Carol Spahn’s Peace Corps voyage has taken her from volunteering in Romania to dancing in Malawi. Now, as the Peace Corps’ new executive director, she’ll need all her skills to shepherd an agency emaciated by the COVID-19 pandemic and still reeling from scandal.
Also in today’s edition: Africa CDC wants to help the continent unite around a digital health strategy, and humanitarians try to navigate parenthood and perpetual crisis.
When Carol Spahn first served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bucharest, Romania was still recovering from the dark days of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dictatorship. Nearly 30 years later, she takes the reins of the Peace Corps at a time when the storied U.S. agency is recovering from the dark days of the pandemic and past scandals.
About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
