U.S. Peace Corps

The U.S. Peace Corps, commonly known as the Peace Corps, is a government agency established by an executive order from then-President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and later codified by Congress to promote peace abroad by sending American volunteers to conduct service activities. Peace Corps Volunteers work in foreign countries for between a year to 27 months on projects related to education, community economic development, youth in development, health, agriculture, and the environment.  1  2  2  2

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At-A-Glance

Type: Other
Ideological Alignment: None
Website: www.peacecorps.gov
Formation:

1961

Director:

Richard Swarttz

Contents

    As of 2026, the Peace Corps works in partnership with communities in over 60 countries. 3

    Founding and Mission

    The U.S. Peace Corps is a government agency that was initiated by  Executive Order 10924 signed by then-President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961, and codified by the U.S. Congress on September 21, 1961 by the passage of the Peace Corps Act. According to the legislation, the Peace Corps was created to promote world peace and friendship by sending volunteers from the United States to conduct acts of service abroad. According to the Library of Congress, from 1961 through 2015, roughly 220,000 Americans joined the Peace Corps and conducted service activities in 141 countries. 1  2

    The first director of the Peace Corps was Sargent Striver, who had previously participated in World Learning Inc.’s flagship program The Experiment in International Living (also called The Experiment), which sent groups abroad to gain different outlooks by immersing themselves in foreign cultures. The Experiment trained the first Peace Corps volunteers. These Peace Corps training activities led to the establishment of the School for International Training (SIT) in 1964. 4

    As of 2026, the Peace Corps worked in partnership with communities in over 60 countries. 3

    Peace Corps Activities and Volunteers

    Volunteers with the U.S. Peace Corps spend up to 27 months in foreign nations providing assistance in six project areas: education, community economic development, youth in development, health, agriculture, and the environment. In part, the goal of the Peace Corps is to promote a mutual understanding between Americans and people of other parts of the world. 2

    Volunteers are provided with a living allowance while they work in foreign countries. There are three primary volunteer programs in the Peace Corps: Peace Corps Volunteer, Peace Corps Response, and a Virtual Service Pilot. Volunteers with Peace Corps Volunteers spend 27 months living, working, and building relationships in a host community. Volunteers with Peace Corps Response spend one year working with communities on short-term assignments. Volunteers in the Virtual Service Pilot spend three to six months working remotely to support foreign activities supported by the Peace Corps. The Virtual Service Pilot program was launched in 2020 to provide technical support to foreign nations that request it. 2  3  5

    In 2025, the Peace Corps Volunteers Initiative had 380 volunteers working in agriculture, 451 in the environment, 518 in community economic development, 698 in youth in development, 746 in health, and 1,787 in education. The Peace Corps Response program reported having 24 volunteers working in agriculture, 40 in the environment, 48 in Community Economic Development, 17 in youth in development, 67 in health, and 110 in education. 5

    Applicants must pass a medical and legal clearance to be selected for the Peace Corps. 6

    As of 2026, the Peace Corps had three primary global initiatives. The first is the Global Food Security and Feed the Future initiative, where Peace Corps workers and other partners with the U.S. government promote “climate smart practices” for people abroad focused on sustainability and agricultural productivity. The second is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which supports local health care systems to scale prevention and treatment against HIV/AIDS. The fourth is the Blue Pacific Youth Initiative, which promotes environmental protection of the oceans. 7

    In 2025, the Peace Corps reportedly taught over 8,000 smallholder farms about agricultural management and technology, trained over 7,000 people in entrepreneurship and business skills, taught over 285,000 students English, planted 36,000 trees, referred 35,000 people to HIV testing, and hosted 11,500 young people in youth clubs. 8

    Controversies

    In 1976, U.S. Peace Corps volunteer Deborah Gardner, a 23-year-old high school teacher, was stabbed to death in Congo by fellow volunteer Dennis Priven. The Peace Corps was criticized after the event for attempting to minimize and conceal the incident to protect the agency’s image. Priven was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was returned to the U.S. without serving a prison sentence. 9

    In 2009, Peace Corps volunteer Kat Puzey reported that she was sexually abused by a local associate of the Peace Corps in Benin. Shortly after, she was murdered, raising concerns about confidentially breaches and volunteer safety practices. In response, the U.S. Congress passed the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act of 2011, mandating increased sexual assault risk-reduction training and improved victim-support structures within the Peace Corps. 10  11

    In 2015, an internal agency report produced by the Peace Corps found that nearly one in five Peace Corps volunteers were sexually assaulted during their service, that nearly half of the victims had not reported their assaults, and that volunteers who were assaulted felt criticized and threatened when discussing their attacks. The report found that 85 percent of the assaults were non-aggravated, such as touching or groping, and 10 percent of reported assaults were rape. 12

    Partnerships

    As of 2025, the U.S. Peace Corps operated in the following countries: Dominican Republic, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Morocco, Albania, Montenegro, Armenia, Georgia, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, North Macedonia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, Fiji, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. 5

    The Peace Corps also partners with outside service organizations through its Circle of Service Initiative. Partners within the Circle of Service include City Year, Public Allies, Teach for America, and Tilting Futures. 13

    The Peace Corps has also previously partnered with higher education organizations, including the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, the Council of 1890 Universities, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Phelps Stokes, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and UNCF. 14

    Leadership

    On January 30, 2026, President Donald Trump appointed Richard E. Swarttz as the acting Director of the U.S. Peace Corps. Previously, Swarttz was the chief of staff of the Peace Corps, a position he had held since September 2024.  During the first Trump administration, Swarttz was the Peace Corps chief financial officer. Swarttz had previously worked as the chief financial and administrative officer of Lead for America, the chief financial officer of United Way of Lee, the chief financial officer of Volunteer Florida, and the chief financial officer of the Republican Party of Florida. Swarttz is also the treasurer on the board of directors of the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation. 15  16

    The previous executive director of the Peace Corps was Paul Shea, who was named the executive director of the Peace Corps in August 2025. Previously, Shea spent three years as a senior advisor to the chief financial officer and 14 years as the deputy chief financial officer of the Peace Corps. Upon the appointment of Richard Swartzz as the acting director, Shea became a senior advisor to the acting director of the Peace Corps. 5  17  15

    The deputy chief executive officer of the Peace Corps is Kristen Besch. Besch was previously the senior advisor in the Peace Corps Office of Global Operations, was the acting director for global operations, and was the acting regional director and chief of operations for the Europe, Mediterranean, and Asia Regions. 18

    Financials

    According to the U.S. Peace Corps’ Fiscal Year 2025 Agency Financial Report, the Peace Corps received $430.5 million in appropriations for the fiscal year 2025, as well as $1,196,000 in donations and $3,276,000 in spending authority from offsetting collections. Coupled with its leftover balance of $71,106,000 from the year before, the Peace Corps’ 2025 operating budget in fiscal year 2025 was $506,078,000. The Peace Corps also reported having $272,687 in total assets that year and $481,303,000 in expenses. 5

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    References

    1. “Peace Corps.” Library of Congress. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0015405/.
    2. “About the US Peace Corps.” University of Tennessee Knoxville. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://cge.utk.edu/peace-corps-prep/about-us-peace-corps/.
    3. “Peace Corps.” Peace Corps. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorps.gov/.
    4. “History.” World Learning Inc. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.worldlearninginc.org/about-us/history/.
    5. “Agency Financial Report Fiscal Year 2025.” Peace Corps. December 2025. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://files.peacecorps.gov/documents/Peace_Corps_FY_2025_AFR.pdf.
    6. “Application and Invitation.” Peace Corps. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorps.gov/how-to-apply/application-and-invitation/.
    7. “Global Initiatives.” Peace Corps. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorps.gov/about-the-agency/global-initiatives/.
    8. “Facts and Figures.” Peace Corps. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorps.gov/what-we-do/our-mission/facts-and-figures/.
    9. Meyers, Michael. “Peace Corps Conceals Murder of Volunteer in Tonga.” EBSCO. 2022. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/peace-corps-conceals-murder-volunteer-tonga.
    10. “Interim Update: Murder of Kate Puzey.” Peace Corps Office of Inspector General.” Accessed February 4, 2026. https://files.peacecorps.gov/documents/inspector-general/Interim_Update.pdf.
    11. “Resources.” Peace Corps Office of Inspector General. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorpsoig.gov/resources.
    12. Frizell, Sam. “Peace Corps Reports Says 1 in 5 Volunteers are Sexually Assaulted.” Time. November 30, 2015. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://time.com/4129299/peace-corps-volunteers-sexual-assault/.
    13. “Circle of Service.” Peace Corps. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorps.gov/about-the-agency/partners/circle-of-service/.
    14. “Peace Corps Announces New Partnerships with Eight Higher Education Organizations.” Peace Corps. September 28 ,2010. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorps.gov/about-the-agency/media-center/news/peace-corps-announces-new-partnerships-with-eight-higher-education-organizations/.
    15. “Richard E. Swarttz Appointed Acting Director of Peace Corps.” Peace Corps. January 30, 2026. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorps.gov/about-the-agency/media-center/news/richard-e-swarttz-appointed-acting-director-of-the-peace-corps/.
    16. Blumhorst, Glenn. “Peace Corps. Welcomes Back Richard Swarttz as Chief of Staff.” Peace Corps Worldwide. September 9, 2025. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://peacecorpsworldwide.substack.com/p/peace-corps-welcomes-back-richard.
    17. “Paul Shea.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-shea-295463ab/.
    18. “Leadership.” Peace Corps. Accessed February 4, 2026. https://www.peacecorps.gov/about-the-agency/leadership/.