Extra-Ordinary Woman: Kelly Cronen

09/29/23 • 27 min

Women of Peace Corps Legacy's Extra-Ordinary Women Podcast

Women of Peace Corps Legacy interviews an “Extra-Ordinary Woman”, Kelly Cronen. She currently serves as a Counter-Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) international development.
Featured Guest:
Kelly Cronen became a Peace Corps volunteer in Albania (2003-2005) where she worked with a local civil society support organization and with a shelter for trafficked women. Through this experience she had the opportunity to meet and learn from over 300 women who had been trafficked, which shaped her perspectives on how development programs could be adjusted to be more responsive to communities in which they work.
Over the past two and a half decades, Kelly has spent approximately 11 years living in other countries, with long-term field experience in Slovakia, Albania, Afghanistan, and Uganda. She has led over 20 short-term technical assessments throughout Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. She speaks Albanian and Spanish and holds a B.A. in International Development and Economics from the University of Guelph, Canada.
Podcast Host:
Maryann Minutillo has an extensive career in international development and public service. She is a founding member of Women of Peace Corps Legacy and a co-founder of the Foreign Service Youth Foundation. She has served as a mentor for mid-level professionals at Peace Corps for WPCL since the program began. Prior to her work at Peace Corps, Maryann was Director of the Department of State’s Family Liaison Office. In this position she oversaw community, education and family support programs at the State Department and United States Embassies throughout the world. She was Peace Corps Country Director in Bolivia, Acting Regional Director and Chief of Operations for the Inter-America and Pacific Region and Senior Advisor to six Directors of Peace Corps. Throughout her life, Maryann has had a strong interest in cultural adaptation and the impact of international transition and crisis situations on families and particularly on women’s careers.
Women of Peace Corps Legacy (WPCL) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance women and girls empowerment to create a more just, equitable, inclusive, and safe world for future generations. WPCL seeks to partner with and highlight the work of those existing organizations and programs that are effectively addressing the issues of women and girls.

Previous Episode

Extra-Ordinary Women: Jaynice Del Rosario & Sue Richiedei

Women of Peace Corps Legacy interviews two “Extra-Ordinary Women”, Jaynice Del Rosario, the 2022 winner of the Kate Raftery Emerging Leader Award, and Sue Richiedei, the recipient of the 2019 Deborah Harding Women of Achievement Award.
Featured Guests:
Jaynice Del Rosario - “Women and girls know what they need”.
Jaynice was conducting independent research on girls’ lack of access to education in Cameroon in 2010, where she met Peace Corps Volunteers who inspired her. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia from 2013 to 2015. Jaynice served as National Coordinator of Gender and Development, designing and implementing local and regional programs for adolescent girls.
Currently, she serves as Senior Program Officer for the Girls First Fund, a philanthropic collaborative supporting community-based organizations in the Global South that combat child marriage and help girls lead self-determined lives. She has also started a pilot project of her own called the Feminist Idea Lab, through which she plans to directly resource girl-led projects and ideas that have the potential to change the world.
Sue Richiedei - “See the need, take the Lead”.
Sue has spent over 35 years improving the lives of women and girls around the world by ensuring they become leaders, decision makers, and advocates at all levels. Sue served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1976 in northeast Thailand. She understood the importance of improving the lives of girls in a male-dominated society.
Sue has dedicated her life to training, advocacy, and reproductive health service delivery projects. She was the founder and Senior Director of Counterpart International's WomenLead Institute, which focuses on women-centered programming, highlighting the leadership, confidence building, and managerial skills women need to advance. In 2005, Sue designed and launched the Global Women in Management Program (GWIM), which has reached over 1,000 women in 77 countries with month-long leadership workshops, women-to-woman coaching, networking and small grants.
Podcast Host:
Lee Lacy is a senior leader, management consultant, facilitator and coach whose career in international and national programs spans four decades. She is a founding member of Women of Peace Corps Legacy. Lee has served in several senior positions for the Peace Corps. In these roles, she worked with Peace Corps Volunteers and staff making the transition to different cultural contexts. She serves as a job search counselor for the Foreign Service Institute’s Transition Center providing assistance to Foreign Service officers preparing for a second career or retirement. As a trainer and director of the Overseas Briefing Center, Lee conducted cross-cultural and re-entry training for foreign affairs employees and their families. She has lived and worked in Samoa, Nepal, Armenia, and Afghanistan.
Women of Peace Corps Legacy (WPCL) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance women and girls empowerment to create a more just, equitable, inclusive, and safe world for future generations. WPCL seeks to partner with and highlight the work of those existing organizations and programs that are effectively addressing the issues of women and girls.

Next Episode

Extra-Ordinary Woman: Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley

Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, is Women of Peace Corps Legacy’s “Extra-Ordinary Woman” in this extraordinary episode. She served with the Peace Corps in Oman, and won WPCL’s 2023 Deborah Harding Women of Achievement Award.
Featured Guest:
Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley has had a pathbreaking career in the Foreign Service and has created new opportunities and possibilities for women and minorities. Among her many accomplishments as a U.S. diplomat, she served as a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, focusing on Israel-Palestine relations; became the first woman to lead a diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia where she promoted gender equality and coordinated the largest evacuation of American citizens from a war zone since WWII; and was the longest-serving U.S. ambassador to Malta.
Recently she served as the State Department's first chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility officer. There, her many contributions included helping women and minorities be considered for high-level positions and reducing the importance of the oral exam for entry into diplomatic service. She co-founded the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS), championing accomplished women for senior leadership positions in national security and foreign policy.
Currently she is the first female president of the Middle East Policy Council, which produces a highly regarded journal, hosts the Capitol Hill Conference Series for policy makers, and offers numerous educational opportunities for teachers, including an exchange programs for students from the U.S. and the Middle East.
Podcast Host :
Kathleen Corey is past president of Women of Peace Corps Legacy. She spent sixteen years with Peace Corps getting her start as a Volunteer in Liberia. She has been Country Director in North Macedonia and Sri Lanka and held various headquarter positions responsible for opening Peace Corps China, Cambodia, and numerous countries in the Former Soviet Union. As a retired diplomat, she currently teaches various courses to Department of State employees at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute.
Women of Peace Corps Legacy (WPCL) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance women and girls empowerment to create a more just, equitable, inclusive, and safe world for future generations. WPCL seeks to partner with and highlight the work of those existing organizations and programs that are effectively addressing the issues of women and girls.