National Peace Corps Association has named FINCAs founder and former Peace Corps volunteer John Hatch the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service.
The Shriver Award is presented to a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who continues to make a sustained and distinguished contribution to humanitarian causes at home or abroad, or is an innovative social entrepreneur whose actions bring about significant long-term change.
Established in 1986, and with more than 20 recipients to date, the Sargent Shriver Award honors the tremendous contributions of the first Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver, in the founding and development of the Peace Corps. John began his service to the Peace Corps in 1962 as a community development volunteer in Colombia, and later as a regional Peace Corps director in Peru. When asked to comment about his long-time friend and colleague being named the 2009 Shriver Award recipient.
President and CEO Rupert Scofield said, ” It was in the Peace Corps that John first developed his lifelong respect and admiration for the hardworking poor, and their mastery of the art of survival. This respect became the foundation for his brilliant Village Banking methodology, which has brought the benefits of financial services to low-income entrepreneurs in the communities where they live and work. He has been FINCA’s guiding star and moral compass for nearly 25 years, keeping us focused on one thing: the eradication of poverty worldwide.
John will be presented with the award at a reception in his honor on June 26th in Washington, D.C.