Educate NGO Staff about Civic and Youth Engagement in the U.S. - Virtual Service with Ukraine - 27 weeks
Peace Corps
United States
Posted on Feb 24, 2026
Start date
June 1, 2026
End date
December 7, 2026
Duration
27 weeks
ELIGIBILITY: Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a U.S. citizen.
Activity/project background
As the war in Ukraine continues, grassroots initiatives are indispensable for community resilience and support. There is an organization in Ukraine that unites youth volunteers across the country to help rebuild homes, cultural centers, and repair public facilities that were damaged or destroyed because of the ongoing war. With a team of more than 6,000 volunteers, the NGO has repaired or created comfortable and safe living conditions for more than 5,000 people impacted by the war.
In addition to repairs and reconstruction activities, the NGO is dedicated to empowering local communities through volunteer camps. Before launching these camps, they organize a training school for teams who will lead local activities in collaboration with the organization. The NGO’s volunteer camps play a crucial role in restoring communities and empowering local volunteers. The training sessions emphasize essential skills such as volunteer management, effective communication, community engagement, team coordination, and resource identification. Over the past 10 years, more than 10,000 young people, aged 18–35, from more than 87 cities of Ukraine have joined the organization’s activities. Approximately 100 teams have developed their own social, educational, and entrepreneurial projects at the local level. The organization’s strategy for 2026 focuses on scaling up local youth engagement and volunteerism initiatives.
To achieve this strategy, the organization is seeking the support from a VSPP to learn about best practices related to civic engagement and youth activism in the United States. The organization’s regional coordinators and volunteers are interested in hearing success stories about community and youth engagement initiatives, specifically how organizations support motivation, recruitment and retention, incentives, and volunteer management. The VSPP is expected to collect and present such success stories and best practices to both staff and volunteers on a weekly basis. Whenever possible, the Host Country Partners would appreciate an opportunity to meet representatives of various NGOs and grassroots organizations to learn about their experiences firsthand. Such interaction will strengthen the capacity of local teams, broaden perspectives for community work, and promote English language practice through meaningful thematic interaction.
The organization has previously collaborated with the Peace Corps. They understand that the role of a VSPP is very different than a Peace Corps Volunteer or Peace Corps Response Volunteer.
Engagement and tasks
The VSPP will engage in the following tasks, in collaboration with their host country partners:
Online collaboration will generally occur twice a week between 3:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m., Ukraine time on weekdays, each session lasting for about an hour. Specific times will be determined during orientation.
The Host Country Counterpart will have access to email, Zoom, and WhatsApp for regular communication and collaboration.
Per the Child Protection Code of Conduct, when engaging online with minors (0–18), two adults must be present.
Optional Additional Activities
The Peace Corps mission is to promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:
Essential Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree in any field
Experience:
June 1, 2026
End date
December 7, 2026
Duration
27 weeks
ELIGIBILITY: Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a U.S. citizen.
Activity/project background
As the war in Ukraine continues, grassroots initiatives are indispensable for community resilience and support. There is an organization in Ukraine that unites youth volunteers across the country to help rebuild homes, cultural centers, and repair public facilities that were damaged or destroyed because of the ongoing war. With a team of more than 6,000 volunteers, the NGO has repaired or created comfortable and safe living conditions for more than 5,000 people impacted by the war.
In addition to repairs and reconstruction activities, the NGO is dedicated to empowering local communities through volunteer camps. Before launching these camps, they organize a training school for teams who will lead local activities in collaboration with the organization. The NGO’s volunteer camps play a crucial role in restoring communities and empowering local volunteers. The training sessions emphasize essential skills such as volunteer management, effective communication, community engagement, team coordination, and resource identification. Over the past 10 years, more than 10,000 young people, aged 18–35, from more than 87 cities of Ukraine have joined the organization’s activities. Approximately 100 teams have developed their own social, educational, and entrepreneurial projects at the local level. The organization’s strategy for 2026 focuses on scaling up local youth engagement and volunteerism initiatives.
To achieve this strategy, the organization is seeking the support from a VSPP to learn about best practices related to civic engagement and youth activism in the United States. The organization’s regional coordinators and volunteers are interested in hearing success stories about community and youth engagement initiatives, specifically how organizations support motivation, recruitment and retention, incentives, and volunteer management. The VSPP is expected to collect and present such success stories and best practices to both staff and volunteers on a weekly basis. Whenever possible, the Host Country Partners would appreciate an opportunity to meet representatives of various NGOs and grassroots organizations to learn about their experiences firsthand. Such interaction will strengthen the capacity of local teams, broaden perspectives for community work, and promote English language practice through meaningful thematic interaction.
The organization has previously collaborated with the Peace Corps. They understand that the role of a VSPP is very different than a Peace Corps Volunteer or Peace Corps Response Volunteer.
Engagement and tasks
The VSPP will engage in the following tasks, in collaboration with their host country partners:
- Conduct introductory meetings with regional office coordinators to learn about their activities and interests to support presentation planning
- Co-design a series of 10 presentations about successful civic and youth engagement initiatives in the United States, their background, development, management, budgeting, etc.
- Participate in monthly reflective debriefs with NGO staff to discuss takeaways from sessions and how insights can be adapted to local Ukrainian community contexts
- If time allows, help staff co-design a short public report about best practices and takeaways from the engagement
Online collaboration will generally occur twice a week between 3:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m., Ukraine time on weekdays, each session lasting for about an hour. Specific times will be determined during orientation.
The Host Country Counterpart will have access to email, Zoom, and WhatsApp for regular communication and collaboration.
Per the Child Protection Code of Conduct, when engaging online with minors (0–18), two adults must be present.
Optional Additional Activities
The Peace Corps mission is to promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:
- To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
- To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
- To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Essential Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree in any field
Experience:
- 1 year in community activism, civic engagement, youth work, or volunteer-led initiatives
- Facilitating discussions, workshops, or peer learning sessions in an online or in-person setting.