Global Volunteers staff are some of the most dedicated and resourceful people on Planet Earth! Read about their commitment to service, admiration for volunteers and what motivates them to give their best to make every service program the best experience for all involved.
Volunteer Team Leader Julie Knudsen began volunteering with Global Volunteers in 2006 and has served as a team member or Volunteer Team Leader on 13 programs: six times in Cuba; twice in Vietnam; and once each in Minnesota, Montana, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Tanzania. Julie is a licensed clinical social worker and currently works […]
Volunteer Team Leader Karen Wark began volunteering with Global Volunteers in 2016 and has since served as a team member or Volunteer Team Leader on 25 programs: nine times in Montana, seven in West Virginia, four in Cuba, twice in Vietnam, and once in South Dakota, Romania, and Ecuador. Karen grew up in a family […]
Volunteer Team Leader and Portugal Country Manager Joe Testa began volunteering with Global Volunteers in 1991, and has since served as a team member or Volunteer Team Leader on 68 programs. Throughout his thirty years of service until now, he has served on the following service programs: Portugal 18, Italy 6, Cuba 4, Costa Rica […]
Poland may not top your list of “must visit” European sites, but it should! And, Global Volunteers Director of International Development and Poland Team Leader Dorota Wierzbicka is one of the reasons why. It’s said that experiencing a new culture requires local perspective, and we agree! As a Polish national, Dorota is proud of her […]
Volunteer Team Leader Cindy Murray has served on a total of 22 service programs with Global Volunteers either as a team member or as a Volunteer Team Leader. Her first service program as a volunteer was in 1997 in Mississippi. Since then, she’s served on 21 additional service programs: in Costa Rica (twice), West Virginia, […]
Volunteer Team Leader Barbara Morris has led 11 Global Volunteers teams since 2015. Her first service program as a volunteer was in 2008 in Ecuador. Since then, she’s served on seven additional service programs as a team member: in Vietnam, West Virginia (twice), Peru, Montana, India, and Tanzania. She’s led in Montana and Cuba three […]
Winfrida “Winnie” Mshindo joined the Global Volunteers staff in 2017 and became Tanzania Team Leader in 2018. In the years she served on staff, she contributed significantly to the development of the RCP Program – supporting new RCP families, and managing all aspects of the volunteer service program, including logistics from the volunteers’ arrival through […]
When the first cases of the Coronavirus – COVID – 19 made their appearance in Wuhan, China, just before Christmas, my thoughts took me back to the era of SARS, EBOLA, and MERS. It was an unknown virus, but too far away to affect us here on the Island of Crete. Within three months, the […]
Chemida Popo-Cox was born and raised in St. Lucia and joined Global Volunteers staff as Country Manager for St. Lucia in 2014. She leads teams working with our community partners of Anse La Raye and manages all aspects of those programs. When she’s not leading teams, Chemida works as a Volunteer Preparations Coordinator, preparing volunteers for their […]
Former Peru Country Manager Daniel Salazar offered a stirring reflection on displaced children’s action against a seemingly indomitable enemy – COVID-19. We’re reminded by Sagrada Familia’s community that in the face of fear and confusion, we all have a choice to respond with clarity and bravery. By Daniel Salazar COVID-19 hit Peru first at the […]