Acting Director

Carrie Hessler-Radelet

Carrie Hessler-Radelet was sworn in as deputy director of the Peace Corps on June 23, 2010.

Hessler-Radelet and her husband, Steve Radelet, served together as Peace Corps Volunteers in Western Samoa (1981-1983). She taught high school and helped design a national public awareness campaign on disaster preparedness. Upon completing service abroad, she served as public affairs specialist in the Peace Corps/New England Recruiting Office (1984-1986).

Prior to her confirmation as deputy director, Hessler-Radelet was vice president and director of the Washington, D.C., office of John Snow, Inc. (JSI), a global public health organization, where she was responsible for overseeing the management of public health programs in more than 85 countries.

She has worked in the field of public health for the past two decades, specializing in HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health. Hessler-Radelet was actively involved in the establishment of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and was a primary author on PEPFAR's first strategic plan. She was also a Johns Hopkins Fellow with USAID in Indonesia and assisted the Indonesian government in developing and implementing its first national AIDS strategy.

Four generations of Hessler-Radelet's family have served as Peace Corps Volunteers. Her aunt was the 10,000th Peace Corps Volunteer and served in Turkey (1964-1966), her grandmother served in Malaysia (1972-1973), and her nephew recently completed his service as an HIV education Volunteer in Mozambique (2007-2009).

Hessler-Radelet served as a board member of the National Peace Corps Association and on the steering committee for the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival. She was founder of the Special Olympics in The Gambia.

Hessler-Radelet received her Bachelor of Arts from Boston University and her master's in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. She and her husband have two grown children, Meghan and Sam.

Last updated Sep 18 2012