Kareen Sanchez (pronounced Karen in English and Spanish) joined the Segal Program as a 2017 Service Year Alliance Segal Fellow. As a bilingual, first generation Mexican-American, Kareen has used her passion for national service to work with youth-oriented organizations. She served in her hometown as an AmeriCorps member with City Year Los Angeles, where she tutored and mentored high school students, partnered with teachers and administrators, planned and managed educational events and co-led an after-school program. She then became a Peace Corps Masters International student, where she studied at the University of Miami and served from 2014-2016 as a youth, families and community development promoter along the Dominican Republic and Haitian border. She also led a college credit course with 11 students in Peru that combined Spanish immersion classes with community service in the Amazon Rainforest and Sacred Valley.

As a Segal Fellow, Kareen conducted policy research with Service Year Alliance (SYA), which is dedicated in making a service year a cultural expectation and common opportunity for all Americans. After her Segal Fellowship with SYA, she spent 2 years using her national service experience to develop policy options with the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. Since August of 2020, she has been working with the Peace Corps as a Program Analyst in the Office of Inspector General. Kareen received her BA in psychology from the University of California, Riverside and an MSEd in community and social change from the University of Miami. While an undergraduate, she received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study Latino youth gangs in Barcelona, Spain, an experience that reinforced her passion for working with youth. She is also a certified yoga instructor. Kareen remains an engaged Segal Fellow, participating regularly in our ongoing networking and professional development opportunities. She has given back to The Segal Program by serving as a Segal Buddy and leading convenings for other Fellows on the Peace Corps and on self care.