The Global Ageing Network hosted its 4th “Wisdom Talk” on Wednesday, 13 June 2018. Providers and community members participated in an informal discussion and learned about the Peace Corps Response Program, a program that sends experienced professionals to undertake short-term, high impact assignments in communities around the world. Dustin Manhart, a Peace Corps Response recruiter, and Pamela Larson, a Peace Corps Response Program volunteer, broadened our thinking and understanding on how aged professionals can contribute to the international community by translating their experience and skills to projects in places where they are needed most.

Watch the Facebook Live discussion below.

About the Speakers

Dustin Manhart

Dustin currently works as a recruitment and placement specialist with the Peace Corps Response (PCR) program and was a PCR volunteer in Ukraine from 2012-13. Before volunteering, Dustin worked in older adult services for ~10 years providing case management services to seniors and later became the director of the largest Meals on Wheels and Case Management program in California. Dustin continues to work with seniors via the PCR program. He obtained his Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from California State University, Long Beach.

Pamela Larson

Pamela Larson is a proud Third Ager with a list of countries and cultures she’s visited and those she hopes to visit yet! She returned from a year in the Peace Corps Response program as a volunteer where she applied her nonprofit skills to help a Panamanian nonprofit for the blind become more sustainable. During her Second Age, she ran a nonprofit, the National Academy of Social Insurance, for 28 years. This experience gave her ample time with incorporation, Boards of Directors, fundraising, membership, and internship programs. Before that position, she worked for other nonprofits and local government, applying her training from Cornell University’s School of City and Regional Planning, where she earned a master’s degree. She also earlier earned a Bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies and Sociology from the University of Minnesota.

To learn more about the Peace Corps Response Program and read about volunteer experiences, please visit the Peace Corps Response website.