The Advocate

Jonathan Pearson reflects on two decades of advocacy, persistence, and protecting Peace Corps.

When I graduated from college, I briefly considered joining Peace Corps. After some reflection, my decision was clear: “Spend two years living remotely in a foreign country? Absolutely not!” I could never have imagined that seven years later I would be on a tiny island in the Federated States of Micronesia starting service. Similarly, in 2003, when I was hired to help rebuild the advocacy program at the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), it would have been hard for me to foresee that I’d close out my career running NPCA’s advocacy efforts more than twenty years later, in 2026, having done just that. Looking back now as I announce my retirement, it’s been a heck of a ride.

Like so many nonprofit organizations, NPCA has faced financial peaks and valleyssince its founding. It has always remained open and operational, but not without challenges.

I was hired after a period when the organization had been without dedicated advocacy staff for more than a year. Agroup of NPCA board members and dedicated volunteers (along with some limited staff support) maintained an advocacy presence on life support, but a rebuild was necessary. One of the first steps in that effort came during Peace Corps Week in 2005, when we launched NPCA’s inaugural National Day of Advocacy.

We all know Returned Peace Corps Volunteers care about a whole host of issues. Our message to the community was simple: that even if they took no other action throughout the year, our National Day of Advocacy was one thing they could do to garner support for Peace Corps in Congress. This effort has helped sustain Peace Corps funding for more than two decades now. Over the years, our engagement has grown. In 2011, our Day of Advocacy expanded into Days of Advocacy, a more than weeklong affair complete with district office meetings, letter-writing gatherings, media work, and more. The reach of these efforts extended beyond Washington, D.C., to state and city legislatures.

The number of congressional signatures on our annual “Dear Colleague” letters, which legislators use to raise awareness of Peace Corps and to gather co-sponsors for specific pieces of legislation like the Peace Corps budget, has increased substantially since we began to support these letters in 2005. Starting in 2009, we returned to having annual in-person advocacy days on Capitol Hill, when RPCVs visit with their elected officials to talk about their Peace Corps experiences. And during COVID-19, we rallied the troops over Zoom meetings and in digital town halls. The result of all these efforts is that NPCA is now viewed by many on Capitol Hill as the go-to independent organization on matters related to Peace Corps.

Jonathan Pearson holds a sign for the 2007 More Peace Corps campaign. As he departs, Pearson has asked members of the community to support the latest advocacy campaign, Unite in Service.

Lessons Learned

Throughout my time at NPCA, I would come to rely heavily on what we call the “three P’s” of advocacy: be polite, be patient, and be persistent when meeting with lawmakers and staff. Passing legislation is about playing the long game, and successful advocacy is fortified by building respectful ongoing relationships with legislative staff members and elected officials alike.

After more than two decades in the field, I’d add a fourth: be passionate in sharing your Peace Corps story. We RPCVs are the ones who can tell others why this iconic program remains as important and needed today as it was when it was founded 65 years ago. Over the years, there’s one question that I’ve been asked more than any other: “Does my advocacy make a difference?”

My answer has never wavered: We may not always get everything we want, but if we don’t speak up, we most certainly will not succeed. And we’ve had some big wins over the years.

In 2025, when cuts to the agency seemed imminent, Pearson joined other RPCVs for a “clap-in” in support of Peace Corps staff.

Advocacy Victories

Together, NPCA and the RPCV community secured significant funding increases for Peace Corps on several occasions, while also defeating proposed cuts. Over time, this has resulted in a net increase to the Peace Corps budget of more than $160 million, giving several thousand additional Volunteers the opportunity to serve.

We assisted with the passage of legislation to support the health, safety, and security of Volunteers. We changed legislative language to draw a clear line between military and Peace Corps service—ensuring one ends before the other begins. We also worked with other organizations to make sure Peace Corps Volunteers are treated the same as others serving overseas when it comes to reproductive rights.

Our early work to pass the Peace Corps Commemorative act, a federal law that authorizes the creation of a national memorial in Washington, D.C., to honor the legacy of Peace Corps, is coming to fruition—soon, we will break ground on Peace Corps Park, near the National Mall.

We helped secure passage of Peace Corps–related legislation at the state level, with recent victories in Maryland, Colorado, and North Dakota. Perhaps most importantly, our recent Protect the Peace Corps and Stand Up for Service campaigns helped ensure that the global COVID-19 pandemic and recent federal cuts to development agencies did not mark the end of Peace Corps.

“I would be honored if each of you would consider making a donation to NPCA, and encourage your fellow RPCVs to do the same”

Along with these achievements, there are also regrets. My biggest is that we were not more successful in securing legislative victories and in building a better support system for the most vulnerable members of our community, some of whom have come back home with serious illnesses and injuries. Hopefully, our future efforts can do more to advance that important endeavor.

Unite in Service

I’ve cherished my time in the Peace Corps community, most notably because of the amazing individuals I had the opportunity to work with over the years. I am grateful for the many expressions of thanks I’ve received since I announced my retirement earlier this year. Some individuals have offered gifts, small gestures of kindness and gratitude for the work I’ve done on behalf of our community. If you are so inclined, I would be honored if each of you would consider making an annual contribution to NPCA and encourage your fellow RPCVs to do the same. The future of Peace Corps and the opportunity for the next generation to serve depends on us. I will continue to keep NPCA at the very top of my annual donation list, and I’m counting on you to join me. See you on the Hill.