“Peace Corps was the best job I ever had,” said Dr. Donna Shalala as she recently accepted our invitation to join the PCCF Advisory Board.

Dr. Donna Shalala is a proud Peace Corps alumna who served in Iran from 1962 to 1964 and has had a remarkable career in public service, education, and philanthropy. She has been a champion of the Peace Corps and its values throughout her life.

Dr. Shalala was the longest-serving Secretary of Health and Human Services in U.S. history, under President Bill Clinton. She was also the first woman to lead a Big Ten university, as the Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She later became the President of the University of Miami and the Clinton Foundation. She also served as a U.S. Representative from Florida's 27th congressional district.

Dr. Shalala credits her Peace Corps experience as a defining moment in her life and career. As part of the first group of volunteers to serve in Iran, she taught English and helped establish a local agricultural college. She has remained an active supporter of the Peace Corps and its mission, advocating for increased funding, diversity, and innovation in the agency.

As a member of our Advisory Board, Dr. Shalala will provide valuable guidance and insight to our efforts.

Nick Craw is a man who has excelled in many fields and pursuits, from racing to humanitarian work, from business to sports administration. He has made a difference in the world, both on and off the track.

Nick graduated from Princeton University cum laude in 1959 with a degree in international affairs. Wanting to make a difference in the world, he joined the hospital ship SS HOPE, a former US Navy vessel converted to a teaching hospital for third world countries. Soon he became Director of Operations and also served as hospital administrator. He continued his humanitarian work as Peace Corps Director from 1973-74.

Newly single after his SS HOPE assignment, he chose to pursue a long-held dream of becoming a racing driver. Competing in Formula Atlantic/F2 single seat machinery in the U. S. professional series, his career also took him to Mexico, Great Britain, Colombia, Canada and Japan. He retired in 1977 after winning two national IMSA championships for BMW.

After earning an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1982, he was President and CEO of SCCA for seventeen years, then led US SAILING and returned to motorsports as President and CEO of the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States, FIA for fifteen years. He also served simultaneously as President of the FIA Senate for eight years.

Throughout his life, Nick has combined his passion for racing with his commitment to service, leaving a lasting legacy in motorsport and beyond. He and his wife Lisa live in the foothills west of Denver.

Mark Schneider served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in El Salvador with his wife, Susan, from 1964-66, calling his service "the most illuminating, rewarding and exhausting period of my life.”

Mark's long and distinguished career in public service spans government, international organizations, civil society, academia and journalism.

He is an adjunct professor at American University and a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Pan American Development Foundation. He was senior vice president of the International Crisis Group (ICG) from 2001 until March 2017 after serving as Director of the Peace Corps from 1999 to 2001.

In the ‘90s, Mark served as the Assistant Administrator for Latin American and the Caribbean of the U.S. Agency for International Development during which time he oversaw post conflict reconstruction programs in Central America. Earlier, while heading policy planning for the Pan American Health Organization/WHO, he attended the Esquipulas peace conferences and helped organize ceasefires in El Salvador to permit polio immunization campaigns to take place. 

He was principal deputy assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs from 1977-79. Mark received a B.A. in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. in political science from San Jose State University, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from American University, where he also served as a Trustee for 10 years.  He was elected to the American Academy of Diplomacy in 2021.