Meet IRC’s New VISTA!

The IRC in Phoenix welcomes our new VISTA volunteer, Jared Worley!

Jared previously worked for the Seattle based non-profit Vittana, which works to free up educational access by providing student loans to college and vocational students in developing countries through micro loans.  He was based in the country of Rwanda the past year and spent his time partnering with a local microfinance bank in Kigali to implement a student loan product.  Jared graduated from Azusa Pacific University near Pasadena, California with an MBA.

As the new resource development VISTA, Jared will be splitting his time with in-kind donations in creating a more efficient and streamlined inventory tracking model.  In regards to volunteer recruitment/placement he will be focusing on improving the recruitment and placement of IRC volunteers as well as monitoring volunteer satisfaction and productivity.  “Everyday is different here, working at the IRC is not your typical office job and I really enjoy that…  You can’t find many offices where you could strike up a conversation in 10 different languages throughout the day.”  Jared says he is really excited to be involved with creating a more sustainable model of improvement in both volunteer recruitment and in-kind donations throughout the next year. 

In his free time Jared likes to be outside as much as possible.  His favorite activities are hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, and traveling abroad.  He hopes to find a development position abroad after completing his VISTA year.   His passion is in working in education and economic development and he views educational opportunity as a key factor to creating better economic prosperity for the poor in developing countries.  

To find out more about the VISTA program at the IRC in Phoenix contact Nicky Walker, Development Manager, at Nicky.Walker@Rescue.org.

Photo: Jared Worley