Jesuit Volunteer Corps

alumni feature

Board Member AnnMaura is a Champion of Service

By AnnMaura Connelly

(Santa Ana 1986-87)

Annmaura Connolly JVC Board Member

Since my year as a Jesuit Volunteer, I have spent my career working toward the goal of making a year of service a common expectation and experience of every young person.  From helping to develop a national service policy for the country to protecting the federal investment in national service, to developing national service programs in two other countries, I have had the opportunity to work on an idea that is so important to me–the idea that a year of service can be a transformational experience for those who serve and those who are served. 

My JV experience is the foundation for all of my work. It helped me understand that proximity is critical if you want to work for justice.  Service is not a one-way proposition.  Seeking understanding is critical to making change.  Challenging yourself to be open to different ways of thinking and different perspectives is essential to advancing your work and to developing as a leader.

The opportunity to connect with the people I served as a JV helped me understand suffering and grief in a totally different way. It also helped me understand how resilient people are–and how joy can be found even amidst great pain.  Since JVC I have learned that open-mindedness and a willingness to listen are critical to our ability to succeed in the quest for justice.  

JVC has a rich history of the power of service to heal people and communities.  Our country and the world need a lot of healing. I believe JVC will continue to be  beacon of light because we offer passionate young people the opportunity to be of vital service, to develop their faith and to create a more just and hopeful world.

STORIES

  • JVC staff visit to Peru (2011)

    alumni feature, international service

    "JVC's International PRogram gave me the confidence that I had something to offer students and continues to be both a foundation and a hope spring for what I do now."

    Learn more about Michela's time teaching in Peru become the catalyst for a career in education
  • Tomy Christin (Belize City) headshot

    alumni feature, international service, community

    "The four core values of JVC can be and are lived out in each of our post-JVC lives in a multitude of ways. For me, life as a Dominican Sister is the way I’m choosing to be a woman for and with others as a contemplative in action."

    Learn more about Sr. Christin's relationship building on porches
  • St. Clara Chapel where the congregation used to use for mass, vows, prayer. (2019).

    vocational journey, alumni feature

    "By joining JVC I didn’t mean to substitute religious life, but my call to discern religious life clearly played a role in God calling me to JVC. To my surprise, my three years in Phoenix as both a JV and as a staff person at my placement site laid the foundation for what was to come."

    Learn more about Amanda's vocational discernment journey
  • Sr Rhonda Miska, OP (Nicaragua 2002-2004)

    alumni feature, vocational journey

    "Clearly, the values of spirituality, simple living, social justice, and community were still central. This wasn’t something I was going to 'get out of my system' in my twenties. Rather, these values continued to shape my life and my choices well into my thirties."

    Read more about Sr Rhonda's shift in perspective

  • alumni feature, healthcare

    "My JV experience continues to nurture my vision for the future of the healthcare system. Even now, I find myself leaning into the four values in the work I pursue, the continued education I seek out, and in communities that I help to build and strengthen."

    Read More