Kristia

Since my time with KEYS, I served as a sustainable agriculture volunteer in Peace Corps Tanzania and now I’m serving as a VISTA leader in Fayetteville, Arkansas with a policy think-tank called Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative. I’m planning on going back to graduate school either this fall or next fall (yay ed award!). I was always passionate about service and volunteering but KEYS added gallons of fuel to my fire. If I didn’t do KEYS out of college, I may never have had the courage to apply for the Peace Corps or even move out of Pittsburgh. The framework for community change that I developed from starting with KEYS has helped me understand my own work and my life perspectives in such a huge way. I often still hear Aaron Gray’s words in my head: “You have a magic hat and you want to keep giving people what you think they need but what happens when you’re gone?” That has essentially become my service mantra and I’ll never forget the impact of the training and actual work have had on me. I’ve learned so much about myself, development, poverty, food security, education, and so many other major and minor details of life that I would never have had access to without starting with KEYS. I love what you guys are doing and I am so proud to call myself a KEYS alum.