, support, and respect that they deserve. Our nation will be all the richer for it. That way the original mission of the agency — to do the hard work of building peace and friendship — is fully realized for the benefit of both the American people and the individuals, communities, and nations we partner with overseas.
Understanding where the Peace Corps fits into the needs of nations around the world is critical. As we said at the outset of this report, we have provided specific and actionable recommendations for Congress, the Executive Branch, and the agency.
In the Peace Corps community, these institutions have partners willing and eager to assist with the heavy lift — and who are committed to the future success of the Peace Corps. There are also clear recommendations where the burden is upon the Peace Corps community itself to lead the way.
This is the time to put ideas into action. In making these recommendations, this report builds on the conversations of recent months — which themselves are shaped by 60 years of experience and lessons learned. So, here is the vision: Ensure that the positive impact of the Peace Corps at home and abroad is even broader and more profound in the decades to come.
David L. Ambassador Vicki J. Huddleston U. Ambassador, retired. Kristina J. Brandon R. The Peace Corps is a U. Peace Corps promotes world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:.
The Peace Corps agency was not involved in the preparation of this report. NPCA supports a united and vibrant Peace Corps community, including current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers, current and former staff, host country nationals, family and friends in efforts to create a better world.
NPCA exists to fulfill three specific goals:. In NPCA marked its 40th anniversary with a vibrant community of over , individuals and more than affiliate groups. The affiliate groups are organized by city and region, country of service, places of employment, and around causes such as environmental action and work with refugees. NPCA is a c 3 nonprofit organization that serves the entire Peace Corps community, encouraging and celebrating their lifelong commitment to Peace Corps ideals and building their capacity to make a profound difference in the world.
Yet, at appropriate times and when compelled by the community, NPCA exercises its independence and challenges the Peace Corps, publicly and privately, to reform its policies and procedures.
This dynamic fosters a spirit of healthy debate and democratic disruption that betters Peace Corps, NPCA, and the community at large. Everyone in the Peace Corps community, including currently serving and returned Peace Corps Volunteers, current and former Peace Corps staff, host country nationals, family and friends, and anyone who shares the Peace Corps ideals, can join for free.
Joining NPCA assures voting rights, access to myriad benefits and resources, communication on important issues and events, and pride in being a part of a growing movement. For questions and interviews about this report, please contact: news peacecorpsconnect.
John P. We would like to thank all of the participants of the eight town hall sessions held to gather information from the Peace Corps community in reimagining the future of the Peace Corps. The individuals listed below volunteered during the town halls, serving as panelists, moderators, note takers, presenters, as well as providing technology management.
Without the support of these community members we would not have been able to host the town halls and receive the tremendous feedback from the community on the future of the Peace Corps.
Thank you for your contributions to the town hall and report. Funding the Future of the Peace Corps. Sepulveda Note Taker. Fostering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Our deep gratitude to the following individuals for their roles in carrying out the July 18, Peace Corps Connect to the Future Ideas Summit. Jody K. Wayne A. We are grateful to a number of organizations for their contributions to this community conversation, including and especially the following:.
Peace Corps Connect to the Future. I sincerely believe that the Peace Corps can be a great organization dedicated to promote such global solidarity at the people-to-people level. While each chapter of this report can stand alone with its own unique set of recommendations, during the community conversations it was made clear that three primary themes cut across the entirety of the issues discussed in the report: 1. The Peace Corps community must be a leader in addressing systemic racism.
The Peace Corps agency needs to stand by its community — and leverage it for impact. Now is the moment for the Peace Corps agency to make dramatic change. When it was established in , the Peace Corps was given the mission of promoting world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals: Help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women Help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served Help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Chapter 1: Fostering Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Peace Corps Overview The Peace Corps agency and community can and must do a better job fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging amongst its ranks. Big Ideas for Consideration 1. Overview Recruiting the next generation of Peace Corps Volunteers requires renewed focus on how to build a diverse pipeline of strong and committed applicants who can reflect America overseas — and address pressing global needs.
Long story long— I made it on the plane today with under lbs of checked baggage. A miracle. Saying goodbye to everyone was rough. Day after day, I shared tears with various friends, family, and pets. So, like I said.. Leaving corporate America for rural Africa is certainly a life change, but something in me was yearning for this. Wish me luck for my fourteen-hour flight on Monday.
There will be 54 anxious risk-takers on the plane to Africa with unlimited beer and wine. This could get weird. Your email address will not be published. Feb 13 Browse archives for February 13 , John Coyne All posts from John Coyne. No comments yet. Add your comment. Posted in The Peace Corps. Spread the love. Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published.
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