Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83) Takes Over The Peace Corps As Acting Director
As Joey, Dennis, and Rajeev, and of course Coyne indicate...Peace Corps has the best as Acting Director...never an easy assignment!…
Coming home from Europe early on Friday morning, September 21, 2012, Carrie Hessler-Radelet went directly to the Peace Corps Office in lower 
Manhattan for an 8 a.m. meeting with the recruitment staff. Next, she had lunch and a series of afternoon meetings with New York RPCVs, then plunged into a number of weekend events with world dignitaries in the U.S. for the United Nations General Assembly. Next, Carrie grabbed a train to D.C. for her first day on the job as Acting Peace Corps Director. It is the start of a new era at PC/HQ.
Hessler-Radelet brings a great personality, great skills, and significant international experience to her new role. She also comes from four generations of PCVs. And she is married to an RPCV. In fact, the day after Carrie and Steve Radelet were married, they flew to Peace Corps Training for Western Samoa. The Peace Corps has been part of their lives every since.
Previous to her appointment by President Obama as Peace Corps Deputy Director, from 1984 to 1986, Carrie worked as the Public Affairs Specialist in the New England Recruiting Office. And before returning to the agency in 2010, she was vice president and director of the Washington, D.C., office of John Snow, Inc. a global public health organization, where she was responsible for overseeing the management of public health programs in more than 85 countries.
A graduate of Boston University, Carrie has a master’s in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Taking over today as Director, Carrie will have to fulfill both top jobs at the agency.
We wish her a long and happy tenure as Peace Corps Director. Congratulations, Carrie!
We are lucky! I hope this becomes a permanent appointment.
Congratulations and the best of luck to Carrie Hessler-Radelet.
Carrie brings enviable leadership and management skills to the directorship. Peace Corps is fortunate to transition to someone with Carrie’s talents so seamlessly! This will be very good for Peace Corps! She deserves our strong support!
Thanks Carrie!!
Truly wonderful news for Peace Corps! I can’t imagine a better RPCV to bridge into the new era, and I hope she is made permanent. Anyone who has met her can attest that her passion, energy, and openness to new ideas and systems will serve the agency well. Good luck Carrie! You will do great things.
Remember in the words of General McArthur “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,”
RPCV’s onward and upward, never fade away!!!
As Joey, Dennis, and Rajeev, and of course Coyne indicate…Peace Corps has the best as Acting Director…never an easy assignment! We all need to stand by her and demonstrate our support, Carrie is Peace Corps family…we are with you 110%+. As my son Randy says…”My Mom and Dad were Peace Corps, I was born overseas in Colombia!” We are family and stick together. Bob
PCRV/Colombia 2011-2013