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 ExchangeAlumni 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 ExchangeAlumni 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. ExchangeAlumni up to $10,000 each to implement service projects that address key U.S. foreign policy goals such as climate change activism, promoting diversity and inclusion, and strengthening democracy.
ExchangeAlumni Fellowship: This nine-month fellowship, to begin in January 2025, will engage six U.S. citizen ExchangeAlumni as regional advocates for international exchange programs and strengthen alumni networks throughout the United States.
Impact of Exchange: Stories from U.S. Exchange Alumni: This public art exhibit combines photography with storytelling and features 38 images and stories taken by U.S. citizen ExchangeAlumni during their time abroad. The exhibit is traveling to five communities across the United States between 2023-2024 to inspire local audiences to become future exchange participants and pass on the power of exchange to others.
Since 2021, Global Ties U.S. has engaged more than 1,800 U.S. cExchangeAlumni in our activities. In our last fiscal year alone, we:
- Awarded more than $407,000 in CDAF project grants and Career Connections travel stipends
- Organized four Career Connections events that took place across the United States
- Funded 47 CDAF projects
- Connected directly with 334 ExchangeAlumni through CDAF and Career Connections programming
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. 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.
