This story is part of a series of exit interviews Devex is conducting with the leaders of Obama administration aid agencies.
The work of the Peace Corps matters as much today as it did when the agency was founded in 1961 — if you ask its 19th director, Carrie Hessler-Radelet.
The 56-year-old volunteer program seeks to reduce poverty, foster economic growth and build valuable relationships in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world — broad efforts that Hessler-Radelet says the U.S. must support now more than ever.