U.S. Department of State Honors Shamshad Hussain as State Alumni Member of the Month

Shamshad Hussain of Pakistan, an alumnus of the U.S. Department of State’s Community College Initiative Program (CCIP), has been named State Alumni Member of the Month.

Throughout May, his leadership and promotion of mutual understanding is being recognized on the State Alumni website (https://alumni.state.gov), the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ official site for the more than one million alumni who have participated in a Department-sponsored exchange program.

Hussain is an effective leader in promoting volunteerism, education, and ecotourism.  He participated in the Community College Initiative Program (CCIP), studying at Daytona State College from 2008 to 2009. Upon his return to Pakistan, he initiated numerous community service projects, was elected president of the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network Gilgit-Baltistan Chapter, and took on the role of coordinator for the local English Access Microscholarship Program. As a result, educational and future professional opportunities have expanded significantly for Gilgit-Baltistan’s underprivileged children.

Shamshad Hussain is the executive director of the Grassroots Association for Community Empowerment (GRACE), a Pakistani nonprofit that mobilizes marginalized communities to help create a more peaceful society. In October 2010, he led 100 alumni of U.S. Government exchange programs in the Gilgit-Baltistan region to organize a local chapter of the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network. As president, Hussain also led this committed group to encourage local students to learn about U.S. Government-funded exchange programs. More than 800 female students attended the seminars, the first of their kind in Gilgit-Baltistan. As a direct result, the number of applicants to Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program and the Community College Initiative Program (CCIP) from Gilgit-Baltistan significantly increased.

Each month the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Office of Alumni Affairs, which supports alumni as they build on their exchange experiences, confers the State Alumni Member of the Month award on an outstanding alumnus or alumna. For more information, visit the website at http://exchanges.state.gov/alumni/alumnus.html.