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National Peace Corps Association > News > Polyglot > Farewell to Kevin Quigley
Farewell to Kevin Quigley
By Erica Burman on Thursday, August 16th, 2012
NPCA President Kevin Quigley, on a recent trip to the Dominican Republic
What Peace Corps Volunteer doesn’t secretly dream of returning to their Peace Corps country as the country director? What would it be like?
National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) President Kevin Quigley is about to find out.
At the July 2, 2012 Annual General Meeting in Minneapolis, Kevin shared with the Peace Corps community that he would be stepping down to accept a position as the Peace Corps country director in Thailand, where he served from 1976 to 1979.
“As a Thailand Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I am very excited about this new position and the chance to serve again in Thailand and give back to a country that has given me so much,” says Quigley. However, the honor to serve as country director and to consequently leave NPCA, is a bittersweet one for Quigley.
“Peace Corps is about people. It was true of my Peace Corps service, and it’s been true of my tenure as president of NPCA, says Kevin. “I have been very fortunate to work with great board and advisory council members, dedicated colleagues, committed group leaders, and myriad friends and supporters of the Peace Corps.”
Kevin has been the president of NPCA for nearly the last decade. During his tenure, there have been numerous changes: in addition to a restructuring of the board and programs, NPCA moved three times, although always in the same building; the organization shifted from print-based to virtually exclusive electronic publications; went through multiple websites and three databases; co-organized the largest independent survey of why individuals volunteer and what impact that had; and saw NPCA move aggressively in its use of new media, including a weekly #RPCVChat on Twitter. NPCA also developed an advocacy program that has had singular accomplishments: helping secure the largest appropriation in the Peace Corps’s history, keeping Peace Corps and military recruitment separate, and laying the foundation for a possible commemorative to the values of the Peace Corps near the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Kevin is extremely optimistic for NPCA’s future. “We recently held a successful inaugural Peace Corps Connect Annual Gathering in Minneapolis, where we launched our Next Step Travel Program, an alumni-type travel experience with a service and cross-cultural component enabling us to directly reconnect with our Peace Corps experiences. Our relationship with the Peace Corps is the strongest it ever has been, and we have secured our first endowed gift, which will bring a global leader to future Annual Gatherings, beginning with Boston, June 28-29, 2013.”
Returning to Thailand as the country director will no doubt be an exciting adventure for Kevin and his family, and he’s already mulling how the Peace Corps experience of today is different from when he served. One big difference: technology. So although Kevin may be “gone” from NPCA, we look forward to keeping him — and a new generation of Thailand Peace Corps Volunteers — electronically up-to-date on the good things happening in the wider Peace Corps community, and to hearing what’s happening in the field.
Can we put you down for an #RPCVChat, Kevin?
Kevin’s colleagues at the National Peace Corps Association would like to express their gratitude and well wishes to him in his new and very exciting endeavor as Peace Corps country director in Thailand.
The National Peace Corps Association’s board of directors is working with a search firm that specializes in non-profit executive placement to identify candidates for the position of NPCA president. Get information about the position of National Peace Corps Association president and how to apply on the National Peace Corps Association’s Next Step Job Finder.
I knew Kevin in Thailand, and Peace Corps couldn’t have made a better choice for country director.
You know how volunteers are sometimes jealous of certain volunteers beacause of their language and cultural expertise? Well there were Thais who were jealous of Kevin beacause of his language and cultural expertise.
Congratulations to Kevin and his family
Chaz
Odd. Kevin could tell you that when I was in Thailand I didn’t know the meaning of moderation.