mission partner

By Maricarmen Smith-Martinez (Costa Rica 2006-2008)  

As Peace Corps Volunteers, our desire to impact our communities and effect positive change drives us to invest our time, our skills, and our passion. Providing guidance as a community leader, as a mentor, and as a friend, I impacted my community in Costa Rica in many ways. Back at home, the investment continues as the community grows. You can “close the service” of a Volunteer, but you can never take away our passion to serve.

As a Mission Partner of the NPCA, I know that my contributions support our larger Peace Corps community and allow us to increase our impact both at home and abroad. As a Shriver Circle member, I contribute my financial support, providing NPCA with the flexibility to employ it where it’s needed most. As an advocate, I share my Volunteer experience, encouraging Congress to build a bigger, better Peace Corps.

As the Coordinator of the Affiliate Group Network (AGN) on the NPCA Board, I partner with staff to enable our affiliate groups to thrive. Working with AGN leaders at the grassroots level, we identified necessary resources and developed a platform to provide better methods for groups to engage and connect. Our nearly 160 affiliate groups are always looking for tools to engage their membership, expand their reach, and increase their impact. As a result, we launched the Purpose-driven Group webinar series, enabling groups to build their capacity through best-practices on topics such as legal considerations or how to host a Story Slam. The webinar series also provides the opportunity to learn about NPCA benefits like SilkStart, the Community Builder platform that offers comprehensive technology for website and membership database management.

As a proud member of the Peace Corps community, I make an impact by continuing to serve.

Make your impact. Become a Mission Partner of the NPCA.

By Amanda Silva (Indonesia 2013-2015)

Two years ago, I was preparing for the first girls and boys empowerment camp in my district in Indonesia. Today, I'm stateside helping Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) get more funding for their own primary and secondary projects in water and sanitation or girls education and empowerment.

I made the decision in June 2016 to become a Mission Partner at the Shriver Circle level ($1,000) because I remember how much that camp affected 1) the sixty students who participated, 2) the twelve counselors who mentored, and 3) the Indonesian committee who empowered them all through their hard work and facilitation. As the Community Fund and Partnerships Coordinator at National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), I'm faced with the task of sifting through grant proposals from PCVs or emails from RPCVs returning to their host communities to build upon past projects. All the donations given to Water and Sanitation or Girls Education and Empowerment directly benefit host country communities. The more Mission Partners can contribute funds, the more projects can be completed. 

I'm proud to be a Mission Partner, so that I can enable other PCVs to empower students just like mine.

by Averill Strasser (Bolivia 1966-1968)

The Returned Peace Corps Volunteer community is a powerful force.  As we complete our schooling, raise families, accomplish our career objectives, and enjoy life, we can remain engaged in furthering the Peace Corps mission.  Working together we can achieve a lot.

During my Peace Corps service, I taught engineering at the University of San Andres in La Paz, Bolivia.  When the students were on vacation or out on strike, we traveled to remote parts of the country to do water and sanitation projects.

Forty years later, after a career in engineering, city planning, law, and business, I was able to step back and ask: “What can I do now that would do some good in this world?”  

Water Charity was started in 2008 with a few projects in Central America.  We have gone on to help change the lives of 3 million people, implementing 3,000 projects in 70 countries.

Water Charity became a partner of the National Peace Corps Association in March, 2015. Since then, we have funded and provided technical support for Peace Corps Volunteer and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer projects in an amount exceeding $600,000.  

In addition to acting as the COO of Water Charity, I am a member of the Board of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Los Angeles — an NPCA affiliate group, a Shriver Circle member, and a regular participant in NPCA advocacy.  

I believe each of us have to do everything within our power to support the Peace Corps community, both in our activities and financially. I urge everyone to become an NPCA Mission Partner.