Tulane University Alumna Heads to Zambia as Crisis Corps Volunteer

Tulane alumna Francie Picknell of Seattle, Washington is leaving for Zambia in July to improve HIV/AIDS programs and maternal and child healthcare services as a Crisis Corps volunteer.

Picknell will work with the Society for Family Health (SFH) to provide low-income Zambian families with high quality, affordable health products, services, and information. In her role as an organizational development advisor, she will be assisting SFH supervisors with human resource management, conducting training sessions for SFH staff members, and identifying best practices for strengthening SFH’s mobile HIV testing and counseling programs.

Picknell previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland from 2004 to 2006. During her Swaziland service, she worked in HIV/AIDS education, teaching life skills courses to high school students and coordinating with nongovernmental organizations to meet the needs of orphans and vulnerable children affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Picknell joins hundreds of returned Peace Corps volunteers, who have reenlisted, since Crisis Corps’ inception in 1996, to lend their skills and experience to ongoing community needs in over 40 countries. Unlike the long-term Peace Corps commitment, Crisis Corps volunteers commit to short-term projects, meaning Picknell’s service this time around won’t exceed six months. 
           
Picknell received a master of public health degree from Tulane University in 2006.