MPA Alumni Profiles
The Evergreen MPA program has over 1,000 alumni working in responsible positions within state, local, tribal and federal governments, nonprofit organizations and for-profit firms.
Our graduates work in a wide variety of interest areas, including: health, law enforcement, social services, education, environmental issues, homelessness, legislative pollicy, community development, transportation, human resources, budgeting, strategic planning and project management.
We are currently featuring these MPA alumni -- all are working as Peace Corps volunteers:
Breezie O'Neill: MPA 2010
1. What led to you the Evergreen MPA program?
I fell in love with public service, development, and intercultural communication while studying at Centralia College. I then transferred to Saint Martin's University to study Community Services. My senior year I studied in Thailand and India where I renewed my passion for international development and nonprofit management. I decided to pursue an MPA degree from Evergreen because I needed to learn how to manage nonprofit organizations in an increasingly globalized world. Evergreen's interdisciplinary style helped me develop a wide range of skills that I need to work effectivly with organizations that tackle complex systematic issues.
2. What led you to the Peace Corps?
My passion for travel and public service started at Centralia College when I took a fascinating anthropology class. It ignited a deep curiosity for other cultures and people. That curiosity brought me to Thailand and India where I completed by bachelor's degree. I've known for a very long time that the Peace Corps was for me. I also knew that an MPA degree from Evergreen would help me be a more effective volunteer. After completing the MPA program I greatly looked forward to testing out my new knowledge in the field. It's a dream come true.
3. Briefly describe your current work and assignment with the Peace Corps.
I work at the Tumul K'in Center of Learning (TKCL) in southern Belize. The center is a high school designed to teach Maya youth traditional values and skills. They combine modern curriculum with traditional knowledge in an effort to decolonize education. The students wear traditional clothes instead of school uniforms and learn math and science while practicing traditional dance and farming methods. The school is an NGO and my job is to work with their Board of Directors, Council of Elders, and PTA in an effort to develop clear communication, implement sound policies and procedures, and to develop a monitoring and evaluation system. I also support the staff by preparing professional development trainings on topics like accountability, organization, and leadership.
4. Most inspiring thing you’ve experienced or learned so far?
I am inspired daily by TKCL's commitment to teaching young people their history and tradition. They take great pride in their Maya culture and work hard to maintain it's authenticity despite outside pressures. It's inspiring to see students be allowed to wear their traditional clothes and taught how to read and write the Maya languages. The official language of Belize is English, but our village commonly speaks Mopan or Q'eqchi. It is important that those languages by taught in school and Tumul K'in is one of the few schools that teaches them.
5. Most challenging?
It is challenging to work effectively while adapting to the environment and living conditions of Belize. It's hot here! It's also hurricane season which means the one road out of our village is regularly flooded cutting off our access to the closest market which is about 45 minutes by bus. However, we are learning how to stock up on food, get our laundry inside before it rains, and we are able to spot scorpions, snakes, and spiders before they spot us!
6. How did MPA prepare you for the Peace Corps? Specifically what are you bringing from MPA to your work in the Peace Corps?
The MPA taught me the importance of collaborative work. Nearly every class I took included a group project. In the Peace Corps your work isn't sustainable if you are doing it on your own. We must work WITH our local organization not FOR our local organization. The MPA program showed me the value of learning from my peers and helped me practice communicating to people with diverse backgrounds and skills. I'm also utilizing my skills in project management, nonprofit management, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable decision-making.
7. After the Peace Corps (when does it end for you?), what are you thinking is next for you?
My Peace Corps service will end June 2013. When I return I hope to find a job in the northwest working in a nonprofit. I love the idea of working for Peace Corps, MercyCorps, or any job that allows me to travel and continue my work in international development and nonprofit management.
8. Any other thoughts about MPA, the Peace Corps or anything else you’d like to tell current or prospective MPA students?
A lot of times people approach me about the MPA or Peace Corps and say "I wish I could do something like that." I always tell them "YOU CAN!" If you are thinking about answering the call to service either in the states or abroad know that it will be the most rewarding work you will ever do.
Daniel O’Neill: MPA 2010
1. What led to you the Evergreen MPA program?
I have undergraduate degrees in Criminal Justice/Pre Law and Anthropology from Saint Martin's University. My work experience prior to Public Administration included investigative and auditing work for telecommunications companies. My government experience has been in policy analysis and enforcement, including three years at the Washington State Department of Licensing. My interests beyond public administration include technology, reading, coffee shops, snowboarding, hiking and video games.
2. What led you to the Peace Corps?
A desire to serve others. My dedication to public service in the states carries over greatly to this. My education, specifically as it relates to my MPA from Evergreen, imparted to me a deontological ethic towards serving others. I decided to abandon a much more lucrative career in law because of this passion, and that has carried over greatly to my desire to serve the developing world. It is easy to take for granted how good I had it in the states, with a great job, a great education, and all the comforts of home. I wanted to step outside of that for a few years to reassess what exactly I wanted. I am grateful that I did.
3. Briefly describe your current work and assignment with the Peace Corps.
I am a Development Coordinator for the Tumul K'in Center of Learning, an indigenous high school that reinforces traditional education (math, science, english, history) with Mayan culture and values (community service, environmental sustainability). I work mainly with their executive director Esther Sanchez on building capacity within and outside of the school, while reinforcing traditional values among the communities we work with.
4. Most inspiring thing you’ve experienced or learned so far?
That people with absolutely nothing material will give you absolutely everything that they have. We have spent time living with destitute families that have opened their homes to us, sharing their stories and their life in our village. When they had nothing to eat, they would feed us. When they had nowhere to sleep, we got their beds. It was awe inspiring and humbling beyond words.
5. Most challenging?
Developing countries in the Central America, especially Belize, are surrounded by well-intentioned NGOs, churches, and development organizations that provide lots of money, assessments, and advice to organizations like the one I work with. The problem, however, is that many organizations over the past thirty years have become completely dependent on them, meaning that during economic crunches, there is less money to give and the organization cannot self-sustain. Teaching organizations how to help themselves after so many years of being given resources without guidance, and tools without any implementation or understanding, can breed distrust of our intentions and resentment when we don't just "do it for them" like everyone else has.
6. How did MPA prepare you for the Peace Corps? Specifically what are you bringing from MPA to your work in the Peace Corps?
The most valuable resource I got from MPA was project management. I found that no matter what the course, quarter or year of my MPA, managing workloads on top of my job and family life, managing that time was absolutely crucial. The MPA specifically taught me important management techniques for project planning and mapping, working with difficult stakeholders, and negotiating appropriate terms for group projects. It also taught me to be a bit more open-minded, not always assume I had the right answer right away, and to spend more time listening than talking (not easy for a former Pre-Law student from a stuffy private school). This has advanced me personally and professionally more than I ever imagined, especially working in the development field.
7. After the Peace Corps (when does it end for you?), what are you thinking is next for you?
I can continue to work with state government if I desire, but I may step up to the federal level once I return. I would love to come back to Olympia, however. I know that because of my MPA and life experience, I will have many opportunities available to me. The MPA is highly respected in Olympia, especially in state government.
8. Any other thoughts about MPA, the Peace Corps or anything else you’d like to tell current or prospective MPA students?
MPA, while certainly challenging, was one of the most rewarding times of my life. I made life-long friends, made it through one of the toughest budget crunches in the history of the country, and gained so much insight into the workings of government. Peace Corps is a life changing, humbling experience because of the preparation I received from the MPA. To anyone looking into the program, come check out some classes, visit with the students, and see if you can prepare for the work-life-school balance. The MPA is a respected program and will open many doors to you personally and professionally. Studying PA in a state capital is an invaluable resource.
Shaz Davison: MPA 1999
1. What led to you the Evergreen MPA program?
I have always leaned toward social justice. Even as a child, I picketed my church when they said that I, as a girl, could not serve the altar. I have also been motivated by my desire to understand and feel why people make the choices they do, commit certain acts, and live a particular lifestyle. These concerns have led me to developing restorative justice programs in prisons, developing a program and documentary for tsunami victims in India demarcating their process of healing and survival, and now, the Peace Corps.
I believe my passion to dig to the root of the issue stems from growing up with a severe case dyslexia. Unfortunately my challenges all the way through primary school (70’s and 80’s) were erroneously diagnosed. I was a creative kid and felt that I had much to offer, but the focus was always on fixing me to be something I was not, rather than paying attention to what I had to give. I knew there had to be a school somewhere out there that would not only embrace my way of learning but celebrate what I had to offer. This ultimately led me to Evergreen, first as an undergraduate, then as a graduate student in the MPA program.
I chose Evergreen's MPA program because I wanted my graduate education to be built upon the same innovative and interdisciplinary approach that I experienced as an undergrad. More specifically, in the public administration arena I wanted to expand my knowledge of governance and deepen my understanding of systems of diverse social change.
2. What led you to the Peace Corps?
After a career position in a women’s prison in West Virginia fell through, I began searching for work that would give me some independence and enable me to develop my own programming and best serve populations most in need of social change. Immediately the Peace Corps came to mind.
3. Briefly describe your current work and assignment with the Peace Corps.
Normally the Peace Corps has a volunteer concentrate on one area/town, but I have been given an ambitious assignment: to start up an advocacy program for older persons in each of the eight districts and towns in Belize. The group I work with is called VOICE. Their primary objective is to ensure older persons have a voice around issues concerning health care, pension, discounted rates, preferential seating on buses etc. As it stands now, none of those issues are fully implemented or supported. I travel extensively on buses throughout the entire country and meet with potential partners and advocates, conduct trainings and do my best to garner momentum, excitement and interest for the members in each district. Advocacy is an intangible outcome so it can be laborious and challenging to keep everyone feeling positive but I am looking forward to the positive change we will accomplish together.
4. Most inspiring thing you’ve experienced or learned so far?
I am only a month into my service as I write this, but even at this early stage, it is so inspiring to see how the older persons with whom I am collaborating are beginning to feel a renewed sense of life and really embrace and believe in their potential and skills, through the work we are doing together. It is so rewarding to see the older people feel like they can make a difference. This is something that will forever stay with me.
5. Most challenging?
For me, the most challenging aspect of working in Belize with the Peace Corps is dealing with the bureaucracy. But at the same time, it allows me to stretch myself in ways I would not otherwise have the opportunity to do. In Belize, so much is intertwined with politics. This presents unique challenges given that we are asked, as Peace Corps volunteers, not to engage in or converse about political issues. Yet we are thrust into environments that are political and divisive. Finding techniques to meet these challenges requires understanding the intricacies of Belizean politics. The entire experience feels a bit oxymoronic and uncomfortable at times. But it's something we all accept as part of our every day life as Peace Corps Volunteers. I embrace the opportunity to garner information in a way that honors all voices and views.
6. How did MPA prepare you for the Peace Corps? Specifically what are you bringing from MPA to your work in the Peace Corps?
Evergreen enhanced my life in ways I could have never otherwise imagined. The MPA program and Evergreen’s interdisciplinary modality of teaching and learning really gave me an opportunity to blossom in a way that speaks so well to my strengths and skill set. Evergreen and the MPA program nurture a culture of initiative, innovation and unique perspective while also exposing global injustices and our part in them. Evergreen provided me with the knowledge to effectively and compassionately assess an environment, investigate the root of the problem and communicate in a way that honors those cultures with whom I have the privilege to interact. As a Greener, I was honored and celebrated for what I have to offer, and so I have flourished. Now I can offer the same to others who have yet to discover or uncover her or his potential. There is so much to uncover in this world and that is something The Evergreen State College understands and celebrates, one student at a time.
7. After the Peace Corps (when does it end for you?), what are you thinking is next for you?
I have just begun my service here in Belize, so I have two years to go. I have *no* idea where I will go next but I do know that I will continue social justice work in an effort to bridge the global gap and celebrate the diversity of our global community as best I can. Along with my MPA Greener colleagues, Breezie and Danny O’Neil also serving here in Belize, I hope together we will leave behind seeds that will flourish for years to come. And as Americans, I hope we are seen as peace-makers who will, 50 years after President Kennedy’s vision, continue to embrace the model of world peace, one volunteer at a time.
8. Any other thoughts about MPA, the Peace Corps or anything else you’d like to tell current or prospective MPA students?
More personally, I invite every Greener to consider becoming part of the Peace Corps family (or other volunteer programs). It just may be the best family you will ever be part of, and it will undoubtedly lead you to profound life-changing, ego-shrinking experiences that will stay with you and the villagers you work with forever.