Latest Updates

Annual Group Reaffiliation

Each year, we check in with each affiliate group to see how you're doing and learn how we can better support you. Whether you've had a banner year or you could use a little extra support, we need to hear from you. It's a great time to write an annual report. And don't just share it with us; share it with your members, too! Need some tips on writing one? Visit the Communications tab of our Affiliate Group Resource Library or download our toolkit. 

Annual reaffiliation will be launching shortly. We'll post the link here when it's ready. 

NEW! Zoom Meeting and Webinar Options for Affiliate Groups

One of the benefits of affiliation with NPCA is the use of the videoconferencing platform Zoom at no cost to you. That platform is now upgraded to host both meetings and webinars. What's the difference? Basically, if you want to engage your members in collaboration and interaction (including break-out rooms), you probably want a meeting. If you want to make a presentation (which could include Q&A), you probably want a webinar. Click here to see the benefits of both and find which one suits your event's needs the best.

All meetings now support 300 participants and all webinars support 500 attendees.

Learn more and request your next meeting time.

Weekly Affiliate Group Leaders Lunch - Every Friday at 12:00 PM EST

Our weekly Affiliate Group Leaders Lunches have sparked fun and helpful conversations on topics ranging from how to get creative on Zoom to considerations for writing/updating bylaws. Each week, the conversation revolves around your questions and sharing of best practices, so please drop in! Through at least the end of March, we are meeting at 12:00 PM Eastern, NPCA staff members are standing by on Zoom to listen and to facilitate conversation. Register on our website to get the Zoom link. Feel free to bring your lunch!

Based on your feedback, we will try other days/times and focused on topical discussions. Provide your input.

Host a Virtual Screening of A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps

As Peace Corps approaches its 60th anniversary, it faces an unprecedented crisis. Volunteers were evacuated worldwide due to the pandemic. There have been proposed budget cuts, threats to its independence, and the departure of dozens of bipartisan agency defenders in Congress. While capturing the history of both the agency itself as well as individual volunteer experiences, the documentary A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps sets the stage for a conversation about the future of the Peace Corps in this current context.

Working closely with the film’s director, RPCV Alana DeJoseph, NPCA developed a toolkit specifically for affiliate groups on hosting a virtual screening. We can also help cover some licensing fees and link you to panelists for post-film discussions. Share your screening plans and needs.

Connect us to NPCA Ambassadors around the Globe

National Peace Corps Association is searching for returned Peace Corps volunteers and former staff who are interested in becoming NPCA Ambassadors. Applicants must be presently residing in countries where Peace Corps programs are operating (or offices are still open in preparation for the return of Volunteers) and in some past program countries on occasion. NPCA Ambassadors will represent the interests of  NPCA and will promote NPCA programs to host-country institutions, USAID, the Peace Corps, current and prospective partners, and the Peace Corps community living and working in host countries. Ambassadors will be appointed through a process that incorporates input from NPCA staff as well as corresponding country-of-service affiliate groups (eg. Friends of Guatemala). The NPCA Ambassadorship is a voluntary service with two-year, renewable terms. 

Roles and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

1. Serving as the NPCA’s in-country liaison to host country officials, Peace Corps leadership, USAID staff, the expatriate Peace Corps community, and current and/or prospective partners. 
2. Attending Peace Corps pre- and in-service training events, Volunteer swearing-in ceremonies, and Close of Service conferences to raise awareness of NPCA and affiliate groups. 
3. Monitoring and evaluating RPCV-led projects funded by NPCA’s Community Fund grants program and affiliate group grants programs. 
4. Promoting awareness of NPCA’s annual Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award and assisting in identifying candidates for nomination. 
5. Identifying and nominating candidates for NPCA’s annual Sargent Shriver Award for Outstanding Humanitarian Service.
6. Providing local coordination as a point of contact for NPCA programs and prospective new business opportunities. 
7. Coordinating with NPCA’s Serving Volunteer Advisory Council representatives. 

We are seeking NPCA members in good standing who are passionate about the Peace Corps, capable of embodying Peace Corps principles, and prepared to commit to a two-year in-country service. Please fill out the NPCA Ambassador Interest Indicator if you are interested. Thank you! 

Peace Corps Community Connect

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Peace Corps Community Connect. The goal of this important new initiative goes to the heart of our mission to build a diverse and welcoming Peace Corps community. We’re doing this with an eye on the future and the work that’s in front of us. Why? The Peace Corps community and the agency are at a point of inflection. With all Volunteers brought home amid the global pandemic, we need to connect, inform, and engage our community like never before.

Here’s what we’re doing.

• Launching a community outreach initiative to connect and engage the Peace Corps community.
• Mobilizing the entire Peace Corps community, including the 250,000 RPCVs, families, former staff, and host country staff for greater social impact.
• Connecting the diverse Peace Corps network in order to amplify all of our voices and show how the Peace Corps experience has shaped our lives and communities — here and around the world.

Let’s talk CommUNITY. Here’s how it will help affiliate groups.

Peace Corps Community Connect will strengthen individual affiliate groups and ensure that more members of our community benefit from the resources of NPCA — from webinars and newsletters to WorldView magazine and our global reach.  

• Establish new connections, find old friends, and expand opportunities for members.
• Strengthen your outreach efforts, broaden support for group projects, and tackle issues crucial to the community.
• Welcome and support the thousands of evacuated PCVs who returned home in 2020 — many of whom will benefit by being better connected to the community. 
• As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Peace Corps, document the Peace Corps legacy in the voices of your group — so we can show communities across the country and around the world how your service has made a difference.

Most important of all, together we will create a more vibrant and energized community.

Together we are stronger.

Outreach Specialists will assist affiliate groups with information, tools, and support to help you find and connect your community. And by combining our communities, together we are stronger.

Yes, our group is interested

Peace Corps Connect to the Future: A Community Report on How to Reimagine, Reshape, and Retool the Peace Corps for a Changed World

Two More Affiliate Groups Launch on NPCA's Community Builder Platform

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Hawai'i is dedicated to continuing the spirit of Peace Corps and sharing cross-cultural experience through volunteer events, social functions, and more. Visit their website at www.rpcvhi.org

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Northern Michigan provide a community of shared experiences. They connect RPCVs throughout the region and encourage community volunteerism and engagement. Learn more about them at rpcv-nm.peacecorpsconnect.org

Amplify Your Events

NPCA has a full calendar of events each month, including many that would be of interest to your group members. We hope that you will consider sharing your events with us as well! Posting our events on your calendar and yours on the NPCA calendar will exponentially increase our reach.

• To post to NPCA's website: For groups on the Community Builder platform, simply opt to share the event with NPCA. For other groups, fill in the form under "Submit Updates/Requests" in the upper right column of this page.
• To share events from NPCA's event calendar with your membership: simply copy the text and links from our calendar.

Thank you!

Affiliate Group Network Annual Meeting Recap

Thank you to the many groups who participated in the NPCA Affiliate Group Network Annual Meeting (AGNAM) on the afternoon of September 26. Because we’re a community-driven organization, it’s especially important for us to hear your feedback on the meeting. Whether you were able to attend the general presentation and/or roundtable or just view the slides and recordings, please take our brief survey. 

Here are some of the key links shared during the meeting:

• Slides from the general presentation 
• Learn more about Peace Corps Community Connect. And fill out a form to express interest in being a part of the program.
• More information about the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience 
• More information about the Women of Peace Corps Legacy
• Peace Corps agency updates on how they’re approaching Volunteers’ return to the field. 

Do you know a Peace Corps Kid? 

Julie Early Sifuentes, founder of the affiliate group Peace Corps Kids, is looking for people and families to participate in a book project. Julie, whose father served in Peru in the 1960s and whose mother is Peruvian, started Peace Corps Kids to build community among multicultural people and families who have come together through the Peace Corps experience. So far, the group has members who have family roots in 21 countries. 

The book will be a compilation of essays, interviews, and photos that reflect the experiences of multicultural people and families that were born through the Peace Corps experience. You can see some examples of these stories at www.peacecorpskids.com and on Instagram @peacecorpskids. 

Please pass this information along to people and families who might be interested and encourage them to participate. You can contact Julie at julie@peacecorpskids.com if you have any questions or are interested in being part of the project.

Micro-Loans for your Peace Corps Communities

TCP Global is looking to partner with evacuees, other RPCVs, and affiliate groups to expand its successful and sustainable micro-loan program into your country – especially to small and remote communities beyond the reach of most aid programs. 
 

How It Works

Using the TCP Global model, loans are administered through organizations already working at the grassroots level in health, education, empowerment, etc. RPCVs with connections to small communities identify effective organizations and, assisted by TCP Global, help them establish small, zero-overhead, sustainable micro-loan programs to serve communities in perpetuity. By increasing the income of their clients, TCP Global partners find they are able to better achieve their primary mission goals. In addition to providing the entrepreneurs an alternative to exorbitant interest rates charged by daily lenders, TCP Global also strengthens the grassroots partner by providing a steady revenue stream of interest earnings, which they can use to fund community projects.
 

What You Can Expect

TCP Global is ready to offer micro-loans through RPCVs and "Friends of" groups. They will share tools, resources, and experience at no cost, with RPCV groups or individuals interested in bringing micro-loan programs to their country. TCP does the fundraising through the NPCA Community Fund and requests assistance from Friends-of-Groups in publicizing its work and soliciting support from RPCVs.

TCP Global is currently in Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Kenya, Zambia, and Uganda and ready to add any other Peace Corps country. 

Interested? Contact Helene Dudley. 

Learn More

Divisional Board Directors

Reach out to the director in your division and add them to your email distribution list. In fact, you may already have them on your list, as we transfer the permanent emails as directors change. Add groups@peacecorpsconnect.org (which goes to NPCA staff working with groups) and npcaglf@peacecorpsconnect.org (which goes to Hannah Wishart, Affiliate Group Network Coordinator), then the director for your division:

Nikole Allen (Northeast U.S.)
npcanortheast@peacecorpsconnect.org

Rogelio Quintanar (Southern Tier U.S.)
npcasouth@peacecorpsconnect.org

Kim Herman (West U.S.)
npcawest@peacecorpsconnect.org

Mary Owen-Thomas (Upper Midwest U.S.)
npcamidwest@peacecorpsconnect.org

Evelyn Ganzglass (MidAtlantic and Nationwide U.S.)
npcamidatlantic@peacecorpsconnect.org

vacant (Europe, North & East Africa)
npcaeuropeneafrica@peacecorpsconnect.org

Faith Van Gilder (West, Central and Southern Africa)
npcawcsafrica@peacecorpsconnect.org

Katie Long (The Americas)
npcaamericas@peacecorpsconnect.org

Jed Meline (Asia and the Pacific)
npcaasiapacific@peacecorpsconnect.org

See the Full List of Board Directors

Update Your Group Profile

NPCA's online Affiliate Group Directory is a great way for potential new members to find and learn more about your group! Visit it here, find your group, and if needed, make updates. Watch the video below to learn how.