More than 400,000 U.S. citizens are alumni of U.S. Government sponsored exchange programs. This includes alumni of academic exchanges like the Fulbright Program, the Boren Fellowship, and the Critical Language Scholarship, and of service-focused exchanges like the Peace Corps, the Youth Ambassadors from the USA Pavilions at Expos, and the Sports Envoy Program, to name a few. The U.S. Exchange Alumni Network and Capacity Building Program supports enterprising U.S. alumni as they build on their exchange experiences through professional development and citizen diplomacy opportunities.
Our programming includes:
Alumni Resource Center (ARC): ARC is a digital extension of Career Connections. This online career development hub provides U.S. citizen Exchange Alumni with courses, trainings, and other resources to develop professional skills and abilities, market themselves, and explore careers in and outside of public service.
Career Connections Events: These professional development events, held throughout the year in communities across the United States in partnership with the Global Ties Network, provide opportunities for U.S. citizen Exchange Alumni to network; strengthen professional skills; apply leadership abilities gained through their exchange experience; connect with citizen diplomacy opportunities; and explore careers in public service with the U.S. Government, nonprofit community, and internationally oriented companies.
Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund: This small grants competition annually funds teams of U.S. Exchange Alumni up to $10,000 each to implement service projects that address key U.S. foreign policy goals.
Exchange Alumni Fellowship: This nine-month fellowship, to begin in January 2025, will engage six U.S. citizen Exchange Alumni as regional advocates for international exchange programs and strengthen alumni networks throughout the United States.
Through our activities, we are building the global skills of U.S. citizen exchange alumni, elevating them as leaders in their communities, and advancing U.S. foreign policy goals through citizen diplomacy.
The U.S. Department of State promotes a safer, more secure, and more prosperous America and world by implementing President Trump’s foreign policy. The U.S. Secretary of State is President Trump’s principal adviser on foreign policy and the person chiefly responsible for U.S. representation abroad. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs advances U.S. national security objectives through international educational, professional, and cultural exchanges. The Bureau develops personal, professional, and institutional ties between private citizens and organizations in the United States and abroad, and shares the rich history, society, art, and culture of the United States to the world. The Office of Alumni Affairs manages and funds the U.S. Exchange Alumni Network and Capacity Building Program.
The U.S. Exchange Alumni Network and Capacity Building Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government under a cooperative agreement with Global Ties U.S. and the Office of Alumni Affairs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
