Keynote Address -- Storytelling: A Key to Peacebuilding Locally and Globally
Jody Olsen, former Peace Corps deputy director who was involved in the creation of Knox's Peace Corps Prep Program

Jody Olsen, now a visiting professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work, started in the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Tunisia, where she taught English and developed community health programs. She moved up the ranks to country director, then to regional director, and, in 1989, to chief of staff, a position she held for three years. In 2002, Olsen was tapped by the president to be deputy director of the Peace Corps.

Outside of the Peace Corps, she has served as senior vice president at the Academy for Educational Development, executive director of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, and president of the University of Maryland Alumni Association.

A Utah native, Olsen received her bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Utah, a master's degree in social work (with a specialization in community organization) from the University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. from Maryland's College of Education.

• Elizabeth Cockrell '12, Human Links Foundation Fellow serving the Sustainable Business Center
• Max Potthoff '14, serving the Cyclists of Galesburg and sustainability assignments

• Karen Mauldin-Curtis, Peace Corps Fellows program manager in community development at Western Illinois University
• Sheldon Schafer, Green Party candidate for Congress, astronomy instructor at Bradley University, vice president of education, and planetarium director
• Cecile Arquette, associate professor of teacher education at Bradley University