FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, October 29, 1999

James Arena-DeRosa Appointed Manager of New England Recruiting Office

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 29, 1999—Peace Corps Acting Director Charles Baquet III recently appointed James Arena-DeRosa, a life-long Massachusetts resident, as the manager of the New England regional recruiting office, based in Boston.
As the regional manager of the Peace Corps, Arena-DeRosa oversees the management, public awareness and recruitment functions for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Prior to his current post, Arena-DeRosa worked for more than 10 years in various capacities for Oxfam America, a Boston-based international development organization. He provided overall guidance and leadership in creating the public advocacy program, and represented the organization to Congress, the United Nations and the White House. Mr. Arena-DeRosa\'s occasional overseas assignments included planning major international conferences on the Amazon Basin and Indochina, participating in an exploratory trip to Cuba, and coordinating efforts to bring African women to Boston to talk about food security, debt and gender issues. He has extensive campaign leadership experience with candidates for state and federal office. Baquet said that Arena-DeRosa\'s abilities as a strategic planner and his enthusiastic leadership will guide the Boston recruiting office and its goals into the new millennium. "He brings a wealth of experience to this challenging job and will provide excellent leadership to Peace Corps in one of our more bountiful recruitment regions."
Arena-DeRosa says that his top priorities as regional manager include broadening the appeal of Peace Corps beyond its core constituency and sharing the Peace Corps story with a new generation of Americans. "We\'ve always had great volunteer representation from liberal arts college graduates - we also need to tap into resurgent interest from mid-career professionals with business, technology or agricultural expertise, seasoned educators who want a few years break from their routine, retirees and senior citizens with a lifetime of experience, and technology wizards who want to share their skills with emerging economies"
Acknowledging Peace Corps\' roots in Boston and New England, Arena-DeRosa hopes to lead the region in celebrating Peace Corps\' history of changing lives and communities around the world. "Given President Kennedy\'s legacy, and what he still means to the people of Massachusetts and the New England region, I consider it a honor to serve as the leader of the Boston Peace Corps office. As Peace Corps approaches its 40th anniversary in 2001, I look forward to working with the Boston team and New England schools and communities to inspire the next generation of Peace Corps volunteers".
Arena-DeRosa, who earned a BA in Anthropology cum laude from Harvard College in 1978, is a member of Holliston\'s Finance Committee. He lives in Holliston, Mass. with his wife Lina and their two sons, Anthony and Alessandro.

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