Peace Corps Connectpowered by the National Peace Corps Association

December 12, 2008

Dear President-Elect Obama,

We write to extend our heart-felt congratulations to you on your historic election and wish you thevery best as you prepare to lead our nation in these difficult times.

Given your commitment to a service agenda and pledge to double the Peace Corps by the time of the 50th Anniversary in 2011, we thought it especially important that as the national non-profit association of the Peace Corps community, we share some principles that we hope will guide your selection of the next Peace Corps Director. These are:

1) The Director needs to be a forward thinking innovator, prepared to adapt the Peace
Corps to better meet the needs of the 21st century. While we believe that the Peace Corps
is as important now as it ever has been, the world has changed in dramatic ways since the
Peace Corps was created nearly a half century ago. Despite monumental global changes, the Peace Corps model and approach remains essentially unchanged. Thus, the next Director must bring the Peace Corps into its next 50 years, taking advantage of new opportunities, such as utilizing the skills sets provided by older volunteers and developing strategic partnership with other best of class organizations, while maintaining its core values.

2) The Director needs to be a passionate advocate for the independence and integrity of
the Peace Corps: A hallmark of the Peace Corps’s success has been its independence. The
Peace Corps’s mission is based on promoting peace and prosperity, rather than being
defined by narrower geo-political interests. Any collaboration with other agencies of the
U.S. government around broad national interests, such as promoting peace, addressing
global poverty and advancing national service, must be done without compromising the
independence of the Peace Corps.

3) The Director must emphasize the success of volunteers. The effectiveness of the U.S.
government in promoting peace and prosperity through the Peace Corps depends on the
support provided to the volunteers in the field. The primary role of Peace Corps staff in
Washington and in the field must be to find better ways to enable volunteers – and thus the communities they serve – to succeed. Peace Corps has retained global respect and
admiration due to the energy, creativity and idealism of its volunteers. It is essential that the Director consider the voices of experienced Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) and work with both staff and volunteers to employ strategies that maximize successful programs for volunteers and the communities they serve.

4) The Director should embrace the greater Peace Corps community as a collaborative
partner with common interests and goals. It is our fervent hope the next Director and
his/her staff values the relationship with the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) and
the broader Peace Corps community. This community includes more than 190,000 former
volunteers and 30,000 former staff, as well as their families and friends and others directly
touched by the Peace Corps experience. This community is organized into more than 140
RPCV member groups and countless more on-line groups, who share the goal of bringing
the Peace Corps experience back home through service, education and recruitment. This
partnership is essential to realizing the statutorily mandated Third Goal of bringing the
world home, which has been historically under-funded. This partnership is also of critical importance for the next Director, who will most likely oversee the 50th anniversary celebration of the agency.

We believe many highly qualified individuals who have served our nation as Peace Corps
volunteers or former staff would be outstanding candidates for Director and should be given strong consideration. It is our preference that the next Director has direct Peace Corps experience.

We feel the next Director should understand the value and promise of the Peace Corps, have demonstrated experience in grassroots global development, and have sufficient passion to motivate volunteers and the clarity of vision to prepare and strengthen the Peace Corps initiative for the challenges of the coming decade. The next Director should also be able to raise attention and re-ignite the spirit and imagination of the American public for the need to advance the Peace Corps as part of your service agenda, like the first Director Sargent Shriver did.

President-Elect Obama, we are grateful for your positive expressions of support for the Peace Corps and look forward to working with your new Director. We thank you for considering these guiding principles and wish you well in finalizing your choice for the next Peace Corps Director.

With very best regards,
Sincerely,
Jan M. Guifarro Kevin F. F. Quigley
Chair President
CC:
Senator Dodd
Congressman Farr
Congressman Honda
Congressman Petri
Congressman-Elect Driehaus
Senator Wofford
NPCA
1900 L Street, NW, Suite 404, WDC, 20036
www.peacecorpsconnect.org

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