The Cultural Heritage Center works with governmental and non-governmental organizations to protect and preserve the world's cultural heritage. It administers the Cultural Property Protection program, the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, the Iraq Cultural Heritage Initiative, and special cultural heritage programs. Learn More

The Alumni Affairs Division strives to cultivate and extend the impacts of educational and cultural exchange programs through continued engagement with alumni of these programs. This dynamic network of more than 1,000,000 former exchange participants including 360 current and former heads of state, 54 Nobel laureates, and untold numbers of community leaders and change makers around the world.

The Alumni Affairs Division collaborates with U.S. embassies and consulates abroad to leverage the expertise, energy, and enthusiasm of exchange alumni in support of shared goals. Each day, these alumni are making impacts in strategic areas including entrepreneurship, civic engagement and volunteerism, women and youth in the democratic process, and innovative used of social media, to name just a few.

Alumni Affairs Division Goals

• Provide alumni with tools to engage their local communities in support of mutual goals.
• Leverage alumni to enhance our understanding of the local environments and inform policy-making.
• Create the requisite infrastructure to facilitate strong alumni networks.
• Suport dialogue with alumni to enhance our understanding of local environments and inform policy-making.

Read a State Magazine article to learn more about the Alumni Affairs Division and the impacts of ECA's global alumni network. Contact alumni@state.gov for additional information or to subscribe to Alumni Affairs newsletters.

The Evaluation Division of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) is dedicated to enhancing the effectiveness of ECA’s educational and cultural programs. The Division’s work consists of two types of initiatives designed to assess the effectiveness of ECA’s programs: performance measurement projects and program evaluations.

Program evaluations in the Evaluation Division:

• Consist of outcome evaluations
• Are retrospective and encompass varying themes
• Incorporate case studies to highlight findings
• Provide data for program planning and goal setting

Performance measurement projects in the Evaluation Division:

• Monitor the Bureau’s programs to track results
• Establish baselines and collect end-of-program, and follow-up data from participants
• Compare data across the three points to assess effectiveness
• Provide data for program planning and goal setting
• The data and information provided by our work enables program staff and senior management to both assess goal achievement and plan future programs

The Division’s proven evaluation methodologies integrate quantitative and qualitative analyses to provide "data for use" and implementable recommendations. For performance measurement projects, our staff designs and implements participant surveys, analyzes responses, and produces reports for program staff and other key audiences. Our evaluation projects are commissioned to experienced organizations in order to ensure independence and objectivity. We develop all evaluations in close consultation with the commissioned organizations, program staff, partner organizations, and U.S. embassies and consulates.

If you have any questions, would like to subscribe to our mailing list, or would like more information, please contact us at ecaevaluation@state.gov.