For more than 60 years, thousands of Pakistanis have participated in U.S. Government (USG) sponsored exchange programs to enhance people-to-people ties between Pakistan and the United States. Upon their return to Pakistan, many U.S. exchange alumni have made significant contributions to Pakistan’s government, business, culture and civil society. The Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, and our Consulates in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar are committed to supporting alumni initiatives in Pakistan that allow alumni to replicate and share their exchange experience in their own communities.
About the Pakistan U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN)
In 2008, U.S. Embassy Islamabad launched the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN), an association of our exchange alumni who are committed to making meaningful contributions to Pakistan though community service, conferences, mentoring future generations, and reaching out to inspire and recruit new exchange participants. All current and former Pakistani participants of U.S. Department of State-sponsored exchange programs are eligible to become members of PUAN. To register, please follow the process at http://www.puan.pk/alumniregistration/.
The network is jointly administered by the U.S. Embassy and the United States Educational Foundational in Pakistan (USEFP). The network is one of the largest and most active USG exchange alumni networks in the world, with over 29,000 eligible members and 13 local chapters throughout Pakistan. Active alumni chapters are located in the following cities/regions:
- Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)
- Bahawalpur
- Gilgit (GB)
- Baltistan (GB)
- Gwadar
- Islamabad-Rawalpindi
- Jamshoro
- Karachi
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) /Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA)
- Lahore
- Multan
- Quetta
- Sukkur
U.S. Embassy Islamabad has responsibility for the AJK, GB, and Islamabad-Rawalpindi chapters. Our U.S. Consulate in Lahore covers the Bahawalpur, Lahore, and Multan chapters, while the U.S. Consulate in Karachi covers the Gwadar, Karachi, Jamshoro, Quetta, and Sukkur chapters. U.S. Consulate Peshawar covers the KP/FATA chapter.
Alumni News
We are proud of our alumni and know you are doing great things for Pakistan, so tell us about it! Share your news about awards, grant projects, books you have published, press coverage and any other recognition, and we will share it. Just send us an email at PUAN@state.gov. You can also find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/PakUSAlumni and Twitter at Twitter.com/PakUSAlumni.
When submitting your news item, please include your full name, the name of the exchange program you participated in, and the year you completed the exchange. Although we cannot publish every story we receive, you improve your chances if you submit a high-resolution digital photo with your news item.
Grants for Alumni
The U.S. Mission and the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) jointly administer the Alumni Small Grant (ASG) Program. The ASG aims to strengthen mutual understanding between the American and Pakistani people and encourages alumni to leverage their exchange program learning to put ideas into action to create meaningful change. The ASG program offers funding up to PKR 1,000,000 on a competitive basis, for initiatives that create impact at professional, organizational and community levels. To learn more about alumni grant opportunities, please see the guidelines on the PUAN website: https://pakusalumninetwork.org/.
To access the U.S. Department of State Alumni global community, visit https://alumni.state.gov.
