“Bigger Than Peace Corps”
California Service Corps is the largest state-based service program in the United States, and the program is on track to place more than 10,000 volunteers across the state in 2025. Indeed, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom proudly calls the program “bigger than the Peace Corps,” a comparison Josh Fryday, chief service officer of California Service Corps, says stems from the inspiration Peace Corps provides as the “gold standard” of American service opportunities. WorldView’s Robert Nolan recently spoke with Fryday about the program, how it might be replicated in other states, and what federal funding cuts to AmeriCorps, which makes up part...
Garden of Refuge
As part of our commitment to continued service, the Seattle Peace Corps Association (SEAPAX) is partnering with World Relief Western Washington to support a refugee community garden. For the last five years, teams of SEAPAX Volunteers have worked in the garden, clearing weeds in the spring to ready the beds for the planting season and planting cover crops in the fall to prepare them for winter. At the suggestion of refugee and immigrant community members concerned about the lack of access to healthy food, World Relief Resiliency Program created an urban garden in Kent, Washington, in 2017. In transforming a...
Plains to the Pacific
We are in uncharted public policy territory. Our nation’s foreign assistance infrastructure has been gutted with the elimination of USAID, the dismantling of entities such as the U.S. Institute of Peace and Voice of America, and cuts to the Department of State budget, which are likely to be implemented in 2026. President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal to Congress also includes the elimination of AmeriCorps, the premier federal program supporting national service. It is not a good time to be in the business of promoting international peace and development, or even service here at home. Comparatively, Peace Corps is...
Americans Need to Know
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, his administration has slashed the work of many U.S. government agencies, including those focused on foreign policy. Now, there is concern that the Peace Corps could join the other foreign aid programs the administration is trying to dismantle. The United States Agency for International Development largely shut down in February and March 2025, with its workforce reduced from more than 10,000 to 15 people on staff. In early April 2025, members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency showed up at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., signaling...
Not Just the “Guys in Washington”
Over the years, when I have pitched the importance of participating in NPCA’s advocacy program, I have often said to our community that members of Congress and their staff on Capitol Hill “aren’t really interested in hearing what the ‘guy in Washington’ has to say... They want to hear from their constituents.” While that statement is not fully accurate, it is critical that when NPCA is making the case for Peace Corps funding or a piece of legislation, it is understood that we are representing RPCVs back in their states or congressional districts. The reverse is also true, to a...
40 Senators Sign Annual Peace Corps Funding Letter
40 Senators signed the annual Peace Corps funding Dear Colleague letter, urging support for the president's FY 2025 request of $479 million for the Peace Corps. By Jonathan Pearson Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and fellow committee member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), have sent the annual Peace Corps funding Dear Colleague letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for State/Foreign Operations. The letter urges support for President Biden's request of $479 million for the Peace Corps – an eleven percent funding increase – for the fiscal year that begins next October 1st (FY 2025)....
112 House Reps Sign Annual Peace Corps Funding Letter
The annual House Peace Corps funding Dear Colleague letter is now closed, but not before 112 lawmakers demonstrated their support. By Jonathan Pearson On Thursday, April 25, RPCV Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA), and fellow Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA), the Co-Chairs of the House Peace Corps Caucus, began circulating the annual Peace Corps funding Dear Colleague letter. This year’s letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee for State/Foreign Operations, urges support for President Biden's request of $479 million for the Peace Corps for the fiscal year that begins in October (FY 2025). This would represent an eleven percent increase over...
Diary of a First-Time Advocate
8:30AM It is a windy morning when I arrive at our Peace Corps meeting point in an old church located two blocks away from the Supreme Court and the Capitol building. Ever since I moved to Washington D.C., I am continuously amazed and humbled by our nation’s magnificent venues. When I arrive at the church, I am impressed by the large number of former Peace Corps Volunteers who, like me, had served our country in previous years. Everyone I greet is kind as we share experiences about serving on the ground with our global communities. 8:45AM Jonathan Pearson, Peace Corps Advocacy...
Heavy Medal
Last year marked the 60th anniversary of the return of the first Peace Corps Volunteers to the United States. Members of Congress and all those who support the outstanding contributions of the Peace Corps should consider nominating Returned Peace Corps Volunteers as a group for a prestigious Congressional Gold Medal, an accolade that would encapsulate their profound impact across 140 nations. As many of the first Volunteers sent abroad enter their retirement years, now is the time to show our nation’s appreciation for their outstanding global accomplishments. As President John F. Kennedy said in his remarks upon signing the Peace...
A Bipartisan No-Brainer
The existence and efforts of the National Service Caucus are indicative of the power and potential of national service in the United States, something that should be continuously celebrated and cultivated. The National Service Caucus was established in 2004 by Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), Rep. David Price (D-NC), Rep. Tom Osborne (R-NE) and Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN). The caucus became bicameral in 2008 when Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) established a companion caucus in the Senate. “My ambition when I was in college was to be in the Peace Corps and maybe serve in some public way in government…and give that to discussions when I was growing up by Kennedy and others,”...