Becky Howland has worked with the Civic Initiative since 2010. In her current position, she is involved in a variety of aspects of the programs including financial reporting, budgeting, and personnel management as well as program support and planning. Ms. Howland received her master's of public administration and her bachelor's of science in business administration in international management and marketing, both from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. Email us your questions and comments: podcastpakus@gmail.com You can also listen to our episodes and subscribe on:  Apple Podcasts So ..read more

Masuma Batool visited the U.S. in August 2017 for a five-week exchange program called Leadership and Entrepreneurship Training under the Balochistan University Partnership Program with funding from the US Department of State. She completed her MBA in 2019 after which she started working with a humanitarian organization, the Balochistan Rural Support Programme, for over two years. She specifically was engaged in working to uplift the livelihoods of vulnerable women in the community.  Please also find the podcast on these platforms: YouTube (this episode will be uploaded soon, please check ..read more

Jesse Tucker traveled to Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi in 2019 as part of the University of Massachusetts Civic initiative program. He worked with many international groups at the UMass campus, including three groups from Pakistan. Jesse currently works for Harvard University Medical School's postgraduate medical education certificate programs where he coordinates all aspects of faculty development programs.  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3LAupI19cmzm1VqmB1fUQ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2WNpprTl7o01A5LKtW38Ce  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/podcast-pak-u ..read more

Hamza Rafiq Baig is from the Kaghan Valley in Pakistan. He was in the U.S. in 2018 for the Study of the US Institutes (SUSI) Pakistan Student leaders exchange program. He is currently pursuing his Erasmus Mundus master's in international law of global security, peace and development from the University of Glasgow, IBEI and Radboud University. Further, he has a master's in public international law from the University of Groningen, Netherlands and a bachelor's in law from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He is also a qualified lawyer and a rookie investor. Email us your questions and comments ..read more

Kelsey and Mike both worked at the UMass Civic Initiative where they were able to travel to Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi in 2019 to visit program alumni and explore each city. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3LAupI19cmzm1VqmB1fUQ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2WNpprTl7o01A5LKtW38Ce  SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/podcast-pak-us  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chai-and-coffee-pakistan-u-s-talks/id1619575600 ..read more

This week's guest is Ms. Urooj Haider. Urooj is an Access alumna and attended Mississippi's Alcorn State University in 2017 to attend a semester exchange program, Global UGRAD Program. Ms. Haider is a development and media practitioner. She is the president of Vision Building Future and the Program Manager for Teaching Excellence & Achievement Program. She is also working as a voice-over artist with Pakistan Foundation Fighting Blindness to contribute in converting the national textbook curriculum into audio books.  Email us your questions and comments: podcastpakus@gmail.co ..read more

Our guest is Michael S. Hutton-Woodland, Ph.D. He is a recently retired psychologist, following a long career in mental health services, social services, philanthropy, and consulting. He talks with us about his travels in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.  Email us your questions and comments: podcastpakus@gmail.com   You can also listen to our episodes and subscribe on:  Apple Podcasts SoundCloud Spotify YouTube We thank the UMass Civic Initiative for their support! Follow them: Instagram Facebook Twitter ..read more

Hussain Amin is an alum of a US exchange program. He is currently working as a program officer at a non-governmental organization working in the areas of entrepreneurship, economic empowerment of women, transgender rights, peace, medical relief and Sustainable Development Goals. He is a member of the Working Group on Digital Pakistan Policy as a representative of the rural youth of Pakistan. He is a member of Youth Parliament Pakistan. Email us your questions and comments: podcastpakus@gmail.com You can listen to our episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3LAupI19cmzm1VqmB1fUQ ..read more

Michael Hannahan, Ph.D. is the director of the UMass Civic Initiative. He has managed over 50 different exchange programs over the past 20 years and has spoken extensively in Pakistan, Iraq, Indonesia, and Argentina. He has also managed programs in Croatia, Russia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Bulgaria. Dr. Hannahan has worked for political parties; managed campaigns and political consulting firms; and served as senior advisor to former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift. He teaches American Political Thought, American Government, Campaign Finance and Reform, and Modern Political Campa ..read more

Today we talk with Hina Bashir. Ms. Bashir is a youth advocate for women's empowerment and social development through communication. She is currently studying in Europe, pursuing Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Digital Communication Leadership for Policy and Innovation. Ms. Bashir was at the University of Massachusetts for the summer program of SUSI (Study of the U.S. Institutes Public Policymaking) in 2018. She shares her experiences in the United States and how it changed her forever ..read more