I am delighted to spend some time this afternoon outlining how and why we gauge the effectiveness of our PD programs, talk about evaluation strategies, and lay out statistics. But first, I want to share an experience I had in Bosnia Herzegovina last week. I tell you this because few things are more compelling than looking our program alumni in the eye, and talking to them face to face about their very personal experiences in the U.S.

As Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the United States Department of State, I work to build meaningful relationships and mutual understanding between citizens of our country and others. That is what we call public diplomacy. And we do this by joining and expanding a global conversation with people everywhere – both face to face, through educational and cultural exchanges, and through social media.

The mission of each member of the Youth Correspondents of Uruguay was to work as a young reporter in their province and community. This work implied creating and maintaining a blog with fresh news, performing interviews, writing articles and doing photographic reports.

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) brought together a diverse group of thinkers, policymakers and practitioners for an October 15 conference that examined the positive impact of online or “virtual” exchanges for students and others around the world and the need to expand their use in an era of tight constraints on spending.

...If we want our people-to-people exchanges to remain central to our public diplomacy engagement, we have to open new channels. We have to communicate government to people, and people to people. And one of the best ways we can leverage those conversations is through social media and other connective technologies, such as video teleconferencing.

“When we speak to one another, engage to one another, etc., we’re engaging in public diplomacy,” she said. Sonenshine said that the term applies to everything, ranging from a Russian athlete talking to a U.S. physical education expert to countering violent extremism.

Entitled A Snapshot of Public Diplomacy, the mailing gives reports on public diplomacy (PD) activities underway around the world. The most recent issue I’ve received, covering the last two weeks of July, reports on support by the Bureau of African Affairs of an NGO called the Idea Builders Initiative.