WorldView Magazine: NPCA President
Show Up, Stand Up
For now, at least, Peace Corps remains one of the last vestiges of America’s position at the vanguard of soft power, leadership, and international cooperation. NPCA President Dan Baker on why now is the time to stand up for service.
Women, Wellness, and Change
The Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service is a prestigious honor presented annually by the National Peace Corps Association to RPCV affiliate groups. Named after the respected 10th director of the Peace Corps, Loret Miller Ruppe, this award celebrates initiatives that embody the Peace Corps’ mission to pro- mote cultural understanding, collaboration, and volunteer- ism. The award aims to highlight impactful projects that uphold the Third Goal of the Peace Corps: “Bringing the world back home” through community service and international understanding. The award also serves as a model for other RPCV groups to emulate in their own communities. At...
A Founding Father
At 92 years old, Chuck Laskey embodies a rare spirit of dedication and adventure. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer and international relief worker, Laskey spent over three decades traveling the world, helping those in need, and experiencing the beauty of cultures across continents. His story is one of courage, resilience, and an enduring commitment to humanity. It also exemplifies an often-overlooked early collaboration between the Peace Corps and the stalwart development agency CARE International (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere), founded in 1945 to fight global poverty. “When the Peace Corps emerged in 1961 as a government program, they...
Democracy Calling
Can you name five people who served in the Peace Corps who have gone on to achieve towering accomplishments or influence hundreds of lives in their careers? Easy, right? Our legions of Volunteers, 250,000 who have served since 1963, are the people changing the world and our country in ways few others can claim. Simply put, Peace Corps service makes America better. As Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in these turbulent times, it is incumbent upon us to ensure the future of Peace Corps and protect its legacy by standing in unity for our common cause: fostering international peace and friendship...
The Power of Affiliation
NPCA President Dan Baker with members of the Chicago Area Peace Corps Association in 2023Bound by our shared commitment to global peace and understanding, I am often reminded of the immense power that lies within our collective hands. The global challenges we face today are numerous and daunting, from the pressing threats of climate change and pandemics to the rise of authoritarianism and the erosion of civil dialogue and compromise. In the face of such formidable obstacles, it is imperative that we, as RPCVs armed with a unique worldview, stand united in our resolve to promote peace, justice, and compassion...
Putting the Peace in “Peace Corps”
Peace Corps has played a significant yet often unrecognized role in global peacebuilding, the focus of this edition of WorldView. Current conflicts around the world, especially those occurring in countries where many of us have served, are heartbreaking to follow and devastating to our families, counterparts, and communities. At NPCA, our unequivocal goal is to help counter the forces that drive conflict by supporting the deployment of greater numbers of Peace Corps Volunteers to serve (safely) in developing countries where war has existed in the past and will likely exist again. And, of course, we continue to support the valiant...
Make America a Better Place by Leaving It
As country singer Merle Haggard sang “If you don’t love it, leave it” repeatedly in his 1970 hit “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” the Peace Corps released a recruitment poster encouraging the very same thing. Americans could improve their country by leaving it. Everyone thinks of the good Peace Corps Volunteers do where they serve. Just as important is what they bring home from their time away. Peace Corps’ on-the-job skills training prepares Volunteers to be diplomats, entrepreneurs, teachers, public health workers and more. When they return home, they invest what they learned back into their communities. Thousands of leaders...
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