Painting with Her Own Paint
A remembrance of Patricia Cloherty (1942–2022) By Steven Boyd Saum Illustration courtesy Columbia Teachers College When the New York Times and Wall Street Journal marked the passing of Patricia M. Cloherty, they saluted her as a trailblazing venture capitalist — all the more unlikely a pioneer given that she was a woman who never trained in finance. She learned that on the job. First came the Peace Corps which, she said, taught her “that I enjoy life enormously…And also that I am enormously flexible.” She had sights set on becoming a Volunteer in 1963 when Maria Von Trapp almost talked her out of it....
Harris Bostic II Left a Career in Wall Street to Serve with the Peace Corps in Guinea
A remembrance of Harris Bostic II (1963–2022) By Steven Boyd Saum After studying at Morehouse College, Harris Bostic embarked on a career on Wall Street. He left that to serve with the Peace Corps in Guinea, West Africa, as a microcredit advisor 1988–91. He returned to his hometown of Atlanta to serve as a program manager for the historic 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The Peace Corps was fortunate to have him back as regional director for the western U.S., 1998–2005. He went on to work with Prepare Bay Area, the Clinton Foundation, and others. Since 2016 he served as senior advisor at Tides...
Bradley Broder Established the Kenya Education Fund to Support Young Kenyans
A remembrance of Brad Broder (1976–2022) By NPCA Staff In 1999 Bradley Broder joined the Peace Corps, working in a village at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro for two years. He forged friendships, learned Kiswahili, and witnessed families forced to take extraordinary steps to survive. It was this experience and his connection to the people of Kenya that inspired him to work with a colleague in public health, Dominic Muasya, to create the Kenya Education Fund. Its mission: work to eliminate poverty by sponsoring increased educational opportunities, primarily in high school, for those unable to afford the required school fees. Since...
Remembering Stephen Reid and Djeswende Pasgo Reid
Their life together carried them around the world, then back to Stephen’s home in Concord, New Hampshire. By Steven Boyd Saum Concord, New Hampshire, was where Stephen Reid was born and raised and where, decades later, he returned with his wife and love of his life, Djeswende Pasgo Reid. In between were years and continents and family. Peace Corps service took Steve to Niger 1979–81, teaching middle school English in the town of Madaoua. He returned to work for the Peace Corps agency in D.C.; it was there he and Wendy met. She was studying as an undergraduate after stretches touring internationally with...
In Memoriam: Mary Broude
As a lifelong Volunteer, she served as a steady beacon of Peace Corps ideals. And her commitment to the Peace Corps community and desire to create a positive experience for RPCVs will be remembered as part of her enduring legacy. By NPCA Staff With heavy hearts, we announce that Mary Broude, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Korea 1969–70, passed away last week on Tuesday, November 8. She devoted decades to supporting returned Volunteers and Peace Corps ideals: as a board member of the NPCA affiliate group Friends of Korea (FoK), as co-founder of the Orange County Peace Corps Association, and...
Madame Secretary: A Remembrance of Madeleine Albright
In her childhood, her family fled tyranny — twice. She went on to become the first woman to serve as secretary of state of the United States. By Steven Boyd Saum Photo courtesy Madeleine Albright Madeleine Albright was the first woman to serve as secretary of state of the United States. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in January 1997, she had just served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She brought experience as a professor and a mother, she noted — both of which she said helped her speak plainly. Before that first year as SECSTATE was complete, she...
Congressional Leadership and Bipartisanship: Remembering Senator Johnny Isakson
Bipartisanship is “a state of being,” said Johnny Isakson By Catherine Gardner Photo courtesy office of Johnny Isakson “The dedicated men and women of the U.S. Peace Corps work hard to help communities and foster goodwill around the world,” U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson said in 2018. The occasion was important but not exactly celebratory: Isakson was co-sponsoring introduction of the Nick Castle Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act — bipartisan legislation named in honor of a Volunteer from Brentwood, California, who lost his life at age 23 due to inadequate health care while serving in China in 2013. Isakson, a...
The House of Yes: Remembering Paul Farmer
He founded Partners in Health and dedicated decades to focus on healing the poorest and the sickest in a dozen countries. By Catherine Gardner Sharing a commitment to helping the poor and a hug: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Paul Farmer. Photo courtesy Skoll Foundation Paul Farmer’s life was one dedicated to health, human rights, and ameliorating the consequences of social inequality. He was someone known personally by many in the Peace Corps community, and he has inspired countless more. Tracy Kidder, in his biography of Farmer, Mountains Beyond Mountains, described him as “a man who would cure the world.” As a college student, Farmer...
Lifting Every Voice: William Robertson
William Robertson (1933–2021) was the first Black American to serve as an aide to a Virginia governor. He went on to serve five U.S. presidents and lead Peace Corps posts. By Catherine Gardner Photo of William Robertson courtesy University of Virginia Press The first Black American to serve as an aide to a Virginia governor, William Robertson sought ways to enact change and transform systems. After earning degrees in education at Bluefield State College in West Virginia, he helped integrate a white school in Roanoke as a teacher, and was the first African American member of the Roanoke Jaycees civic...
In Memoriam – August 2022
As we mourn the loss of members of the Peace Corps community, we celebrate the lives they led with a commitment to service. By Catherine Gardner and Molly O’Brien Our tributes include Joyce M. Bowden (pictured), an early Peace Corps Volunteer who helped treat leprosy in Bolivia and authored over 600 endnotes about four generations of her mother’s family in South Carolina. We remember William “Chris” Jeffers, co-founder of the Science Teaching Enrichment Programme that has boosted science education in Nepal. We also recognize a committed elementary school teacher with 30 years of experience teaching and advocating for the education of young children everywhere. We honor the wide range of contributions made...