Alabama native Kenyatta Spiller discovered early on that service was her calling. This two-time AmeriCorps member and two-time Peace Corps Volunteer has been tenacious in her drive to serve communities since she was a teenager.
Spiller was inspired by her mother, a U.S. Army veteran who served for 22 years and raised two daughters as a single mom.
“During high school, I joined the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, hoping to become an Air Force officer,” said Spiller, who is a senior regional recruiter at the Peace Corps. “The program required academic excellence, cultivated leadership skills, and offered many volunteer opportunities, such as helping at food pantries and prom dress drives, mentoring youth, canvassing for community health fairs, and more.”
Spiller earned a full academic scholarship to Alabama State University (ASU), where she got involved in many activities on campus.
“Giving back to the campus and surrounding community was central to my undergraduate experience. I was an active executive board member of campus chapters of the NAACP, National Organization for Women (NOW), Empowered Mentors, Beta Kappa Chi Scientific Honor Society, and Biomedical Club,” she said. “I also served as the chapter president of Gamma Sigma International Service Sorority. In each organization I helped empower others and raised awareness of issues such as voter registration, financial literacy, women’s empowerment, and Black health care.”
During her time at ASU, Spiller was researching opportunities for professional development after graduation when she discovered that she could continue serving communities through AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps. She found immediate openings for AmeriCorps in the Montgomery, Alabama, area, where she lived.
“I served as the state member liaison for the Alabama Department of Senior Services, where I coordinated local workshops to empower seniors to take charge of their Medicare…
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