House Defeats Peace Corps Funding Cutting Amendment
Last Thursday evening, the House of Representatives defeated an amendment that called for further proposed cuts to the Peace Corps' Fiscal Year 2024 budget. The vote was 295 - 135 to defeat the amendment. 83 Republicans joined 212 Democrats to defeat the amendment. Use this link to see how your representative voted. Then, use this link to thank your rep (or express disappointment) for their vote. On Thursday, the House of Representatives considered the Fiscal Year 2024 State/Foreign Operations (S/FOPS) appropriations bill, with dozens of highly contentious amendments. This included a brief debate on an amendment to further cut funding for the Peace Corps. Use...
Senate Committee Recommends Peace Corps Funding Increase
Senate Appropriations Committee Advances Fiscal Year 2024 Spending Package with $448 Million for Peace Corps By Jonathan Pearson In a strong bipartisan vote on Thursday, July 20th, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 2024) spending package for international affairs programs that includes $448 million for the Peace Corps — a four percent, $18 million increase over current funding for the agency. This vote is in sharp contrast to the recommendation of the House Appropriations Committee, which, just last week, approved its version of the State/Foreign Operations (SFOPS) spending package, which included a $20 million (4.6 percent) decrease in funding for the...
Peace Corps Documentary to be Broadcast Nationwide on PBS Stations
Starting on September 2, the Peace Corps documentary, A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps will be available on PBS stations across the country. But there are still some regions that will need to request that their local stations air the documentary. A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps is coming to PBS stations nationwide, starting September 2. You can help make sure this documentary airs in your region. With local PBS stations scheduling programming 2-3 months from air date, the time is now to reach out to your local station. The PBS World channel will host a nationwide broadcast premiere on...
Peace Corps, Other International Funding Facing Budget Cuts
For the first time in many years, both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees are both putting forward recommendations that would reduce funding for our nation’s international affairs programs. By Jonathan Pearson More than a month ago, negotiations on the federal debt ceiling which ultimately averted a default of U.S. financial obligations, included an agreement to cap most non-discretionary government spending for the next two years. Now, the Senate and House of Representatives are advancing their respective appropriations bills to fund the federal government for the fiscal year that begins October 1. Our nation's international affairs programs are on the chopping...
From Stuttering Kid to International Serial Entrepreneur
RPCV Craig Chavis Jr. overcame a severe speech impediment and the loss of his football dreams to find his calling in entrepreneurship — and his Peace Corps service played a crucial role in laying the groundwork. By Tiffany James As Holistic Business Coach and Founder of the Solo Creator Club, Craig Chavis Jr. (Peru 2014–16), helps entrepreneurs and creators start and grow profitable businesses. One of the tools he uses to achieve this mission is his book Burdens of a Dream, which not only serves as a wisdom guide for entrepreneurs but also a memoir exploring the life experiences, Peace Corps service, and business ventures that shaped...
Legislative Win in Colorado Grants All Returned Peace Corps Volunteers In-State Tuition
A Colorado bill was signed into law to address a major inequity: qualification for in-state tuition. Now RPCVs will qualify regardless of where they lived prior to their service. By the RPCVs of Colorado In April of 2022, National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) highlighted the work done by the Peace Corps community in Maryland to pass a law to give in-state tuition to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) in their state. This story inspired Sarah LaBounty (Romania 2011–13) to contact her state representative about passing similar legislation. On April 11, 2023, Governor Jared Polis signed a bill into law to grant all RPCVs, regardless of where they lived...
National Days of Advocacy: Voices from a Team of Peace Corps Advocates
On Capitol Hill Advocacy Day, a team of five RPCVs visited six congressional offices to urge lawmakers to support the Peace Corps. Hear what they had to say about why they advocate for the Peace Corps. By Tiffany James As part of NPCA's National Days of Advocacy 2023, 120 Peace Corps advocates from 30 states and the District of Columbia returned to Washington, D.C., for an in-person Capitol Hill Advocacy Day on March 9. Grouped into 27 teams, the advocates spent about eight hours meeting with more than 160 congressional offices in support of the Peace Corps. Among the groups was Team 18, which included Flavio...
Peace Corps Reauthorization Act Re-introduced in Senate
Senators Robert Menendez, Jim Risch, and colleagues have reintroduced the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act of 2023. If passed, this would be the first comprehensive reauthorization of the Peace Corps agency for the first time in over 20 years. By Jonathan Pearson On Wednesday, April 19, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and James Risch (R-ID), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, re-introduced the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act (S. 1203), which would be the first comprehensive reauthorization of the Peace Corps in over twenty years. “Today, we’re reintroducing legislation that will reauthorize the Sexual Assault Advisory Council, mandate security briefings, improve whistleblower...
A New Fellowship for Global Peacebuilders
NPCA President Emeritus Chic Dambach has previously been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Now Oklahoma State University has launched a scholarship program in his honor. By Steven Boyd Saum Illustration by Matt Wuerker October brought a special celebration for a leader in the Peace Corps community. The School of Global Studies at Oklahoma State University announced the creation of the Dambach Peacebuilder Endowed Fellowship, a program for students with a career interest in global peace. Named after OSU alumnus and NPCA President Emeritus Charles “Chic” Dambach, the fellowship will provide funding for students in the school’s graduate program and support a...
From the Editor: Honoring Your Stories
Sixty years of Peace Corps. Volunteers returning to service. And a first for this magazine. Illustration by Tim O’Brien By Steven Boyd Saum A year ago the cover of WorldView bore the image of a dove encaged by a COVID-like molecule and asked: “What’s the role of Peace Corps now?” It’s a question we’re still seeking to answer. There were then, as now, no Volunteers in the field — though staff in posts across the globe were sustaining connections with communities. And tens of thousands of returned Volunteers, whether they had been abruptly evacuated because of the pandemic or had...