President Biden has nominated Carol Spahn to be Director of the Peace Corps

Carol Spahn (Romania 1994-1996)

Carol Spahn has been serving as Chief Executive Officer of the Peace Corps, and was officially Acting Director from January 20, 2021 until November 16, 2021. Under her leadership, the agency is returning Volunteers to overseas service after being evacuated for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the agency created a domestic service initiative for only the second time in Peace Corps’ history, working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support vaccination campaigns across the United States, and launched a new strategic plan which focuses on re-imagining service, advancing equity, and delivering quality.

Prior to serving as Acting Director, Spahn served as Chief of Operations in the Africa Region covering Eastern and Southern Africa, and before that, served a five-year term as Country Director of Peace Corps/Malawi. Her Peace Corps roots extend back to her service, with her husband, as a Volunteer from 1994 to 1996 in Romania where she served as a Small Business Advisor shortly after the fall of communism.

Before returning to the Peace Corps as Country Director, Spahn was Senior Vice President of Operations at Women for Women International. Prior to that, she served as Executive Director of Accordia Global Health Foundation. She also served as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer of Small Enterprise Assistance Funds. Spahn has held positions at leading private sector institutions, including GE Capital and KPMG Peat Marwick. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of America and a master’s degree in international development from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.