By Rimsha Ali Shah

Aleenah Masud stood at the back of the hall with a bird’s eye view of the event before her.  She could see the hall filling up, with a lot of new faces, and a lot of old ones.  Since her participation in the Study of the U.S. Institute for Student Leaders (SUSI) in 2011, she had been actively organizing the annual reunions, but this one had a special significance for her.  With this reunion, she was completing her four-year term as the Finance Secretary of the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) Islamabad/Rawalpindi Chapter.

“PUAN is my second home, and I feel absolutely honored to have served as the Finance Secretary for the Islamabad/Rawalpindi Chapter.  To be honest, I never knew I would be able to handle grants and their accounts for these incredible four years.  It has been an upward learning curve for me.”

The 6th Annual Reunion of PUAN Islamabad/Rawalpindi Chapter was held on October 22, 2016, in Islamabad with the participation of more than 700 alumni of State Department-sponsored exchange programs from the twin cities.  The reunion acknowledged the chapter’s progress over the past one year through the Emerging Leaders Award, the Distinguished Leaders Award, appreciation certificates for the PUAN Mentorship Program 2015, and celebrated the contribution of alumni to the cause of community development.  This year, for the first time, the reunion featured a job fair with noted names from the industry present.  The reunion also marked the term completion of the current chapter leadership and executive board.

U.S. Mission Pakistan’s Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Pratt thanked the exchange alumni for their dedication to a strong U.S.-Pakistan relationship.  “It was great to see that PUAN leadership organized a job fair in this year’s reunion program.  There are some noted multinational corporations and local organizations here today who can perhaps provide an opportunity for alumni to excel professionally.”

Reunion Recognizes Alumni Efforts for Community Development

Over the past one year, alumni in the twin cities led projects on women empowerment, interfaith harmony, disability leadership, climate preservation, arts and culture, sports diplomacy, self-defense, regional cooperation, entrepreneurship, health and hygiene awareness, theater, music diplomacy, diversity, education leadership, mooting, and gender-sensitive governance.  Here is a video produced by Global Undergraduate Semester Exchange Program (UGRAD) alumna Ramsha Maryam documenting the activities of the past one year.

Through the PUAN Alumni Distinguished Leaders Award, the Emerging Leaders Award, and appreciation certificates, PUAN recognized the efforts of over 20 alumni who had contributed to the cause of strengthening people-to-people ties through chapter activities, mentorship program, participation in alumni small grant project, and active participation in organizing PUAN international thematic conferences.

Snober Abbasi who attended the USAID Ed-Links Student Exchange Program in 2008 received the Emerging Leaders Award.  He says, “I sincerely thank the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network for helping, guiding, and inspiring me to reach a stage where I can proudly hold up this award as a mark of my achievement.  I also promise to only get better at my work.”

Rana Riaz Saeed, one of the Distinguished Alumni Awards recipient comments, “This is my second alumni reunion with PUAN.  It was a well-organized event, with a lot of opportunity for mutual learning, idea sharing, and networking with like-minded alumni and old colleagues, and particularly our talented youth with full of energy and ideas.”

Job Fair Connects Alumni with Industry

Smartek, a leading architecture, and design firm by Shah Rukh who is an alumna of the Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women Project Artemis, was also among the companies featured in the reunion.  “Such opportunities provide us, as employers, a great chance to interact with a pool of talented individuals who have the exposure and leadership skills to excel.”

The job fair had participation from leading telecom companies, construction and design firms, non-profits, and banks including Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, Telenor Pakistan, Allied Bank, Askari Cement, USAID – Pakistan Reading Project, Smartek, and Millennium Training Services.

Mubashir Ghani Khwaja, an alumnus of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program adds, “Utilizing the resources PUAN brings, the job fair was an excellent way to give young job-seeking individuals the exposure to prospective organizations along with the guidance of senior alumni.”

Concluding Thoughts

The reunion was also the first interaction these year’s exchange alumni had with PUAN Islamabad/Rawalpindi Chapter.  Sumbal Sarwar who recently attended the IVLP on Enhancing the Lives of People with Disabilities found the grants and networking opportunities provided by PUAN quite useful.  “The best thing about the reunion was the introduction to the various opportunities present for alumni, such as the small grants, chapter activity grants, and the countless avenues for collaboration.”

Ali Hasan Awan, an alumnus of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP), was attending his first PUAN event since his return from the IVLP a few months back.  “It was a great opportunity to form new associations and synergies between individuals and organizations.  I am absolutely thrilled to learn about the amazing work being done by the network in Islamabad/Rawalpindi!”

We would like to thank the leadership for providing direction and support to the Islamabad/Rawalpindi Chapter over the past two years.  Congratulations to Chapter President Haseeb Kiyani; General Secretary Asma Mohsin; Finance Secretary Aleenah Masud; and Youth Group Directors Aliya Harir and Daniyal Hassan.