Q:I've been working for a while in my field and I see some of my colleagues moving into the consulting field. They have the freedom to choose the projects they'd like to work on and I'm envious of that. However, I've always worked at large organizations with benefits like health care coverage. I'm worried about going into consulting, how to navigate the process of getting my own insurance, paying higher taxes, how to market myself, etc. What are your thoughts?

Some very brave members of our community are sharing their experiences with sexual assault in the Peace Corps. Emma Tremblay, who curates the Instagram page @PeaceCorpsHR that shares hundreds of stories of trauma RPCVs have experienced is in the article and video, and has written below more information and ways to take action to push Peace Corps to overhaul how sexual assault is handled in the agency. If you need support or would like to share your own experience please email [email protected]

Q: I have been working for an office that will not be named, in the HR department. It has become impossible for me to ignore the jockeying for position through gossip and passive aggressive in-fighting. My goal is to get out of there ASAP, but I have a philosophical question. When the HR department is the bad actor, who can you report them to? 

Q:There's a theory that in an office environment, facetime with management is a key for successful promotions. Is that still true and how does that work now that I'm working remotely? What are some ways I can make sure that management is seeing my hard work without "seeing" it? 

Q: I've just started a new position and I am excited for my first professional job. However I am finding it difficult to relate to my much more experienced coworkers and supervisor. Any help fitting in in my first professional job? Especially now that we are virtual? 

Girls? As we celebrate Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, I think back on my Peace Corps service.    GLOW, “Girls leading our world,” is a Peace Corps program running across the world for more than 20 years, aimed at several different goals, but during my service in Thailand, it focused on gender empowerment and equality. The camp’s purpose was to teach gender, sexual health, and teamwork to all gendered students. I brought a group of students to two GLOW camps during my service.    The camp’s impact on my students was generally positive, giving them a space to learn in a different and non-binary way. However, there is a ton of irony in Americans attempting to teach gender and sexual equality.    As of March 2021, there are71 bills targeting trans people, and half ban trans girls from participating in sports aligning with their gender. State governments continue to attack reproductive health access for women, while U.S. White women still make $0.79 to the $1.00 that White men make; Hispanic or Latinx women make $0.54.    On top of all that, we have a Congresswoman who’d rather preach “binary gender” instead of protecting the most vulnerable with whom her party majority favors.    Given that, my suggestion is that before the U.S. preaches gender equality at Peace Corps camps, it takes some time to realize its gaps. In the meantime, Peace Corps should own up to the gaps and work with countries abroad to address problems together. We as Peace Corps Volunteers should be learning from the communities abroad before asserting solutions that are intricate, country-specific, culturally specific, and nonuniform.    Have thoughts? Join the conversation using #RPCVLessonLearned.