Nicole Redmond
BS ’97 in sport, health, leisure, and physical studies
Served in Guinea (2004–06)

A casual conversation with a Sudanese refugee working at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City pushed Nicole Redmond in an entirely different career direction.

“I was blown away by all that he had been through, and I decided right then and there that I was done,” recalls Redmond, who had spent several years in sports marketing after graduating from Iowa. “I came home, quit my job, and eventually signed up for the Peace Corps. It was a transitional point in my life, and I really wanted to gain a different perspective, to immerse myself in a different culture.”

The native of Oak Park, Ill., was sent to a rural community in the West African country of Guinea, where she worked on public health initiatives such as raising HIV/AIDS awareness, teaching malaria prevention, and increasing basic sanitation practices. She also helped a local hospital research and plan for the installation of a solar panel that ultimately powered three computers and eliminated the institution’s need for manual record-keeping.

Redmond established herself as a member of the community—something she says the Peace Corps expects of all its volunteers. In addition to greeting her neighbors each day, she befriended the coach of a women’s soccer team and became an honorary manager.

“I made friends with the players and talked to them about women’s issues and roles and also HIV awareness,” she says. “I also spent a lot of time with little kids. They came to my house every day and I would have crafts and crayons for them.”

The most difficult part of the assignment, Redmond says, was leaving behind the people she had met—and then readjusting to life in the United States.

“I came back with a completely different perspective. What is important here is definitely not important where I was,” she says. “I’m very water conscious now, and I pay attention to things like packaging and waste. I remember shopping when I returned and being amazed by the abundance of shampoo; in Guinea we were lucky to have two to choose from.”

In 2009, Redmond took a job with the Peace Corps recruiting volunteers out of the organization’s regional office in Chicago. Although she doesn’t have a long-term career plan, she says she does know one thing.

“I will be working for an organization I believe in,” she says. “After my experience in Guinea, even little things—like supporting local grocery stores—are important to me.”

Redmond spent time with local children nearly every day during her Peace Corps assignment in Guinea.