Board of Directors

Melissa has over 14 years of professional experience working on citizen diplomacy, volunteerism, leadership and community development. As Vice President for Education and Global Citizenship at Partners of the Americas, Ms. Golladay led programs that connected volunteers, students, youth, and professionals across borders to collaborate on issues such as workforce development, community-led development, climate change, entrepreneurship, and government transparency. She previously served as Director for Professional Leadership Exchanges and Youth Engagement as well as Program Officer with the Center for Civil Society. She earned a M.A. in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, concentrating in Social Development and a B.A. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Linda joined AFS Intercultural Programs, INC. in 2017 to direct their Educational Products, including the Global Competence Certificate program throughout the AFS network in over 100 countries. She recently served as the Interim Executive Director of the IVPA. Linda is President of Alma, Inc. – a cross-cultural leadership development consultancy and previously was Global Citizens Network’s (GCN) Director (2005-2015), where she tripled the size of GCN and gained national recognition by National Geographic, The New York Times, Oprah, and USA Today as “One of the Best Family Volunteer Experiences.” She is a qualified administrator of the IDI, GCI, IES etc.) and holds an executive coaching certificate from the Carlson School of Business, U of MN. Linda has an MA from the University of Chile Studies and a BA from Augsburg University.

Benjamin is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Faculty Director of International Service at the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis. He also works as Senior Research Associate for the Center for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, and as Senior Researcher and Writer for the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program. Ben’s research interests include volunteerism, community development, grassroots social innovation, and non-profit management. He is lead researcher and author of the flagship UN publication State of the Worlds Volunteerism Report 2018 and is currently engaged in research funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada to understand the contributions of international volunteers to gender equality. Ben is an Associate Editor of Voluntaristics Review.

Corey is CEO of 2GIP, LLC, a professional services and government affairs firm, and has spent more than 20 years in international development, technology, management consulting and government. He was appointed by President Obama to the Peace Corps as Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships in 2012, where he served until 2015. Prior, Corey was appointed as Chief of Staff by Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie in the District of Columbia, where he served as chief political advisor and strategist on the full range of municipal government operations and legislation. Corey spent 14 plus years at Microsoft Corporation, served on the board of directors for the United States Global Leadership Campaign, the Society for International Development, and Greater Washington Urban League. In 2008 Griffin was appointed by the former USAID Administrator, Henrietta H. Fore, to serve on the Advisory Committee for Voluntary Foreign Aid. He currently serves on the board of the National Peace Corps Association, the Technology and Innovation Inclusion Council and the St Elizabeth East Advisory Board for the District of Columbia.

David serves as vice president for Strategic Partnerships with the Global Peace Foundation and a prior Nonresident Fellow for Global Economy and Development at The Brookings Institution. He formerly directed Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington, D.C. and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). David has traveled extensively throughout the world advancing multi-stakeholder approaches toward a “global peace corps,” including support for the launch of the Asia-Pacific Peace and Development Service Alliance and the Africa Peace Service Corps. David formerly served in the senior executive service as deputy assistant secretary and director, Office of Resident Initiatives, under Secretary Jack Kemp at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Subsequently, he served as director of the Virginia Governor’s Commission on Citizen Empowerment and as director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. He conceived and launched the Hands-Across-Virginia initiative, overseeing disaster volunteer efforts following severe flooding in the mountain region of the Commonwealth.

Steve founded Cross-Cultural Solutions in 1995, and as its director, traveled extensively throughout the world making frequent trips to the field. He has worked with at-risk youth in the United States and been a consultant for numerous international volunteering organizations in the domestically and abroad. An expert in his field, Steve has been invited to speak at the U.N. on Non-Governmental Organizations and gender issues. He is on the Executive Committee of the International Volunteer Programs Association. Steve also serves on the advisory boards of More Peace Corps, Atlas Corps, and Global Citizen Year. He co-chairs the National Summit for Global Citizen Diplomacy Task Force on Voluntary International Service, and serves on the Roundtable Consortium for the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange.