Partnerships

The RPCVs of Colorado partner with a variety of organizations to support our organization and Peace Corp's effort to bring Peace Corps home by promoting a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. Here are some of the ways that we connect throughout our community.

The RPCVs of Colorado work with the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) to advocate on behalf of future, current and returned Peace Corps Volunteers. This is done by advocating with members of the Colorado Congressional Delegation to support legislation that:

• Maintains or increases funding for the Peace Corps program,
• Protects the health and safety of currently serving volunteers, and
• Honors those who have completed their Peace Corps Service.

Interested in demonstrating your support for Peace Corps?

Respond to calls to action from the RPCVs of Colorado or NPCA to contact your members of Congress using pre-drafted emails and phone scripts. Also, look for further advocacy opportunities via the website, newsletter articles, and updates at meetings of the RPCVs of Colorado. You can also check out the NPCA Advocacy webpage to learn more about current advocacy efforts and past successes at https://advocacy.peacecorpsconnect.org/.

Contact Suzanne Smith, Advocacy Chair for the RPCVs of Colorado, with any questions.

Our mission is to bring Rotary International and the United States Peace Corps closer together to help Rotarians, currently serving Peace Corps Volunteers and returned Volunteers meet and carry out Peace Corps’ Three Goals and Rotary’s Future Vision for humanitarian service. A formal partnership was signed by the two organization in 2015 and was renewed in 2018. The nature of the partnership is the areas of focus for both Peace Corps and Rotary International are almost identical focusing on health, water and sanitation, business development, literacy, women and children issues and peace building.

To that end, we have established a group called Partnering for Peace, which works to demonstrate the benefits of this formal alliance between Rotary International and Peace Corps by showing what can be done just at the District level.  The group facilitates professional connections between Rotarians and members of the Peace Corps community through ongoing networking, technical support and fellowship. It seeks to implement this mission through a variety of efforts:

1. Development of a toolbox with resources that make it possible for Rotary Districts around the country to start their own Rotary – Peace Corps committees.
2. An action program within the District which identifies the International projects of the various Rotary Clubs in this District.
3. Identification of Peace Corps volunteers within the Countries where the Rotary projects are being conducted.
4. Identification of Rotary Clubs in the countries where the Peace Corps operates.
5. Connecting the in-country Rotary Club, the in-District Rotary Club and the in-country Peace Corps Volunteer.
6. Identifying returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) who served in the county where the District or a Club is conducting a project, and connecting the RPCVs with the local Rotary Club to give the club benefit of the RPCVs’ experience and potentially have the RPCV help the local club.
7. Participating in networking activities with out-bound PCVs, RPCVs, and their families in order to explain what Rotary can do for them in terms of serving mutual humanitarian goals.
8. Achieving a formal agreement between the US Peace Corps and Rotary International, and eventually between international volunteer service agencies of other countries. This is a long term goal which seeks an ongoing interaction between Rotary and Peace Corps, and such other organizations.

Partnering for Peace: Friends of Peace Corps and Rotary is a National Peace Corps Association affiliate group.

For more information about this partnership, please visit the partneringforpeace.org website or contact us for more information.