In June, Octavio Saenz, an alum who traveled to South Korea in 2011, was named one of ten winners of the US Department of State’s Citizen Diplomacy Challenges!

“In honor of the 75th anniversary of State Department exchange programs, and in recognition of the American alumni community, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) launched the U.S. Citizen Diplomacy Challenge to empower Americans to explore new cultures and languages,” according to the International Exchange Alumni’s website.

Throughout the Challenge, American alumni of US government-sponsored exchange programs were encouraged to share their exchange stories and photos with the next generation of potential citizen diplomats and fellow international exchange alumni. For each challenge activity, alumni earned points toward prizes, including a Grand Prize trip to Washington to meet with senior State Department officials. Octavio shared the positive impact of his ACYPL exchange to South Korea on social media, with local schools, university students, and on national news programs.

Congrats to Octavio and you can learn more about the challenge and other winners here.