Start date
August 4, 2026

End date
October 31, 2026

Duration
13 weeks

ELIGIBILITY: Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a U.S. citizen.

Activity/project background

The Tesoros del Atlántico project supports local producers, entrepreneurs, and artisans to strengthen their business models and organizational capacity. This includes support in digital marketing, export, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and local identity. The goal is to promote sustainability and local production as competitive advantages, while fostering the development of collective value chains. Currently, many of these small businesses still operate in isolation, often lacking the organizational structures, integrated business strategies, and coordination mechanisms necessary to access to broader markets through cross-sector collaboration and product-service system approaches.

In response to these needs, SENA requests the support of a Virtual Service Pilot Participant to join its technical team to address these challenges through strategic guidance and virtual community-based trainings. While this would be the first VSPP in this specific role, two-year Volunteers are currently involved with the project in areas such as financial education and entrepreneurial skills. The VSPP will assist in creating a contextualized organizational assessment tool, designing and facilitating training sessions on topics that support cooperative entrepreneurship, and facilitating participatory planning processes. The VSPP will collaborate directly with SENA’s technical team and artisans.

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 VSPPs will engage in the following tasks, in collaboration with their host country partners:

• Conduct initial assessments of each organization or individual artisan’s digital marketing and business development skills (under the umbrella of cooperative entrepreneurship skills)
• Co-develop training and teaching materials, informed by assessment findings. The training sessions will be 90 minutes and may include digital marketing, cooperative management structures, small business management, and other topics
• Deliver a training of trainers (ToT) to the SENA technical team on the sessions
• Co-facilitate and deliver six trainings to artisan organizations and entrepreneurs
• Provide one-on-one or small group coaching to artisans
  
  

VSPPs are expected to engage on the tasks listed above for an estimated 5–15 hours per week. This engagement is estimated to be 15 hours per week.

Online collaboration will generally occur between 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Colombia time. Specific times will be determined during orientation.

The host country counterpart will have access to Microsoft Teams and Zoom 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.
  
  

Goal 1 will be achieved through the VSPP's engagement and completion of the above tasks. The counterpart and VSPP may also choose to identify an activity that aligns with Goal 2. Additionally, the VSPP may identify a Goal 3 activity to implement during their engagement. See recommendations and tools for Goal 3 activities.

Essential Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or related field

Language: Advanced Spanish

Experience:

• 3 years of technical experience in digital marketing, organizational development, and/or entrepreneurship training
• Supporting strategic planning, results-based management, and report writing
  
  

Intercultural skills and motivation: Flexible, strong cross-cultural agility, high tolerance for ambiguity, able to work independently, resourceful, creative, and genuinely motivated and capable to serve virtually