Interview with Diana Schmidt, October 4, 2023

Interview Summary

While recovering from a severe accident, Schmidt and her husband decided to join Peace Corps; in 2000, they were posted in Mykolaiv, Ukraine where her husband worked with a variety of host country partners, and Schmidt helped launch a women’s business center. She observed and then taught classes in business practices and consulted with women on business plans. After breaking an ankle for the second time, she and her husband returned to the US having medically terminated their service. In Ukraine, she felt as if she were a child again as she struggled to learn Russian. Her experiences challenged her assumptions, learning alternative ways to do things and to cope with not being able to control life. Returning to Ukraine, from 2002-2004, Schmidt was the Director of Program and Training in Ukraine, providing consistency in dealing with volunteers’ issues and initiating best practices in training Volunteers. In 2004, she became the Country Director in Macedonia with the aim of it becoming the “jewel” post despite being a small country with few volunteers serving there. In 2006, Schmidt became Country Director in Ukraine, and was instrumental in growing the post into a “super post”, increasing the number of volunteers from 150-400. In 2010, Schmidt participated in a world-wide assessment program of Peace Corps, and served as a roaming Country Director. From 2011-2023, Schmidt served as an advisor to the Office of Global Operations of Peace Corps, helping to initiate the Virtual Service Program. Concurrently, from 2022-2023, she was Country Director, Ukraine, the first ever to be a virtual position due to the full-scale invasion. Schmidt’s learned that “the arc of life is unpredictable;” she challenged her assumptions; she made interpersonal connections around the world. She learned to be “curious, to talk with people, and to try new things.”

Interview Keyword

Mykoliav Ukraine Women's Business Center Business practices Business Plans Medical termination Assumptions Director of Program and Training Country Director Macedonia "Super Post" Global assessment Global Operations Virtual Service Full-scale invasion

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