Peace Corps

The Peace Corps is an independent United States federal agency. The Peace Corps was established by Executive Order 10924 on March 1, 1961 and authorized by Congress on September 22, 1961 with passage of the Peace Corps Act (Public Law 87-293). The Peace Corps Act declares the purpose of the Peace Corps to be:

“to promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower.”

Since 1960, more than 187,000 people have served as Peace Corps Volunteers in 139 countries.

The current director is Ron Tschetter, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India during the 1960s.