Friends of Albania

Friends of Albania (FOA) is an American nonprofit run by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Albania. It is an affiliate group of the National Peace Corps Association, and its work is organized through friendsofalbania.net and a small volunteer-led board rather than a storefront office.

The group was founded in 2009 by the tenth cohort of Peace Corps Volunteers to serve in Albania, who wanted to keep U.S.–Albanian ties going after their service ended. Its stated mission is to promote friendship and understanding between Americans and Albanians, and to keep current and former Volunteers connected to one another.

FOA's main program is a small-grants fund for Albanian organizations and individuals who are working alongside Peace Corps Volunteers currently posted in Albania. Across eight grant cycles, the organization reports awarding close to $10,000 to projects led by serving Volunteers, with a focus on community, education, and local development work on the ground in Albania.

Beyond grantmaking, FOA publishes a bilingual magazine and uses its membership network to link Americans interested in Albania with RPCVs and Albanian partners. Within the wider Albanian-American landscape, it sits in a specific niche: a Peace Corps alumni nonprofit channeling U.S. support into community projects inside Albania, rather than a neighborhood diaspora association.