McDonough School of Business
News Story

Peace Corps Deputy Director Carlos Torres Celebrates New Partnership with McDonough

On Oct. 13, Georgetown McDonough celebrated its partnership with the Peace Corps’ Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program at a luncheon featuring Carlos Torres, deputy director of the Peace Corps, and William Novelli, professor of the practice and founder of the school’s Global Social Enterprise Initiative.

The Fellows Program offers a minimum tuition scholarship of $10,000 per year to returned volunteers who are admitted to Georgetown’s Full-time MBA program. As part of the program, they complete internships in underserved communities in the United States.

Before introducing the speakers, Prashant Malaviya, senior associate dean of MBA programs, said that in talking to returned volunteers, he learned that the Peace Corps is transformational both for the community and for the individuals who are sent overseas. Georgetown McDonough seeks to induce a similar transformation in its students, he said, by developing principled leaders with a global mindset.

In their conversation, Novelli and Torres discussed the value of business in social change, leadership, and the partnership between Georgetown McDonough and the Peace Corps.

Torres spoke about how the Peace Corps tries to determine the effects it has in various areas, such as education and economic development, through a combination of macro data and the stories of specific volunteer experiences.

Torres also talked about how the Peace Corps can strengthen the leadership skills of its volunteers during all stages of their involvement in the program, including during training and when they return from their experiences. The Peace Corps hopes to work with leaders who induce sustainable change in the communities that they volunteer in.

When concluding their discussion, Novelli thanked Torres and stated the importance of the Peace Corps and its impact on social change. He praised the Peace Corps as one of the most powerful and well-respected brands in America.