Trading Markets for Missions: A Finance Graduate’s Peace Corps Journey

Finance alumni Benjamin Roe (2023) was a member of Cal Poly’s CFA Investment Research Challenge team that won the Americas title. He had completed the CFA level I exam at the time of graduation and had many exciting career opportunities. However, he decided to join the Peace Corps and serve for two years in Albania. In this article he reports on completing his first year of service.

I didn’t have a clear idea of what I would be doing when I came into the Peace Corps. I did have a vague notion that I would get the chance to apply some of the things I had learned in my university finance education to assist small businesses or local governments. However, I
also knew that the Peace Corps emphasizes adaptability and flexibility, so I was prepared for the fact that my job description may change along the way.

Ultimately, I was placed with a youth NGO in a small town in Northeastern Albania with a permanent staff of three people. My closest volunteer was about a 2-hour bus ride away. My new job description as a “youth development coordinator” was not exactly what I was expecting. The position I applied for was titled “business advising volunteer,” and I took that job description somewhat at its
word.

One of the views Benjamin Roe has enjoyed in Albania, a country in southeast Europe. (Courtesy Benjamin Roe)

However it’s turned out that working with young people in Albania has been a total privilege, and one that I never would have sought after on my own. This has taught me the power of accepting the things that life throws at you and letting them change you, even if at first that
process seems uncomfortable. I thoroughly enjoy working with them, and their energy and positivity inspires me. I see in them the universality of human experience and the importance of that crucial and oftentimes painful developmental period when you’re no
longer a child but not yet an adult. It has become clear to me how important it is to them to be offered small support and words of kindness. It has also reminded me of adults in my teen years that saw the best in me and encouraged my curiosity.

In my first year I’ve taken part in a few projects I’m very proud of. One of them is the GLOW Code camp that I organized in Kukës over the summer.

GLOW stands for “Girls Leading Our World”, a concept that was created by a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania in 1995. In this part of the world there is still some stigma around girls partaking in social life outside of school and family sanctioned activities. Of course, things have changed significantly in these cultures and are still changing rapidly, but those conservative attitudes and rigid gender roles still exist, especially in rural areas.

There have now been many iterations of GLOW-themed activities: GLOW Club, GLOW Camp, etc. GLOW Code was an attempt to give the GLOW idea a tech update, offering girls in rural communities a 2-week coding and leadership camp. I ultimately applied for and was awarded a Peace Corps small grant for this activity and implemented it in August of 2024. I continue to work with some of these girls as well as other young people, teaching digital skills in Microsoft Office as part of another ongoing program.

Benjamin Roe, pictured in 2023 during preparations for the CFA Investment Research Challenge. (File photo: Jack Sann)

I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed my experience in starting two English clubs at local schools, aiming to give young people practice in conversational English and learn more about American culture. I have also collaborated throughout my time as a volunteer with my host
organization CYP (Center for Youth Progress) to implement other projects from the EU, UK, and US in the field of youth and irregular migration from the region. We’ve written and implemented a handful of projects together, and I’ve learned a lot from them during my time
in Albania.

Although I have not spent much of the last year building DCF models, this time away from finance has reinforced my interest in it, as I’ve continued to follow it extensively through news and papers as well as teaching basic financial literacy skills to young people. I’ve also
begun studying for my CFA Level II exam in order to continue my education while away. I’m thankful that my interests in this area have strengthened with a bit of distance, and I look forward to applying them more in the near future.

I really do feel that I’ve gained a second home and relationships I’ll hold forever with those older than me, younger, and my peers. I’m grateful that most of the cliches of Peace Corps apply to me (life-changing, new perspective, etc.), and for the less favorable Peace Corps
cliches that also apply (isolation, unpredictability), I’m grateful for the lessons they’ve taught me and the time they’ve afforded me to think. I will go back to the United States with a stronger sense of purpose and community and an appreciation for all that I do have.

Roe was featured in an Albanian language interview on ABC News Albania.

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