Valerie Kurka

Valerie Kurka, who taught chemistry and English while in the Peace Corps, also has nearly 10 years of experience serving multicultural populations both internationally and domestically. Most recently she worked for the State of Wisconsin Refugee Office supporting resettlement efforts. Her past experiences include proposal development and grant writing for an agency that serves low-income families. She is currently a new business development professional at an international development agency in the Washington, DC, area. Valerie holds an M.Ed. in international education from the Center for International Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a grant writing training certificate from the Grantsmanship Center, and a nonprofit management certificate from the Continuing Education School at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  

Valerie loves to travel. In 2006, she went to Israel/Palestine for a 10-day trip with 12 people. They met with 16 different organizations all over Israel and the West Bank to learn about the conflict from a variety of perspectives. Later that year she went to Tanzania to serve in the Peace Corps for two years, where she was a chemistry teacher at a rural secondary school and also taught English on the side. Valerie loves to sail, play any type of sport, dance and cook. Learning, especially experiential learning, is a passion that makes her feel alive.