Post Service Training Manual_COVER

Course Duration: Six Weeks | Start Date: November 13, 2025

METHODOLOGY

Since 1961, every Peace Corps Volunteer has participated in Pre-Service Training—an intensive three-month preparation program covering cultural immersion, language acquisition, technical skills, and community integration. Regardless of decade or destination, this training created a common foundation of adaptation, perseverance, and community-centered service.

2025 tested our community like never before. Programs that served for decades were dismantled. Federal agencies faced cuts. The landscape shifted. But Peace Corps held steady—and NPCA stayed strong. Peace Corps service doesn’t end at Close of Service and that is why we are bringing you back into the classroom.

Starting on November 13 and over the following six weeks, we’ll introduce a new training module each week. We will reflect on what happened, how we collectively responded, and what you can do to help us move forward into 2026. Each weekly module includes:

  • Overview on 2025 events and NPCA’s response
  • What We Did in 2025 to address the modules topics.
  • What We Are Asking You To Do to get involved, take action, and make a difference.

Grab your pens, your bug spray, and your can-do spirit. It’s now time for Post-Service Training. 

PST Module 1 - How to Navigate Uncertainty

Module 1: How to Navigate Uncertainty | Week 1: 11/20 – 11/25

OVERVIEW

We’re beginning Post-Service Training on How to Navigate Uncertainty—a skill every RPCV knows well. We’re experts at picking up projects that are falling apart and finding creative solutions with limited resources.

2025 started as a whirlwind and turned into a full-blown tornado. DOGE efforts resulted in Peace Corps staff cuts and hiring freezes. USAID was dismantled. USIP faced elimination. Peace Corps is shuttering three posts in the Africa region, including Mozambique, Ethiopia, and South Africa.

The federal landscape for international service shifted more dramatically in one year than in the previous two decades. The instinct? Roll into a corner. Doomscroll. Feel powerless.

That is not how we RPCV.

Our Peace Corps community advocates got organized. We made calls. Sent letters. Showed up. The result: Peace Corps’ budget is holding relatively steady (at or near $430.5 million) while other agencies faced devastating cuts—not by accident, but because thousands of advocates made their voices heard.

WHAT WE DID IN 2025

  • 170 advocates from 29 states and in D.C. held more than 150 meetings with congressional offices during NPCA’s Capitol Hill advocacy day this past July. Since then, Peace Corps funding remains on a path for level or near level funding for the current fiscal year.

  • To date, 15 members of the House of Representatives (9 Democrats, 6 Republicans) have co-sponsored bi-partisan legislation to recognize Peace Corps with a Congressional Gold Medal, recognizing the service of past and present volunteers.

  • NPCA advocates in 28 states and in D.C. were featured in opinion pieces, letters-to-the-editor, or other news stories, with the potential of reaching 6.7 million people.
  • More than 7,500 NPCA advocates across all 50 states sent more than 26,000 messages to members of Congress.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DO

  • Keep Writing to Congress! Visit the NPCA advocacy Action Center and offer your voice to current NPCA and Peace Corps priorities.
  • Get involved! We have 3 important volunteer opportunities listed below that could use your support. Contact NPCA’s Advocacy Director to express your interest in these initiatives.
    • 65th Anniversary National Advocacy Launch: Start planning your advocacy activities for Peace Corps Week (March 1–7, 2026). Here are some ideas that we can help you with:
      • District office meetings/call-ins with congressional offices
      • Op-eds/letters to editor
      • A public event that promotes Peace Corps and our amazing volunteer community
    • Join NPCA’s Gold Medal Legislation Mobilization Team: We can connect you with other Peace Corps community members working to advance and pass legislation to recognize past and present Peace Corps Volunteers with a Congressional Gold Medal!
    • Volunteer as a State/Regional Advocacy Leader: Join our dedicated team of nearly 40 volunteers to support and organize grassroots efforts in states and congressional districts across the country.

For more information on how to help our Peace Corps community navigate uncertainty, or for more information on NPCA’s advocacy program, please email us at [email protected].

Are you interested in supporting Peace Corps advocacy but don’t have the time to volunteer? Donate to NPCA and ensure we have the resources needed to be as effective and impactful as possible!

PST Module 2 - How to Stay Connected when the World Feels Divided

Module 2: How to Stay Connected When the World Feels Divided | Week 2: 11/25 – 12/1

OVERVIEW

Peace Corps taught us something most Americans never learn: how to find common ground across vast cultural differences. We figure out how to build relationships when you don’t speak the same language, and how to create community when everything feels foreign and divided.

2025 put those skills to the test here at home.

Political divisions deepened after a contentious election year. Social media algorithms pushed us further into our corners. Geographic distance made it easier to retreat than reach out. The instinct? Disconnect. Scroll past. Stay in your bubble.

That is not how we RPCV.

While the world felt more divided, our community did what we’ve always done: we found each other. We built bridges. We created spaces where connection matters more than politics, where shared service transcends differences, where RPCVs can find their people—no matter where they served or when.

This year, we didn’t just talk about staying connected. We built the infrastructure to make it happen.

WHAT WE DID IN 2025

  • Launched Peace Corps Connect+, the new virtual village for the entire Peace Corps Network. Since July, over 6,000 community members have joined from around the world. Connect+ serves as the platform upon which the global Peace Corps community resides.
  • Brought over 50 RPCV groups onto Connect+, providing them with powerful tools for member engagement, event management, fundraising, and community building. These groups now have customized digital homes with complete control over their membership and activities.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DO

  • Join us on Connect+: If you haven’t already, create your free profile at community.peacecorpsconnect.org. Add your service details, professional information, and interests. The more complete your profile, the easier it is to connect with RPCVs who share your experience. By being part of Connect+ you can stay connected with RPCVs from your country of service, discover professional opportunities, and stay engaged with the community.
  • Connect with RPCV Groups:  Browse RPCV groups on Connect+ and join them for events, networking, and community building. Our Affiliate Group Network is divided into 3 categories:
    • 🏠 Country of Service groups – Reconnect with those who understand your host country experience
    • 📍 Geographic groups – Meet Peace Corps friends in your current location
    • 🌱 Cause and Affinity groups – Connect around shared interests and causes

Don’t see your group on Connect+? View our full Affiliate Group Directory here and tell your group leaders you’d like to see them join Connect+!

  • Are You a Group Leader? Bring your RPCV group onto Connect+! We provide powerful tools for member management, event ticketing, fundraising, and engagement—all in one platform. Click here for everything you need to get started.

For any questions, comments, or feedback on Connect+, email our team at [email protected].

Are you interested in supporting professional and personal networking amongst RPCVs? Donate to NPCA to ensure we have the resources to continue to keep RPCVs connected.

PST Module 3 - How to Amplify your Impact

Module 3: How to Amplify Your Impact | Week 3: 12/2 – 12/9

OVERVIEW

In Peace Corps, you learned that real impact doesn’t happen alone. Your work mattered—but it was magnified when combined with thousands of others serving alongside you.

According to the Greek Proverb: “A society grows great when people plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit”. That’s what service is. That’s what amplification means: individual effort becoming collective power that outlasts us all.

This year, NPCA welcomed seven new board members who embody this principle. They didn’t stop serving when they left their posts or finished their Peace Corps assignments. They took what they learned—about community development, cross-cultural collaboration, resilience—and amplified it throughout their careers. 

As RPCVs we are amplifying our impact beyond our volunteer service.

When leaders show up, communities follow. And this Giving Tuesday, we’re asking you to show up too.

WHAT WE DID IN 2025

Expanded our board with seven exceptional leaders:

  • Kathryn Jacob (RPCV Turkmenistan 2000-01) — CEO of The Archway, a large Texas-based nonprofit, and national expert on gender-based violence, bringing decades of experience in nonprofit governance and cross-sector coalition-building.

  • Scott Beale (Associate Director Global Ops 2021-24) — Former Associate Director who relaunched Peace Corps in 60+ countries post-pandemic and founded Atlas Corps, a “reverse Peace Corps” serving 1,100 leaders from 110 countries.

  • Peter Dillon (RPCV Marshall Islands 1988–90) — School superintendent who draws daily on Peace Corps lessons about community-driven solutions. He holds a PhD in curriculum and teaching, and he was a Peace Corps Fellow at Columbia University.

  • Alex Kruzel (RPCV Mozambique 2006-09) — Management consultant bringing corporate engagement expertise to advance NPCA’s financial sustainability and strategic impact. She serves on the Chicago council of Global Affairs and is a published author.

  • Keri Lowry (RPCV Burkina Faso 2000-02, EMA Regional Director 2014-16) — Career foreign service officer who served under four presidents at USAID, NSC, Peace Corps, and State Department. She was appointed to the Congressional Commission on National Service.

  • Sarah Thorwirth (RPCV Guatemala 2007-09) — Expert in community and leadership development with over a decade of nonprofit governance experience strengthening RPCV connections. She was a country director for the Manna Project in Ecuador until recently.

  • Ricky Ferrari Traner (RPCV Vanuatu 2009-11) — Current Wisconsin state government executive and former Army National Guard officer who led 10+ nonprofit boards including Milwaukee Peace Corps Association.

NPCA enjoys a extraordinarily hard-working and qualified Board of Directors elected by its members. We’re also proud to have achieved 100% board participation in the Shriver Circle ($1,000+ annual giving) for 2024-2025. Learn more about our board of directors and board service at NPCA here.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DO

  • Contribute to the Peace Corps Community’s global impact. By supporting NPCA, you are planting seeds that will sustain and strengthen the Peace Corps experience for future generations. Every dollar amplifies our collective impact.

PST Module 4 - How to Pay It Forward

Module 4: How to Pay It Forward | Week 4: 12/10 – 12/17

OVERVIEW

In Peace Corps, you learned that the best gifts are the ones you pass along. The counterpart who taught you their craft. The host family who shared their home. The volunteer who served before you and left behind a functioning water system, a stocked library, or just really good advice about the rainy season.

Someone helped you serve. Now it’s your turn to help others do the same.

2025 reminded us that Peace Corps doesn’t sustain itself through nostalgia—it thrives when our community actively pays it forward. While other programs faced devastating cuts, Peace Corps held steady because thousands of RPCVs stood up, spoke out, and invested in the next generation of service.

This year, NPCA paid it forward through storytelling that makes the case for Peace Corps, through awards that celebrate RPCV impact, through a movement that mobilized our entire community. In Post-Service Training, we are reminded that celebrating service catalyzes others to serve.

Let’s continue to celebrate service by paying it forward.

WHAT WE DID IN 2025

The 2025 Spring/Summer edition of WorldView Magazine made the case that needed to be made: Peace Corps’ domestic dividend is real, measurable, and transformative. We documented how Volunteers return home and strengthen American communities through education, healthcare, business, and public service—celebrating RPCVs who are paying it forward in their personal and professional lives. The following stories were published in the Spring/Summer WorldView:

  • 40 Under 40: Recognized emerging RPCV leaders under 40 who are reimagining what leadership looks like through service, spirit, and solutions.

  • Return On Investment: Showcased how Peace Corps service translates into lifelong impact across sectors—from classrooms to boardrooms to community organizations.

  • Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award: Honored a host country national whose life was transformed by their connection to Peace Corps and who continues paying it forward in their own community.

  • Stand Up for Service: Featured our nationwide movement that raised over $95,000 towards advocacy efforts and mobilized 26,000+ messages to Congress, proving that paying it forward means standing up when it matters most.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DO

  • Read and share WorldView Magazine. Our Spring/Summer issue makes the case for why Peace Corps matters to America. Share it with your network, your representatives, anyone who needs to understand this program’s impact. Read WorldView here.
  • Get involved with RPCV groups. Browse our affiliate group directory here and continue to pay it forward through personal and professional connections with the Peace Corps community.

Module 5: How to Keep Serving | Week 5: 12/18 – 12/25

OVERVIEW

In Peace Corps, you learned that service doesn’t have an expiration date. Close of Service isn’t an end—it’s a beginning. Some RPCVs keep serving through their careers. Some through their communities. Some find their way back to Peace Corps itself.

Earlier this year, Dan Baker announced he’s stepping down as NPCA’s President and CEO at the end of 2025 after leading us through one of the most consequential periods in our history. Please join us as we celebrate our out-going leader as he moves forward in his life and career of service.

Dan’s story shows what “keep serving” really means. His 25-year career took him from Peace Corps Volunteer to NPCA CEO. From building latrines in Bolivia to building the infrastructure that keeps the global Peace Corps community connected, supported, and empowered.

Dan is the perfect example of what it means to RPCV.

WHAT DAN DID IN 2025 (and the 25 years before)

This year tested our community like never before and Dan led us through every moment of uncertainty. Our 6-week Post Service Training series highlights all of NPCA’s most crucial accomplishments over the past year, none of which would have been possible without Dan’s experience, leadership, and vision. He has been an outstanding model for what Peace Corps needed during this time of uncertainty. He truly represents “How to RPCV during challenging times”.

And that’s exactly what he’s been doing throughout his career with Peace Corps—showing up when the work is hardest, when the path forward isn’t clear, when someone needs to keep serving. Dan embodied what Module 5 is all about: service doesn’t end. It evolves.

Dan Baker's Career

Dan’s Parting Words to Our Community:

“I encourage us all to feel empowered as individuals to create small changes in a world with big problems. I ask every member of this community to find one achievable goal—a bridge to mend, a neighbor to help, a local challenge to solve—find a counterpart to work with, and to do it with the same intentionality you brought to your Peace Corps host community. When we connect those small acts together, they form the kind of collective action that changes hearts and societies alike.

Our world still needs the Peace Corps spirit: people who believe in the power of dialogue over division, hope over cynicism, and unity over fear. Let us be those people. Let us continue to lead—not just with our resumes or our rhetoric—but with radical empathy, the most powerful skill the Peace Corps ever taught us.

Thank you for allowing me the honor of serving you.”

WHAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DO

  • Honor Dan’s service—and your own—by investing in NPCA’s future. National Peace Corps Association has been supporting RPCVs for over 40 years and your donations ensure we can continue this work for the next 40 years.
  • SAVE THE DATE for Peace Corps Connect 2026 on July 18 & 19 in D.C. Dan will be at Peace Corps Connect 2026, and we want to see you there too! Click here to guarantee your Early Bird pricing.
Make your year-end tax-deductible donation today

PST Module 6 - How to Build the Future We Want to See

Module 6: How to Build the Future We Want to See | Week 6: 12/26-12/31

OVERVIEW

Building a future we want to see starts with leadership rooted in service. With Carla Brown stepping in as NPCA’s new CEO, the RPCV community enters a new chapter led by vision, collaboration, and commitment.

She is excited to work with the community to leverage its unified voice to advocate at the national and state levels to promote Peace Corps values. Under her leadership, NPCA is committed to working with our networks to instill peace in our divided society. In the coming year, National Peace Corps Association will also continue to prioritize spotlighting RPCVs who are making a difference around the world.

Carla is the perfect example of what it means to RPCV.

NPCA will expand opportunities for our community to connect through the Connect+ alumni platform and by hosting community events. The RPCV community is needed now more than ever.

WHAT CARLA HAS DONE IN HER CAREER

Carla Brown served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Comoros Islands from 1992 to 1994, teaching English and supporting maternal and child health initiatives. A self-described explorer driven by curiosity about people and cultures, she left a career on Wall Street to join Peace Corps.

Carla holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and master’s degrees in International Affairs and Public Health from Columbia University. She is fluent in English and French.

An international development professional with more than 25 years of experience, Carla has lived and worked across sub-Saharan Africa—including six years in Benin and additional time in Malawi, Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Côte d’Ivoire.

She has held senior leadership roles at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the Catholic Medical Mission Board, managing portfolios with annual budgets up to $20 million and teams of up to 145 staff. Her work has spanned education, public health, agriculture, microfinance, water and sanitation, justice, and humanitarian aid. She was instrumental in securing one of CRS’s first Global Fund grants, expanding its malaria prevention program, and has partnered with leading foundations including Helmsley, Hilton, and Raskob.

Carla believes deeply in the power of collaboration to transform lives—and she has witnessed the human toll of injustice and indifference.

Fun Fact: During her Peace Corps service, Carla climbed to the summit of Karthala, an active volcano.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DO

  • National Peace Corps Association is honored to welcome Carla Brown to lead us into this next chapter. As you make your New Year’s resolutions, consider how you can support the RPCV community going into 2026. Your time, energy, and financial support will ensure we are collectively spreading peace and understanding across the world.
  • This is the last opportunity to make a tax-deductible donation in 2025! Make your end-of-year gift today with the button below.
  • SAVE THE DATE for Peace Corps Connect 2026 on July 18 & 19 in D.C. Click here to guarantee your Early Bird pricing.
Make your year-end tax-deductible donation today

PST 2025 is now COMPLETE

PST2025 Completed: 11/13/2025 – 12/31/2025

🎓CONGRATULATIONS!🎓

You have now completed Post-Service Training for 2025!

In Pre-Service Training, they taught you adaptation, perseverance, and community-centered service. In Post-Service Training, we reminded you those lessons still apply—and showed you how to use them.

2025 tested our community like never before. But you showed up:

  1. You navigated uncertainty.
  2. You stayed connected when the world felt divided.
  3. You amplified your impact.
  4. You paid it forward.
  5. You kept serving.
  6. And now, you’re ready to build the future we want to see.

You now know how to RPCV in 2026—and beyond.

Thank you for your service to each other and our shared global community.
See you in the new year.

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