Peace Corps

Council Member: Aaron S. Williams, Director of the Peace Corps

Council Designee: Maryann Minutillo, Senior Advisor in the Office of the Director, Peace Corps

Maryann Minutillo is the Senior Advisor in the Office of the Director of the Peace Corps. In this capacity she chairs the Policy Review Board and directs the Peace Corps’ Internal Management Assessments Program aimed at strengthening Peace Corps operations world-wide. Prior to this position, Mrs. Minutillo was Chief of Operations and Acting Regional Director in the Inter-America & Pacific Region. Before joining the headquarters staff Mrs. Minutillo was Country Director in Bolivia. In addition to her work with the Peace Corps, Mrs. Minutillo has an extensive background in public service and international development. While living in Guatemala, she did volunteer work in a was a volunteer in a community-based infant nutrition project; on assignment in the Middle East, she was a faculty member in the College of Health Sciences where she co-chaired a project to assist villages accessing primary health care; she has taught English as a Second Language in several countries at levels from kindergarten to university. She served for six years at the Department of State, leading the Family Liaison Office, which provided outreach and support to Foreign Service families world-wide.

Mrs. Minutillo received an undergraduate degree from Emmanual College in Boston, a Master of Arts from Boston College and did doctoral work at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Council Designee: Elisa Montoya, White House Liaison and Senior Advisor to the Office of the Director, Peace Corps

Ms. Montoya is the White House liaison and senior advisor to the director at the United States Peace Corps. Within this capacity, she manages all aspects of communication between the agency and executive branch. She also works closely with the acting director and senior staff to assist with the management of the following issues, which include; but are not limited to, congressional affairs, safety and security, program development, volunteer recruitment and support services, and other agency administrative matters. On the campaign she served as the National Latino Outreach Director working with the Latino vote team to manage Latino politics and community outreach.

Before joining the campaign, Ms. Montoya was a policy associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP where she advised a broad range of municipal and corporate clients regarding federal issues. Ms. Montoya also served as a special assistant to Mayor John Hickenlooper in Denver, Colorado, where she served as the mayor’s liaison with the Denver International Airport, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and managed federal issues. Previously she served as a counsel to both Senators Harry Reid (NV) and Ken Salazar (CO). In the House of Representative Ms. Montoya worked for the Honorable Xavier Becerra (CA-31). Ms. Montoya also served as the director of technology and economic opportunity policy on the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

Ms. Montoya has an AB in American Studies from Stanford University and a JDMA from the University of Southern California Law Center and the University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication.